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Functional SkillsEnglish

Level 1

Learning Resource 1Punctuation

Rs/L1.2 Ws/L1.3

PUNCTUATION LEVEL 1

©West Nottinghamshire College 1

Excellence in skills development

1

Contents

1a Capital Letters Ws/L1.3 Pages 2 - 3 1b Sentences Rs/L1.2 Pages 4 - 7 Ws/L1.3 1c Question Marks and Exclamation Marks Rs/L1.2 Pages 8 - 10 Ws/L1.3 1d Commas Rs/L1.2 Pages 11 - 14 1e Omissive Apostrophe Rs/L1.2 Page 15 1f Other Punctuation Ws/L1.3 Page 16 1g Punctuating Texts which are not Sentences Ws/L1.3 Page 17

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Excellence in skills development Information Capital Letters Names of people always start with a capital letter. Example: Chris, Surjit. Names of places always start with a capital letter. Example: Italy, Hampshire, Paris. Names of months and days always start with a capital letter. Example: January, Monday. Names of products and brand names always start with capital letters. Example: Heinz, Walkers, Kelloggs, Persil, Mars. Names of festivals always start with a capital letter. Example: Christmas Day, Divali. Names of nationalities always start with a capital letter. Example: English, French. Titles of people always start with a capital letter. Example: Mr, Mrs, Ms, Dr. The letter ‘i’ when we talk about ourselves is always a capital letter. Example: I like coffee. I went out for a drink. Sentences always begin with capital letters. Example: This is good! It tastes really delicious.


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1Excellence in skills development

Exercise 1 Using Capital Letters Using this information, write out the following words using capital letters where required.

jason boxing day

asia college

computer tuesday

dr smith november

ramadan divali

summer work

Exercise 2 Punctuating Sentences Now add in the capital letters and full stops to the passage below: when i arrived home, i was really hungry i looked in the fridge but there was nothing to eat i looked in the freezer but found nothing again, so i decided to get some fish and chips, a bottle of pepsi max and a packet of hula hoops the next night, the same thing happened there was nothing to eat, so i went to the chinese take away and had a pancake roll, sweet and sour pork and egg fried rice mr low was there and he gave me a discount

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Excellence in skills development Information Using Complete Sentences A sentence needs a capital letter at the beginning and a full stop (.), question mark (?), or exclamation mark (!) at the end. Here are some examples of sentences: She is walking. Where are you going? He is hungry. Oh no you don’t! A sentence has to make complete sense. How do we make sure that a sentence makes sense? We do this by using the following parts of speech correctly. NOUNS

A noun is a naming word. There are four kinds of nouns:

a) Proper nouns A proper noun is the name of a particular person or object and it will always begin with a capital letter.

Examples:

names of towns (Mansfield, Luton, Barnsley); rivers (Trent, Thames, Nile); mountains (Everest, Mont Blanc); countries (England, Germany, Brazil); people (John, Shareenah, Janice, Jai).


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Excellence in skills development b) Common nouns

These are the names of animals and objects. Examples: cat, owl, house, table etc.

c) Collective nouns

This is the name given to a group of people or animals. Examples: crowd, audience, congregation, herd, flock.

d) Abstract nouns

An abstract noun is the name of a quality. Examples: kindness, sympathy, evil.

PRONOUNS A pronoun stands instead of a noun. For example: Have you met Kate? becomes: Have you met her? For example: Phil and Sharon went to visit Amarjit and Mike last night. becomes: They went to visit them last night.

VERBS A group of words cannot be a sentence if there is no verb in it. A verb is a doing word, a being word or a having word. Examples:

• I ran. • The boy eats his breakfast quickly. • I walked to catch the bus. • John is a boy’s name. • It has snowed. • We were singing. • I have a pet dog.


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Excellence in skills development ADJECTIVES

An adjective tells us more about a noun. It helps to describe the noun. Examples: • It is a cold day. • We have a large dog. • My car is dirty. • I have a small, brown dog.

ADVERBS

An adverb tells us more about a verb. It helps to describe the verb. It answers the questions “Where?”, “When?” and “How?”. Examples:

• I looked everywhere for my book. • He ran quickly. • I cannot hear you now.

An interesting sentence will combine many of these parts of speech but the important thing is that it makes complete sense on its own. Correct end-of-sentence punctuation is needed to make sense of continuous text.


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Exercise 3 Complete Sentences Look at the following lines of writing. Tick the ones you think are complete sentences and put a cross against those which are not.

1) The lesson I had was

2) The tutor gave me an assignment

3) It was about

4) I had two weeks to finish it

5) My parents and my tutor

6) I was tired

7) I could not help it

8) The lesson started early

9) I was late for

10) The tutor did not stay Now write five complete sentences of your own.

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

Think carefully about the end of sentence punctuation. Now check your answers with your tutor or the answer sheet. If you need to do more work on sentences ask your tutor for some more exercises to practise. Some exercises follow, on using correct end of sentence punctuation.

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Excellence in skills development Information Question Marks and Exclamation Marks A question mark or an exclamation mark is used instead of a full stop at the end of a sentence. Question marks The name “question mark” explains itself. Put it at the end of any sentence which asks a question. The question may be short: Why? Why not? Who? What?

It may be long: If I eat the apples before they are ripe, are you sure that I will get the tummy-ache?

- but in every case you need a question mark at the end.

Examples:

• When do you have to go? • Do you know him? • Did you win?

Each of these sentences asks a question. Therefore it ends in a question mark instead of a full stop. Exclamation marks An exclamation mark at the end of sentence helps the reader to put the right stress, or feeling, into the words he or she reads. Often they have to be said with surprise or excitement. Examples:

• Shut up! • Just wait till I get hold of you! • You can’t go! • Don’t shout! • John has broken three eggs today! • Don’t drink that – you’ve had six pints already! • I never saw such an enormous house in all my life!


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Exercise 4 Question Marks Six of the following ten sentences need question marks. Which are they? 1) What is the date 2) Is it time you went to school 3) There is pizza for supper 4) He had seen it, hadn’t he 5) Julie is nowhere to be found 6) Where does that lead to 7) He wonders what they are discussing 8) Is that the absolute truth 9) The fire is out of control 10) Do you know what time it is Make up five questions each beginning with one of the following: 1) Who 2) What 3) Why 4) When 5) How Exercise 5 Exclamation Marks Which of these sentences could end with an exclamation mark? 1) Clear off 2) Have a cup of tea, Jane 3) What a beautiful day 4) I’ve had my tea, thanks 5) I wonder what his name is 6) Don’t drop that video recorder 7) There is the new chip shop 8) I like a quiet evening by the fire 9) Run 10) He’s killed the lecturer

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Exercise 6 Question Marks and Exclamation Marks With a coloured pen, write the correct punctuation marks in the brackets 1) I wonder what the Greek Islands are like ( )

2) Do you know what the blouse is made of ( )

3) It is absolutely rotten( ) Is it really ( )

4) She has done nothing that you asked her to do ( )

5) Good heavens, he is nowhere to be found ( )

6) Ask her where the train is going to ( )

7) “What is all this about ( )” asked the teacher ( )

8) “Help ( ) help ( )” came the cry from the pit ( )

9) “Why do some people make such a fuss ( )” asked Graeme ( )

10) Where have you put my money ( ) Give it to me immediately ( )

11) “One woman one vote ( ) One woman, one vote ( )” they yelled as they marched

through Mansfield.

12) Where are the gloves that auntie gave you for Christmas ( )

13) It is made of plastic, isn’t it ( )

Exercise 7 ! ? . Replace the asterisks with an exclamation mark, question mark or full stop. 1) Be careful* It’s going to collapse*

2) I wonder whether he’s as clever as he says he is*

3) Do you know if she’s as famous as she claims to be*

4) Where can I find the instructions for this kit*

5) Which days of the week do you go shopping*

6) It can’t be true* What an amazing stroke of luck*

7) Why have they boycotted the World Cup*

8) Well done* That really is unbelievable*

9) What a pity* There’s no reason for it*

10) How are you ever to achieve a qualification when you never study*

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Excellence in skills development Information Commas The main uses are:

1) to mark a pause in a sentence and make it easier to read and understand e.g. He can’t come, I’m afraid.

2) to divide items in a list e.g. Bring your mother, father, brother and sister. 3) to separate part of a sentence which gives information but is not vital

to make it make sense. e.g. The car, so they tell me, is rusting away.

1) Marking a pause in a sentence to make the sentence easier to read and

understand When you read out a passage of English, you pause at the full stop which ends each sentence. You also make shorter pauses within each sentence to make the meaning clearer. These shorter pauses are marked by commas. Examples: Remember, he will be wearing a pink carnation. I didn’t enjoy the cake, but I’m not sure why. “Arthur, bring some oil please.”

2) In lists

When you write a list of short items, you should put a comma after each one. Example: He carried some oranges, apples, a ball of string and some marbles.

Notice that there is usually no comma before the final and. However, if the final part of the sentence is quite long or complicated, it is sometimes acceptable to put a comma in front of the ‘and’. Example: They had spent all morning preparing for departure by packing the car,

checking the windows, watering the plants, and even though they had been working for several hours were still not ready by lunchtime.


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Excellence in skills development 3) In pairs

Sometimes commas act as markers or brackets, separating extra information in the middle of a sentence. Example: 1) I saw a tractor, a relic of the old farm, left to go rusty. and 2) (the tractor was) “a relic of the old farm”. This is made up of two statements, (1) I saw the tractor left to go rusty (2) (the tractor was) a relic of the old farm. The second statement can be placed in the middle of the first, without confusion, by putting a comma before it and after it.


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Exercises 8 - 11 Using Commas 8 Read the sentences and place the commas where they are needed. 1) If you go out take your hat with you. 2) Look there’s a path along the cliff edge. 3) When the bell rings bring the coffee and biscuits. 4) Although there was a shortage we always had enough. 5) Search under the car behind the door and in the garage. 6) She arrived but didn’t stay long. 7) Girls get a couple of badminton rackets. 9 Read these sentences and insert commas where they are needed. 1) We were late as you might well imagine. 2) I don’t think that was kind do you? 3) Mow the grass clean the windows and take the dog for a walk. 4) Holders of vouchers are allowed in free the attendant told me. 5) So that we would believe him he showed us his driving licence. 6) He brought his dog a cocker spaniel. 10 Insert the commas where they are needed in these sentences. 1) The governors headteacher and pupils invite you to the school concert. 2) Chop up your carrots onions parsnips and celery. 3) The packet contained black purple blue green and orange sweets. 4) Books photographs paper maps and clothing were strewn all over the room. 5) Wine spirits perfume cigarettes cigars and tobacco were all sold in the duty free

shop. 11 A pair of commas would be appropriate in each of the following sentences,

indicate where. 1) The nightwatchman hearing a strange noise rushed to investigate. 2) Some people I must admit much prefer red to blue. 3) Autumn season of falling leaves is past. 4) He ran he asserted ten miles at least. 5) It is the right time of the season so I am told to sign new players.

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Self Test

Exercise 12 Rewrite these passages adding commas where needed.

The team’s captain Zoe Brown is an outstanding performer. She is an enthusiastic player a good leader and a likeable girl. She knows when to urge her team on when to encourage them and when to reprimand them. In the match last Sunday which was played against a strong side Zoe led her players to victory. When she turned back to the window she raised herself on one elbow and removed her quilt. She saw the ghost take some keys from his pocket. He began to work on the lock to the safe ripping out the woodwork below it. Just as he tore the last board loose the safe fell on to the floor with a thud. The door of the safe shot open and golden coins spilled out. The ghost squatted and pulled more coins of gold and silver from the safe. Then he began to put the coins in piles counting in a hoarse voice. She began to have doubts about this ghost.

Exercise 13 Write out the following sentences, clearly punctuated, adding commas where

needed. 1) The postman visited Oaktree Road Beech Avenue and Poplar Street. 2) His hobbies are collecting old cars new stamps ginger jars and beer mats. 3) His grandmother they tell me is a unique character. 4) That’s true in some instances according to the rules but not in others. 5) “Upstairs” Jane murmurs and mutters in her sleep. 6) She has taken just a few personal things – toothbrush toothpaste and cleansing

cream. 7) David like everyone else is wearing jeans and a polo-neck shirt. 8) You are not if you don’t mind me saying so too good a singer. 9) My grandmother who died recently at the age of ninety-one was a life-long activist in

the Mothers’ Union. 10) The man watched her and when she was quieter he pulled her towards him and

swam with her towards the bank. 11) They forgot why the child once so quiet had turned so nasty.

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Excellence in skills development Information The Omissive Apostrophe (shortening words) The apostrophe looks like this ’. The apostrophe is used to cut words and make them shorter. For example: could not is cut or shortened and becomes couldn’t. we have is cut or shortened and becomes we’ve. The apostrophe goes where the letters have been missed out when you join the 2 words together. Its use is a sign of informal writing. The shortened form of these words should not be used in more formal writing. Exercise 14 Omissive Apostrophe See if you can put the apostrophes where they belong in the sentences below. The words you need to shorten are underlined. 1) I could not understand the work I had to do for my assignment.

2) My friend said to me, “Do not be late for tea.”

3) We have decided not to go on holiday this year.

4) If you revise for your exams, you will do well.

5) I will not forget what has happened.

6) I was not happy with the service I received.

7) You are the right person for the job.

8) The job is good but it is a long way from home.

9) After thinking long and hard, I have decided to leave college.


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Excellence in skills development Information Other Punctuation Not all texts use complete sentences. Different purposes require different forms of the written word. For example lists may require a slightly different format and, therefore, different punctuation to make the purpose clear. Examples: Things to remember for Sunday’s hike:

- walking boots; - waterproof clothing; - spare socks; - hot drink in a thermos; - sandwiches; - sugary snack; - warm hat.

Note: the colon ( : ) before the list and the use of dashes ( - ) before each item in the vertical list. Bullet points ( ) or something similar could have been used instead of the dashes. There is a full stop at the end because the introductory comment and the list together make a complete sentence. Semi colons are used within the list.


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Excellence in skills development Exercise 15 Punctuating Texts Which Are Not Sentences Rewrite the following text, which is not a complete sentence, so that the meaning is clearer for the reader. TV programmes to tape next week Monday Friends 4.30 Coronation Street 7.30 Tuesday Changing Rooms 6.30 Wednesday Coronation Street 7.30 Panorama 9.00 Thursday Question Time 10.30 Friday Coronation Street 7.30 Saturday Friends Omnibus not sure what time you’ll need to look it up. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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