Punctuation and Spelling

Admin Posts : 229 Join date : 2010-08-22

The first part of this help section has to do with proper spelling and punctuation, really the basis of any good reply. Out of the two, punctuation is the most fundamental. Without is, you either have a reply that makes no sense, or is one sentence, or both. Spelling is less important; as long as you get your point across, and readers know which word you are trying to use, it matters little if your spelling is spot on or not. And everyone makes mistakes.

Now, hopefully everyone knows the proper use for a period. Use it to end any sentence. Commas are used:

In lists
Example: my favourite colors are red, blue, green…

Separate elements in a sentence
Example: He hit the ball, dropped the bat, and ran to first base…

Around unimportant information
Example: My social teacher, Mr. Baker, gave us this assignment…

With conjunctions (and, but, or, for, yet)
Examples: He hit the ball, but it was a foul

To separate adjectives
Example: He was tall, handsome, intelligent…

And several others which are not relevant to this site, such as quoting. Also, you should be aware that spaces always com after commas, to avoid running words together. Try not to overuse commas as well, making your entire reply a single sentence, or merely two because of so many.

Quotation marks go around speech. Apostrophes are for conjoined words (don’t, weren’t, couldn’t), or for around thoughts, which you should also put in italics to avoid confusion.

Semi colons are a bit more complicated in use. I think that this site explains it in the best way.

As I said above, spelling is not so much of a major issue. I will post some example of odd spellings here that I noticed, but I suggest you always refer to a dictionary if you’re not sure.

Curious; Curiously; Curiosity (note lack of U)
I before E except after C, or when pronounced ‘ey’ as in Neighbour or Weigh

Also, if you would like a word that means the same thing, but is a different word (a synonym), refer to a thesaurus.