Punctuation – Periods, commas, and colons
Periods (full stops)
Periods (also referred to as “full stops”) are used at the end of sentences, and are probably the most common form of punctuation that your students will need to use. They can also be placed at the end of abbreviations, which are used to shorten the names of people, places, common objects and scientific terms.
I like to ski.
Mr. Mrs. Ph.D. M.D.
Teaching students to place periods at the end of a sentence can be rather simple – explaining the rule, providing opportunities for them to practice writing basic sentences, and then correcting any mistakes.
Another form of this type of punctuation can be seen with ellipses, which are used in place of words that have been left out of the text. One thing to note here is that when an ellipsis is used instead of the removed words, the sentence must still retain its original meaning, for example:
She knocked on the door and waited for a moment but nobody was home.
She knocked on the door… but nobody was home.
For teaching ellipses, it can often be helpful to teach them through awareness of how they occur in different situations. By allowing your students to listen to taped speech, you’ll be able to highlight natural pauses for thought, and show your students where they could use this punctuation in their own writing.
Commas
Commas are generally used as a break within a sentence. They indicate that the reader needs to take a breath or a pause before continuing their reading, and greatly affect the tone and flow of a piece of writing. They are also used to separate lists of items in a sentence. See the examples below:
Although he enjoyed the movie, he didn’t want to watch it again.
I like rice, eggs, chicken, and ham.
When teaching students about commas, it can be helpful to emphasize how their use has an impact on how the sentence is said out loud.
As they progress, students will encounter more situations to use commas, such as with different sentence structures. We’ll cover these in the next module.
For additional reading on commas, you can take some time to review this resource here: Full range of commas uses.
Colons and semicolons
Colons are used to add additional information to a sentence, to add lists, or to introduce a quote, for example:
She was too late to see the movie: her car had broken down.
To renew your passport you’ll need: 2 photographs, your old passport, and a self-addressed envelope.
The last thing she said was: “I’ll always remember you.”
Semi-colons are used to connect two independent clauses which are closely related to each other, for example:
Marsha likes cats; I like dogs.
She moved to Los Angeles; the countryside was too quiet for her.
Choosing between colons and semicolons
It can be easy to remember that when introducing lists and quotes you can use a colon, but when it comes to joining two independent clauses it can be more difficult to decide.
One school of thought surrounding this dilemma is to consider commas, semicolons, colons, and periods on a scale. Commas have the least impact on a sentence’s flow, and offer only a momentary pause. Semicolons are generally read with a slightly more noticeable break between the two clauses, colons introduce a larger pause, and periods have the largest of all these punctuation marks.
Many native speakers struggle with these, so be sure to teach colons and semicolons using lots of context, and when your students are at a fairly advanced level.