.Copyright, Terry Gibson, BA, MEd

Be Grammar-Confident Leisurely Crash Course in Written English An oxymoron of course. . Course A-1 . . . . . Grefs Open GLOSSARY in Course C-1 Reference-reading Lessons Getting Started . . . . .. . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . Block and Indented Paragraphs Punctuation Overview Caution: If using Firefox, Windows recommended . . . . .Course A-1 is one of a set of eight PARTS 1 to 8 . .This, about paragraphs, and punctuation, quotations.. . . . Self-test   Click to Move Within This Course   A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8  Active when red   Click to Find Other Courses   Course B Course C Course D Course E

Swan's Practical English Usage, published by Oxford is the 1995 text that serves as reference. It is recent but will be replaced within the next few years as we get more and more muddled. . . . . . .Both British and American Forms are updated. e.g. dialog, US .

Just to start on the same page: Paragraphs A paragraph may be a single sentence, or a group of related sentences where all belong together for the same purpose. In formal poetry, stanzas (verses) have a similar function. What is a sentence? A sentence has a complete thought, having at least a subject and a verb. The subject can be a noun or pronoun, or a group of words telling what it is about, and the verb (bare predicate) often is an action word telling what it does. [More later.] So, what is a subject, a noun, a pronoun, a verb? Stay tuned for examples. Or if impatient, see a dictionary!

. These pages are the explanations I would have given if I were able to sit beside you, answering questions. (That is a use of the subjunctive verb, because of course, it has to be a virtual visit! ) From time to time, a message such as this may ask if it is confusing yet. --Terry .

. What follows is an example of "block" paragraphing. It is used in formal reports and technical writing. It has a blank line between paragraphs but not between lines within the paragraph. Below, the punctuation is red and enlarged to make it obvious. Repeat, within each paragraph it is single-spaced. (Note, Fiction will use indented paragraphs.). .

Punctuating Prose . . .Check how punctuation is used.

. . . . 1. . . . To someone on a boat, it looked like two couples on the patio watching the gulls on a warm and sunny afternoon, in quiet conversation over drinks. Not an ordinary patio, this one was part of the glass-walled offices of the major employer in East Bay, a town of less than five thousand. Neither were they two couples. .It was a staff meeting, a secret one but for NorEl, of extreme importance even so.. Note a hyphen, six commas and four periods above. .

. . . . 2 Sonya Fischer, as secretary to the President, had brought irregularities to the attention of Harry Newcomb who in turn, suggested that Carlo Palmer ask his secretary Dina Mitchell to join them. On the surface, not an earth-shaking event. To these four, they were staring at catastrophe. Note a hyphen, four commas and three periods. In green, there is a sentence fragment with [it was] understood. .

. . . . 3 "So many setbacks have already impacted the status quo," Harry summed up. In the unbalanced budget they had already established it as a recent problem. Note the quotation marks are followed by a comma if the comment is followed by the speaker, Harry above. Note also, there is a double space after the period, single after the comma. (Double not permitted by some software.) .

The Comma, Period, Ellipsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . You should have seen the use of comma, sometimes to separate phrases, or in a longer sentence, to permit taking a breath when reading aloud. In a quotation, use a comma if followed by the speaker. . Commas should also have real reason to be used, to clarify meaning. It is important to avoid overuse. Some may easily be replaced with period and a capital, but that can result in choppy form..... The ellipsis ( ... ) says there is more we could have said because it has no period at the end. .

. (in 3) 'In the unbalanced budget they had already established....' Note it is not needed after 'budget.' Can you read through it smoothly? Note the four dots, a use of an ellipsis, more not said. . (in2) A sentence fragment with its [subject and verb 'understood,'] is permitted when the meaning is clear. On the surface, [ it was ] not an earth-shaking event. (More later on hyphens) . And (in 3), in "So many setbacks have already impacted the status quo," Harry summed up. We see the use of quotation marks. "We hear only what is between Q-marks," she shouted.. . . . . . (in 2) The little line is the hyphen, 'offices,' and 'event' are NOUNS glass-walled offices earth-shaking event A hyphen is needed when two related .words describe the same noun. They are not glass offices, not walled offices, but glass-walled offices. They are not earth events, not shaking events, but earth-shaking events. .

. I avoid rules, preferring to show rather than tell, using examples wherever possible. Yet-- perhaps attention can be directed? --Terry .

.. . . . . . .Every game has its rules. PARAGRAPHS do too. paragraph 1, New topic: introduces what, where, and who. All belong together in the same paragraph.. paragraph 2, New topic: introduces four characters, and why they are there. paragraph 3, New speaker: Harry speaks. The reason why belongs in the same paragraph. ---------------- .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .

. . . . .. . . .. . . .PUNCTUATION in DIALOGUE. . . . . . .The Question mark? The Exclamation mark! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HOW DIALOGUE PUNCTUATION WORKS (Dialog, US) Paragraphs in dialog are often quite short. Indented here. (When only two are speaking, and no confusion is likely, they need not always be identified.) [Note the comma within quotation marks. ! and ? are inside too.] ( If in doubt whether to use a ? or an ! choose according to emotion: ? if it doesn't matter much, but ! if it does! ) ........His impatience was plain: "Aren't you ready yet?" He had been snappy all morning. ... ..."I hear you," she muttered. ......"No way! Move it." ......I wish it weren't so, she thought. ...............Note: a thought is not quoted because it is not heard. .........The ". . . ," Quotation-marks contain all other punctuation. .........Indented means moved at least 5 spaces in from the margin. Other than the first line of each paragraph, .all other lines start as usual at the margin. ( dent = tooth, like bitten out, in html at top, background colour.) ......Check out any published novel; there is no blank line .. between paragraphs. (In html, hold Shift, then Enter to get a single space. Enter alone gives a double space.) .

. . . . PARAGRAPHING DIALOGUE (dialog in US)   paragraph 4 has a change of speaker: Sonya. (Short but complete) paragraph 5 has a change of speaker: Dina. It also describes the speaker's position which leads to the rest of what she says. ..........speaker's has an apostrophe to show ownership. .. . .. . . . .. . . .

.  [NOTE the paragraphing: Indented paragraphing, used in almost all fiction, stories, novels, and in newspaper reports and articles.] This is one use of "square" brackets: EDITORIAL COMMENT. The colon ( : ) tells that an explanation follows. (or a list.). .

. . . . 4 ......."We never ran into this while Gwen was with us," Sonya said. Harry had been the last to speak. Now it is Sonya. New paragraph. . .

. . . . 5 ....... "Exactly," Dina agreed. As a long-term employee, Dina had seen people come and go. "Gwen Green was always on top of everything that went on here; nothing and nobody could get past her high standards." The speaker did not change so it all fits in the same paragraph. Also, it prevents "orphan speeches," where it would be confusing not to know who is speaking. .

. paragraph 6 has a change of speaker: a comment by Carlo, giving us a hint of his personality. NOTE the use of commas to set off the speaker. Also, check out the apostrophes in it's, meaning it is, and we've, we have. ( The dog licked its sore paw. No apostrophe. ) paragraph 7 has a change of speaker: a long explanation by Sonya. We see why their fears for Gwen are particularly hard on Sonya. paragraph 8 has a change of speaker: Harry's warm relationship with his employees is clear. We have already found that there is a good reason why top executives in the company are on easy first-name terms. [ Not first terms, not name terms, it was first-name terms. ] .

. . . . 6 .......  . . . . "I guess it's human nature," Carlo sadly said, "to appreciate people after we've lost them." .

. . . . 7 ....... "We loved her even before." Sonya surrepticiously caught a tear. "I have been needing to say some things for weeks now. Gwen was my mentor when I first joined you here; she made me welcome. She showed me the personal skills that create teams working together. You remember I was just a file clerk when I started, but she showed how to help others do their jobs when needed. I am sure that I would not have been promoted out of the secretarial pool without knowing that." Same speaker all the way, shown by what she does, and by having the same topic throughtout. .

. . . . 8 ....... Harry smiled. "Best decision we ever made." ....... Note that the comma comes only AFTER what is said within " ". .

. We can learn from a part of a manuscript. Here we have two main things, how to avoid repeating 'he asked, she said, they demanded' with another way to show who speaks. The other, Harry smiled. Although a smile can speak of happiness and agreement, the understanding is silent. No Q-marks! .

.6: Note the placement of he said into the middle of the quotation. Note also, use of an apostrophe to replace a letter in it's, [it is]. . 7: Theatrical script writers call it 'business' when a named character does something. Here catching a tear identifies the speaker. . 8: Never assume that smiling and speaking are the same thing. Harry smiled. "Best decision we ever made." [NOTE especially, the period after smiled. He smiled. Smiling, he said,... would be correct too with a slight change in meaning.] . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [Brackets] [ ] and (parentheses) ( ) [An insertion such as this one to tell some of the "RULES" is one use of "square" brackets. Brackets are often used by editors and teachers for their comments. (This also shows another use of quotation marks to draw attention to "square.") The closing bracket closes the whole thing. ] "Square" Brackets can enclose parentheses. Parentheses never contain brackets. .

. . . . ... . . . . . . . ... . . . [Note: Your careful reading allows 1 and 2 to be optional. Do if you feel uncertain what they are. GLOSSARY in Course C-1 ] . . ... . .. . . . . .Punctuation Assignment A1a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Treasure hunt ! Dictionary Exercise using the entire content of this unit. Apply the definitions to find examples of each of the following. Copy-paste the best example for each. 1. comma, . . .period, . . .question mark, . . .exclamation mark, . . .colon, . . .semicolon, . . .parentheses, . . .brackets 2. Paste examples to show the difference in uses of . . ."quotation marks " . . ' 'single quotation marks ' . . .[Note, singles can be contained within doubles, but . . .. . .. . never the other way around. Except in UK? Tell if it applies. ] 3. Give two different examples of the use of an apostrophe, .. . contraction with verbs, (See Glossary) . . .possessive with nouns. . . .(Never, not EVER possessive of a pronoun.) 4. Two different ways to use an ellipsis. Examples... and .... . . [ Clue: the fourth dot is a period. ] 5. Three examples of a hyphen joining two related adjectives both describing the same noun 6. Two examples of a hyphen joining an adjective and a noun to create a compound adjective modifying a noun. .. .It will be graded out of fifteen . . ..Assignment A1b . . . . ... . . . . . . . ... . .PARAGRAPHING:. At work, Gwen's friends worry about her unexplained absence, and remember nice things about her. To do all assignments, save time! Copy the thing, paste it into Notepad , and then make the changes it needs. Sort it into paragraphs with single blank line between, or into indented paragraphs with no blanks lines. Like this [Clue: "know . . . " "I-- two sets of quotation marks from different people] Here, use the facts, especially for the hyphen, ellipsis and the dash. The other punctuation has been left intact as clues. [ When are ellipses used, and how are their use and the use of a dash different? Show it. ] Sort it into paragraphs. [Clue: "know . . . " ". . . , two sets of quotation marks from different people] Marking? There are several right ways it may be done. It just has to make sense.--- . . . . .SEPARATE INTO PARAGRAPHS .Important: Do not leave "orphan" speech D and do not delete or rearrange words. . "Thank you, but it was Gwen. She made it possible. Such a good friend... Sorry," Sonya found a tissue. "I don't know " "I do," Dina said. "She was much more than eagle-eyed " "No-nonsense, against waste!" "Sure Harry, but that was her secret!" Carlo is right. "We all knew about Gwen's quick wit. Her comment could leave us puzzled, knowing it would be hilarious if we caught it." "I saw it ripple though her audience one day," Dina added. "Just a few words. No reaction, and Gwen went on talking." "I think I was there. Later, suddenly like a bulb switched on, meaning hit. A soft cough, heaving shoulders." Sonya blew her nose. Should happy things make us cry? Gwen was such a gentle person, completely at peace within and with the world, happy, yet very much aware of the position of trust that she held. They had gone silent. "We are talking about Gwen as if she's dead." . . . . . .AND FOR OUR POETS .. . .. Verses are Paragraphing for poets. . . . . .   . . ... . . . . . . . ...Assignment A1c See also B1b ( . . . ... . . . . . . To see what you already can do. Generally the same paragraphing rules apply in poetry, except for line lengths. It is of course, a guide only. When the location or topic changes, start a new stanza. < enter > . dot < enter > (hitting enter) next verse: This process will save the space between if using certain software and E-mail for submitting "homework." It is really annoying to see the blank lines disappear on arrival. Use the details above, ( or your own, whatever it inspires ) in a 10 to 14-line poem, not necessarily rhymed. Punctuation of poetry is similar to what we have in prose. That is, quite often lines will not need commas at the end. If the sentence continues to the next line it may be wrong to be punctuated. Remember however, that meaning can be clarified with midline punctuation. Use it to best advantage. Separate stanzas as for block paragraphs with a blank line between. Remember it is the meaning, the emotional content, that really makes a poem-- and a joy when one finds you! . .

. Updated April 28 2008 Please submit graded answers to AP Class box if not placed by Teacher, advancing to a higher level. We have had trouble in the submit-box in AP toward the trophy when ungraded work has been submitted. By submitting graded works into the box, they cannot be lost! Your five best assignments are now the minimum for a trophy. That means the pressure is off as you do the advanced #6, #7 and #8 worth a percentage of 60 bonus points dependent on your results. For students achieving at least 90% and expecting to continue to complete all 8, after the first and last four, there are two trophies. An evaluation form will be sent to get five submissions demanded by the software. For full feedback, please send your E-mail address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Back to Top or onward to Part A2 . . . . . . . .. . Copyright: Tiled wallpaper drawn by Terry Gibson 1996