Category: Punctuation

Question Marks 



A question mark should be used at the end of a direct question.

How many eggs shall I buy?
Where is dad?
Who would like an ice-cream?

Different types of question

Tag questions:
A tag question is formed by first making a statement then adding a ‘tag’ to turn it in to a question.


When the statement is positive the tag is negative and vice-versa as you can see in the examples below. Tag questions always end in a question mark.

We should have set off earlier, shouldn’t we ?
John ate all the crisps, didn’t he?
You don’t have any change, do you?
Mary has already set off home, hasn’t she?

Indirect questions
In an indirect question the speaker is reporting the asking of a question and not actually asking a direct question. Indirect questions just need a full stop not a question mark.

I asked mum if we could have a lift to town.
The teacher asked Paul to collect in the homework.
I wonder what I will get for Christmas.
I wonder why my uncle is wearing dark glasses.

Knowledge of the tagged question, the direct question and the indirect question should be enough to allow the general population to achieve the required standard as for as the UK National Curriculum is concerned.

Of course, there are other situations in which decisions need to be made about whether or not to employ a question mark. Teachers can decide on a pupil by pupil basis if their explanation will be appropriate or whether it might ‘muddy the waters’.

After abbreviations:
Sometimes a question might end with a fun stop whicn if part of an abbreviated name. In this case the question mark should come after the final full stop.

The car has broken down, do you have the number for the R.A.C.?
Is the Grand National being broadcast by the B.B.C.?

Polite instructions:
We Brits don’t like to appear brusque, so when we are telling people what to do we often couch the instruction as a request. When a polite instruction takes the form of a question, no question mark is required.

Would everyone wishing to purchase tickets please form an orderly queue.

Multiple questions for effect:
Sometimes as a literary device writers will offer multiple options at the end of a question. Each of the options should have its own question mark.

Who is responsible for a child’s education? the school? the parents? the state?

Commas :  finally, a few other bits… 



For more about commas see our Punctuation Overview page.

There are a couple of other interesting bits when it comes to using commas. They have, I am sure, very technical explanations which will almost certainly be beyond the ability of us mere mortals to comprehend. However, they are not particularly difficult to put into practice, so here goes..

Use a comma when addressing someone or something directly in a sentence:

Dad shouted ”Get down, Megan!” when the dog jumped up at grandma.”Mum, can we have fish and chips for tea?”

Remember that commas can save lives…

When children say, ” Let’s eat, grandad.” it is much less sinister than when they say,”Let’s eat grandad…”

With ‘however’:

When however means “on the other hand” or “but” it is usual to separate it from the rest of the sentence with a comma.

Mum wanted to go shopping. However, dad took us to the cinema instead.
Sports day is cancelled, however, it will now be held on Tuesday.

When however means “in whatever way” then the comma is not needed.

However hard he tried, Peter could not beat his friend John at snooker.

Commas : to separate clauses 



For more about commas see our Punctuation Overview page.

A complex sentence is one that consists of a main clause and at least one subordinate clause. When writing complex sentences, commas are used to separate clauses.

Being alone in the house, Sally was feeling afraid. 
I first tried tapas in Spain, whilst l was on holiday.

In the sentences above, the intended meaning would remain if the subordinate clauses were to be removed.

Though this level of information is probably sufficient in the primary classroom, it is worth noting that there are different types of subordinate clauses. Some of these clauses do not require commas to separate them from the main clause…

A subordinate clause that begins with ‘who’, ‘whom’, ‘which’, ‘where’ or ‘that’ is known as a relative clause. A relative clause may be a restrictive relative clause or a non-restrictive relative clause.

Here is an example of a restrictive relative clause.

People who have ticket numbers between l and 50 may come to the front of the queue. 

A restrictive relative clause contains information that is essential to the meaning of the sentence. In the example, if you take out the clause ‘who have ticket numbers between 1 and 50’ then the whole point of the sentence is negated. This is a restrictive relative clause.

A restrictive relative clause should not have commas placed round it.

Here is an example of a non-restrictive relative clause:

Simon, who was simply not tall enough, could not ride on the roller coaster. 

In this example the clause ‘who was simply not tall enough’ is a non-restrictive relative clause. If it were to be removed,  it would not significantly alter the meaning of the sentence. This is similar to the way in which commas are used like brackets in a previous section.

As a rule of thumb, if you can’t miss out the clause then you can leave out the commas…

Commas : in direct speech



For more about commas see our Punctuation Overview page.

On occasions when a writer quotes the exact words that have been spoken we say that ‘direct speech’ has been used. Often, Information about who is speaking comes just before the direct speech.

When this happens a comma is used to indicate that the narrative is about to give way to the direct speech.

Jane said, “Hello.”

Note that the initial comma comes before the opening quotation mark and the full stop at the end of the quotation comes before the closing quotation mark. It is a pretty good rule of thumb that any punctuation associated with quotation marks are usually to the left of the inverted commas as you look at them on the page.

If the piece of direct speech comes before any information about who is speaking, then a comma is placed  inside the quotation marks.

“You must be joking,” remarked George.
“Have a drink,” he said.

Again, the ‘punctuation to the left’ rule of thumb works.

If the direct speech is in the form of a question or an exclamation, then instead of a comma, a question mark or an exclamation mark is used.

“Go away!” she screamed.
“Do you have any change?” asked the bus conductor.

Often, a piece of direct speech is broken up by the information about who is speaking. In this case, a comma ends the first section of direct speech and is inserted before the second section of direct speech begins.

Note that our rule about keeping punctuation to the left of quotation marks still works here too …

“Don’t do that,” said dad, “you’ll get hurt.”
“Go quickly,” she said, “it will soon be dark.”

Commas : as brackets (parentheses) 



For more about commas see our Punctuation Overview page.

Commas can be used like brackets – to separate off a part of the sentence that is an ‘aside’ or comment and not really part of the main thrust of the sentence…

When in Spain, naturally, I enjoy the local cuisine.
Money, of course, does not grow on trees.

In these examples, the commas work in a similar way to those that are put round non-restrctive relative clauses (scary stuff!), which is simply to say that they separate off information that is not essential to the overall meaning of the sentences.

However there are occasions when the use of commas changes or clarifies what the writer intended, for example:

My brother, John, is a professional footballer.

The writer’s use of commas suggests that he only has one brother. The fact that this brother’s name is John is offered as an aside, a little extra,unnecessary information.

In the end the meaning of the sentence is not altered by the addition of the extra fact…

My brother is a professional footballer.

…conveys the same meaning.

However, if the sentence is written without the commas its meaning is somewhat different…

My brother John is a professional footballer.

The lack of commas suggests that the writer has more than one brother and that the one that is the professional footballer is John. Because ‘John’ is integral to the meaning, no commas are needed.

So, if you are unsure about whether or not you need these types of commas then try replacing them with a pair of brackets or just leaving out the information that is between them.

If the meaning of the sentence remains the same then the information inside the commas is an aside so you can keep the commas; if the meaning of the sentence changes then maybe no brackets or commas were needed…

Commas : in lists… 



For more about commas see our Punctuation Overview page.

When a sentence contains a list of items, it is usual to put a comma after each item in the list except for between the last two items – this place usually has the word ‘and’.

I went to the zoo yesterday where I saw lions, tigers, monkeys, zebras and snakes.
My favourite tea is sausage, egg, chips and beans.

Sometimes it is better to put a comma before the ‘and’ in a list of items. This is particularly true when there might be some confusion about the meaning.

For instance in this sentence:

My favourite sandwiches are cheese, ham, salad and bacon and egg.

It might be unclear whether the writer likes his bacon and egg in the same sandwich or in separate sandwiches. By putting in a comma after the penultimate item, it becomes dear that the writer intends ‘bacon and egg’ to be a single sandwich, thus:

My favourite sandwiches cheese, ham, salad, and bacon and egg.

The final comma in these lists, before the word ‘and’, is called the ‘serial comma’.

Not every writer uses a comma in this position; it is optional. It is also known as the ‘Oxford’ Comma because Oxford dictionaries always use it.

We can also, of course, use lists of adjectives to describe a noun; when we do this, the adjectives are separated by commas. The commas go between the adjectives. Note there is no comma between the last adjective in the list and the noun that follows it.

Red Riding Hood was afraid of the big, bad, ugly, snarling wolf.

More about adjectives here… Adjectives Overview

 

aaa
%d bloggers like this: