| A | B |
|---|
| Comma | use after each item in a series of at least three items |
| Comma | use after the street address and city in an address |
| Comma | use between the day and the year in a date |
| Comma | use to clarify large numbers. Counting from right to left |
| Comma | use to set off an interruption in the main thought of a sentence. |
| Comma | use to separate 2 or more adjective that really equally modify the same noun. |
| Comma | use after a dependent clause that begins a sentence. |
| Comma | use before the conjuction in a compound sentence |
| Comma | when quoting |
| Comma | use after a mild interjection such as oh or well |
| Comma | use after a noun of direct address |
| Comma | use after the greeting in a personal letter |
| Comma | use after the closing of a letter |
| Comma | use to indicate where a pause is necessary in order to avoid confusion |
| Comma | use after an appositive |
| comma | use to set off the abbreviation |
| exclamation point | use to indicate strong emotion |
| semicolon | use to join two independent clauses |
| semicolon | use to separate items when those items contain other punctuation |
| question mark | use at the end of an interrogatory sentence |
| question mark | use at the end of a declarative statement that you want to emphasize as not being believable |
| question mark | use with parentheses to indcate that you are not sure of a spelling or other fact |
| colon | use between numerals indicating hours and minutes |
| colon | use after the greeting of a business letter |
| colon | use to introduce a liast that appears after an independent clause |
| colon | use between two items when mentioning a volume and page number |
| colon | use between the title and subtitle of a book |
| colon | use between the chapter and verse numbers for parts of the Bible |
| period | use at the end of a sentence |
| period | use after an initial |
| period | use after an abbreviation |
| period | use as a decimal point |
| period | use to separate dollars and cents |
| period | use after each number in a list printed vertically |
| apostrophe | use in a contraction to show where letters have been left out |
| apostrophe | use when you leave out the first two numbers of a year |
| apostrophe | use with a singular noun that does not end in 's; add 's |
| apostrophe | use for a one syllable singular noun that is possessive |
| apostrophe | to form the possessive of a singular proper noun ending in -s |
| apostrophe | add an 's if a plural nun ends in -s |
| apostrophe | if a plural noun does not end with an -s |
| apostrophe | for a compound noun |
| apostrophe | to show possession of the same object by more than 1 noun |
| apostrophe | use to form the plural of a number |
| quotation marks | use before and after a direct quote |
| quotation marks | use around the titles of articles |
| quotation marks | place around words |
| quotation marks | use a single set within quotations |
| quotation marks | any punctuation used goes to the left of this |
| hyphen | use on compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine |
| hyphen | use between the numbers in a fraction |
| hyphen | use to form compound words |
| hyphen | use to join a capital letter to a word |
| hyphen | use to attach an afterthought to a complete sentence |
| hyphen | use after a series of introductory elements |
| parentheses | use around a word or phrases that adds information or makes an idea more clear |
