1. Punctuation rules Apostrophes and dashes By Arundathie
Abeysinghe Lecturer in English International Aviation Academy
SriLankan Airlines 1 Arundathie Abeysinghe
2. Rule 1 Use apostrophes with contractions e.g. isnt, dont
Theyre coming. To show plural possession, make the noun plural
first. Then use an apostrophe. e.g. two children's hats two mens
ties 2Arundathie Abeysinghe
3. Rule 3 Use apostrophes to show possession e.g. a girls hat
Ms. Wetzels car Use apostrophes for nouns ending in s after the s
e.g. Mr. Strauss car 3Arundathie Abeysinghe
4. Rule 4 Use an apostrophe and s after the second name if two
people possess the same item e.g. Aditya and Monicas class will
start next week. Use an apostrophe where the noun that should
follow is implied. This was his daughters, not his house.
4Arundathie Abeysinghe
5. Rule 5 Use apostrophes for compound nouns to show possession
e.g. My sister-in-laws office If the compound noun is plural, form
the plural first and then use the apostrophe. e.g. My three
sister-in-law's houses 5Arundathie Abeysinghe
6. Rule 6 Never use an apostrophe with possessive pronouns e.g.
his, hers, its, theirs, ours, yours Why ??? They already show
possession They do not require an apostrophe An apostrophe is used
for it's when it is a contraction for it is or it has 6Arundathie
Abeysinghe
7. Dashes Rule 1 To indicate sudden changes in tone or thought
or to insert a comment e.g. Monica is happy-we all are-about your
good results. Arundathie Abeysinghe 7
8. Rule 2 Separate words in the middle of a sentence e.g. Tom
Samuelthe chairmans most trusted financial advisorwill resign today
after the press briefing. Arundathie Abeysinghe 8
9. Rule 3 To emphasize explanatory material e.g. The writer is
by nature a dreamer-a conscious dreamer.-Carson McCullers
Arundathie Abeysinghe 9
10. Rule 4 To indicate omitted letters or words e.g. Oh, sh -,
I forgot to send the mail Arundathie Abeysinghe 10
11. Rule 5 To connect a beginning phrase to the rest of the
sentence e.g. Michigan, USA; Sydney, Australia; Zurich, Switzerland
these are ideal places to live. Arundathie Abeysinghe 11