What's wrong?
What am I?
What am I, the sequel
Punctuation Hodge Podge
More Hodge Podge
100
What's wrong with the following: July, 2012 was one hot month.
What is the comma? It's not needed.
100
I end sentences that aren't questions.
What is a period.
100
I indicate a question has been asked.
What is a question mark?
100
True or false: A comma should separate the month and year in a date.
What is false. September 2012 is correct, not September, 2012.
100
True or false: Can any two sentences be united with a semicolon?
What is false. Sentences should not be combined unless they are closely related to each other.
200
What's wrong with the following: Rob said "I refuse to let you dump me."
What is the missing comma after said?
200
I can unite independent clauses in a sentence without a coordinating conjunction. I can also separate items in a series that have commas within them.
What is a semicolon?
200
I indicate a pause.
What is a comma?
200
These indicate a shift in tone or a meaningful pause when writing dialogue.
What is a dash?
200
When joining two independent clauses, you should place a comma here.
What is before the coordinating conjunction?
300
What's wrong with the following: The kids brought their grandma: flowers, chocolate, slippers, and a magazine.
What is the colon? The kids brought their grandma is not an independent clause, so it should not be followed by a colon. No punctuation is necessary.
300
I am used when indicating strong emotion, surprise or urgency. Use me sparingly.
What is an exclamation mark?
300
Use me when you want to set off a conclusion from the rest of a sentence, or when you want to set off parenthetical phrases.
What is a dash?
300
This punctuation mark introduces a list, summary, or thesis, and must follow independent clauses.
What is a colon?
300
True or False: the names of the seasons are not capitalized.
What is true. Don't capitalize winter, spring, summer, or fall unless they begin a sentence.
400
What's wrong with the following: The eight year old girl felt like she was thirteen-years-old.
What is the reverse of the hyphen use? Eight-year-old needs to be hyphenated, not thirteen years old.
400
I denote speech or mark a passage taken from someone else's work. I am also used to indicate titles of poems, articles, and short stories.
What is a quotation mark?
400
I provide more description or details about the word or phrase directly preceding me. I should be set off with commas.
What is an appositive phrase?
400
These make nouns possessive. They are also used in contractions to indicate the omission of letters.
What is an apostrophe?
400
Make cardinal directions lowercase, unless they are this.
What is referring to specific regions (The North fought the South in the Civil War). Do not capitalize when referring to directions: (Drive south to Florida).
500
What's wrong with the following: That dimly-lit room gives me the creeps.
What is the hyphen? It is not needed because it is clear that dimly modifies lit because of the -ly ending.
500
I signal that a definition or list will follow.
What is a colon?
500
I am used when omitting a section of a quote.
What is an ellipses? ...
500
Open (post office, upper class) Closed (baseball, pancake, newborn) Hyphenated (sister-in-law, ex-husband)
What are the three categories of compound words?
500
When ending a quote, the punctuation goes here.
What is inside the quotation mark?
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