基础英语写作-英文标点符号的规范使用

英语写作Hellothere!Howareyoutoday?Welcometoourwritingclass!Todaywearegoingtolearnabout“punctuation”.

Todaywewilllearncomma,period,semicolon,colon,questionmark,andexclamationmark.

Acommaisusedtojoincoordinateclauses.Itisputbeforetheconjunction(and,but,or,for,so,nor,oryet)

Forexample：

1.Westartedearlyinthemorning,andbeforedarkwereachedthevillage.

2.Hewantedtogoon,butotherpeopledisagreed.

Weshouldrememberthatcoordinateclauseshavetobejoinedwithacommaandaconjunction.OnecommaalonecannotdothejobthoughitispossibleinChinese.Usingacommatolinktwoclausesisacommonmistakewhichhasaname:thecommafaultorthecommasplice.Butwecanuseasemicolon,adash,oracolonbetweentwocoordinateclauses(seeexplanationsofthesemarks).Nonrestrictiveclausesandphrasesaresetoffbycommas.

Forexample:

1.At22sheleftthecollege,whereshehadspentfourfruitfulandmemorableyears.

2.MissWang,whohasreturnedfromAmericanwithadoctor’sdegree,isgoingtoofferacourseinAmericanhistory.

3.Mr.Huang,thenewdirectorofthecompany,willsoonannouncehisplansforreforms.

4.Thespeaker,afterglancingathisnotes,begantotalkaboutthenextpoint.Restrictiveclausesandphrasesarenotsetoffbycommas.

Forexample:

TheeconomistwhodevelopedthisnewtheoryofinvestmenthasbeenawardedaNobelPrize.

Thisisthelabwherestudentslistentotapesandseefilms.

commassetoffparentheticalelements:

Forexample:

1.Themachineyouhavesuppliedus,I’mgladtotellyou,workverywell.

2.ManyinterestingplacesinBeijing,suchastheSummerPalaceandtheTempleofHeaven,attractthousandsofvisitorsdaily.

Theperiodisusedwithmostabbreviations:

Forexample:

1.Mr.Mrs.Ms.Dr.U.S.A.U.K.a.m.p.m.

2.Butsomepeopleprefernottousetheperiodwithabbreviations.

3.TheyjustwriteMr,Ms,etc.Namesofwell-knownorganizations,newsagenciesandbroadcastingcorporationsareoftenwrittenwithoutperiods,likeUN,UNESCO,NATO,VOA,BBC.Thesemicolonisusedbetweentwocoordinateclauseswhicharenotlinkedbyaconjunction.

forexample:

1.Shedoesn’tlikethisfilm;sheisdisgustedwithit.

Shewasinterestedinhistoryafewyearsago;todayhermaininterestisinanthropology.

2.Eachoftheabovetwosentencescanbeturnedintotwoseparatesentenceswithoutanychangeinmeaning.

Butthereisthisdifference:thetwopartsinonesentenceseemmorecloselyconnectedthantheyareastwosentences.Ontheotherhand,thetwopartsgetgreateremphasisastwosentences.Conjunctiveadverbsliketherefore,however,nonetheless,hence,otherwise,besides,moreover,etc.,shouldnotbeusedasconjunctionstolinktwocoordinateclauses.

Forexample:

1.Beforethemthereshouldbeasemicolon,notacomma.

2.Hepromisedtocometothemeeting;however,hedidn’tappear.Thecolonisusedtointroduceaquotationorastatement.

Forexample:

Itwilldoeveryonegoodtorememberthisoldsaying:“onewillknowthathedoesnotknowenoughafterbeginstolearn.”Thequestionmarkisusedafteradirectquestion.

Forexample:

“WhendidtheNormanConquesttakeplace?”theteacherasked.Theexclamationmarkisusedafteranexclamatorysentence,oranemphaticinterjection,oraphraseexpressingstrongemotion.

Forexample:

HowbeautifulYellowMountainis!OK,let’shaveabriefreview.Today,welearned:

1)TheComma（回放P3）

2)ThePeriod（回放P6）

3)TheSemicolon（回放P7）

4)TheColon(:)（回放P9）

5)TheQuestionMark(?)（回放P10）

6)TheexclamationMark(!)（回放P11）Homework:

mostAmericanpeoplearefondofcatsandordogsitissaidthateveryyeartheyspendabout$5.4billionontheirpetsincluding$1.5billionon