Punctuation
commas, full stop/period, slash, apostrophe.
1. Semi-colon. Between two separate thoughts that are linked in meaning.
Mel is a nice person; she visits her granny every day.
2. Colon. Before an explanation or a list.
John felt nervous: he hated the dark.
3. Dash. Informal. It is sometimes used instead of colon or a semi-colon.
I’m having a great time – there’s lots to do here.
4. The rules about commas are not very strict. In general they are more likely around longer phrases.
FANBOYS (for, and, but, or, yet, so).
(2 subjects) It was a great camera, but I can’t afford it.
(1 subject) It was a great camera but a bit too expensive.
5. Quotation marks/inverted commas
a) Laura said, “You haven’t put up those shelves yet.”
b) ‘Sod off,’ he replied.
6. Conditionals
(with ‘if’ clause first) If you hate take-offs, you shouldn’t fly.
(but) You shouldn’t fly if you hate take-offs.
7. However at the beginning and in the middle of a sentence.
annaabi.ee 
