Handouts about Punctuation and Grammar

Commas—The basics of comma usage.

Comma Splices and Fused Sentences—Comma splices and fused sentences are common problems for both beginning and experienced writers. For beginning writers, the problem often lies in either not knowing what an independent clause is, or not knowing how to properly join two independent clauses.

Apostrophes—The apostrophe is used to indicate an omission, to indicate possession, or to form certain plurals.

Punctuating a Series—In order to avoid confusion, it is necessary to separate items in a series with punctuation.

The Colon, Hyphen, Dash, and Semicolon—The basics of colon, hyphen, dash, and semicolon usage.

Punctuating Quotations and Citations—The basics of punctuating quotes, including quotation marks, citations, and ellipses.

Punctuating Parenthetical Word Groups—Often writers will interrupt a sentence so they can add a comment.  If these comments interrupt the flow of a sentence, or if the comments are not essential to the meaning of the sentence, they are considered parenthetical. Parenthetical comments, whether one word or a group of words, should be set off by punctuation. Four marks of punctuation can be used to identify parenthetical words or word groups: commas, dashes, parentheses, and brackets.

Capitalization—The basics of English capitalization.

Other Grammar Resources for ESL Students—Links to online resources for second language learners who want to improve their grammar.