Punctuation, Part II

This post is a continuation of a previous post that I had posted some time last week. This is the second part to my "Punctuation, Part I" post and has been titled, "Punctuation, Part II." Again, I will explore several more topics on punctuation as laid out in the Rules for Writers textbook.

Cbaile19. "A teacher explains common punctuation marks." 11/18/2014 via Wikimedia. Public Domain Dedication.

1. The Apostrophe

The infamous apostrophe can has multiple applications that can confuse the mind to extent of no understanding. It can have uses for display of possession or for omissions of certain contraction and numbers. For use in possession, an apostrophe is attached to a noun to indicate a possession of the noun to another noun, whether it be an object or a person. An apostrophe can be used in singular or plural nouns either way. Other kinds of possessive uses include for use in joint possession and for use in compound nouns.

An apostrophe can also be used to indicate that an indefinite pronoun is possessive. Another entirety that apostrophes can be used in is for omissions in contractions and numbers. It's is shortened from It is, and can't is a compression of cannot. In numbers, an apostrophe can be used to omit the beginning of certain meaning such as in years -- if the class of 2008 is due to graduate this year, then it can also be mentioned that that class of '08 are seniors.

2. Quotation Marks

Quotations primarily are used to enclose direct quotations of another person's spoken or written words. Other uses are for titles or short works, for words used in place of other words, and, but not limited to, for use with brackets and ellipsis marks.

Quotes are often used incorrectly, especially when used with the wrong punctuation markings. If a quote being used in a work contains a punctuation already from the original source, then the end quotation mark should be place on the outside of the punctuation. If the phrase or word being sourced does not include end punctuation then the use of quotations must be place around just the word(s) being used.

3. End Punctuation

If you were confused about what exactly is "end punctuation," here is a quick breakdown and reflection of what I have learned what it is. Examples of end punctuation include the period, the question mark, the exclamation mark, and also uses of dashes, parentheses, brackets, ellipsis, and slashes.

Uses for these markings range widely. For a period, it can be used to end a sentence, usually being a statement as that is what a period indicates. If a question mark comes after a statement, it is then used to ask a subject whether the action stated has been completed. When an exclamation is presented, then a reader must emphasize the phrase or word that is contained with that certain punctuation.

The other examples stated above can range for uses. Many times each one of those uses mark a change in clauses or lead into a dependent clause. Overall, those punctuation markings are used to separate or tie in ideas from multiple clauses.