TOPIC 2 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 1 PUNCTUATION MARKS

TOPIC 2 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

1. PUNCTUATION MARKS Full stop To end a sentence To indicate an abbreviation: U. S. P. , govt. , dept.

Comma To prevent the reader from connecting words that do not properly belong together. Eg. I insist on eating, grandfather, before we begin our long journey. To separate the items in a list or series. Eg. It was a large, white, cement building. To mark off words and phrases in apposition, or to mark a mild parenthesis. Eg. Many accidents, especially on country roads, are caused by excessive speed. To introduce a short quotation, or the actual words of a speaker. Eg. The auditor said, “This is a very serious error. ” To separate figures or groups of figures eg. 2 nd November, 2006.

Semi-Colon • This is a stop halfway between a comma and a full stop. It should be used as little as possible, and a comma should be used instead. • Between similar clauses not joined by a conjunction. Eg. The house was old and dilapidated; the other buildings were falling to pieces; the roadway was covered with weeds. • Before a clause or sentence which the writer wishes to emphasize. Eg. We knew that the scheme was a failure; but we did not know until now that it had not been honestly carried out.

Colon • To introduce a quotation, or the actual words of a speaker. Eg. Remember the proverb: “A stitch in time saves time. ” • To introduce a list or series. Eg. There were three organizers for the strike: Johnston, Whitman and Hone. • To make things stand out in sharp contrast. Eg. The general drove the car: the men followed on foot.

Apostrophe • To indicate that the letters have been omitted. Eg. can’t for cannot. • To show ownership. • Where there is only one owner, the apostrophe is placed before the “s”. - The girl’s books(the books belonging to the girl). • Where there are two or more owners, the apostrophe is placed after the “s”. The girls’ books(the books belonging to the girls). • Exceptions to this rule: Men’s, women’s, children’s and compounds of these eg. Firemen’s.

Important Note: • Pronouns do not have an apostrophe to show ownership. Eg. This is yours, that is hers, here is ours. Inverted Commas • To mark a quotation, or the actual words of the speaker. Eg. He said: “Where are you going? ” Question Mark • After a direct question. Eg. What happened?

Exclamation Mark • The exclamation mark is used to show some particular feeling or emotion – chiefly indignation, surprise, amusement, disgust. • It is a purely a tone symbol, to indicate that the writer wants a certain tone to be used. • After interjections, or short sharp exclamations. Eg. Good gracious! What a victory it was!

2. WORD USAGE • Ensure that the sentence has only one meaning. Avoid ambiguity – ambiguous sentences have double meanings. • Do not overwork “get” and “got”. Eg. How many guavas have you got? • Do not use unnecessary prepositions Eg. The man descended down the ladder. • You many end a sentence with a preposition. Eg. He is the man I told you about.

• Do not use “Also” to begin a sentence. • Avoid the use of “was when”. • Use “and” to connect similar ideas or things, “but” when things are not similar. • Subject-Verb Agreement: The verb must agree with the subject ie. Both must be singular or both plural eg. The supervisor was early but the three technicians were late. • Avoid using “ the reason…. . was because” together in the same sentence. • Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement – who and whom are always used to refer to people. That and which refer to everything else.

3. PARTS OF SPEECH • Noun – names a thing, person, place, idea or action. • Pronoun – replaces a noun. • Adjective – modifies a noun/pronoun. • Adverb – modifies a verb. • Verb – doing word. • Conjunctions – joining words eg. and, but, neither, although, if, however etc. • Prepositions –words which are used to join phrases/clauses in a sentence.

4. TENSE & VERB FORMS • Present Tense - present simple – write, writes, goes, sings - present continuous – is writing, are writing - present perfect- has written, have written , has sung - present future – will write, will go, will sing • Past Tense - past simple – wrote, went, sang, danced, walked - past continuous – was driving, were driving - past perfect – had written, had gone, had rung - past future – would go, would write, would sing

5. PARTS OF THE SENTENCE • Two main parts : i) Subject – tells us what or who we are talking about (person, animal, place, thing) ii) Predicate – tells us what we are saying about the subject. Eg. The dog(sub) is barking loudly(pred). The shirts(sub) are dirty(pred). The children(sub) have not done their work(pred).

6. TYPES OF SENTENCES Simple sentence - one independent clause. eg. i)Kelera comes from Levuka. ii) Kelera is a bright student. Complex sentence – one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. eg. Kelera, who comes from Levuka, is a bright student. Compound sentence – two or more independent clauses usually joined together with a conjunction. Eg. Kelera comes from Levuka and she is a bright student.

7. VOCABULARY • Prefix – pre-, im-, dis-, il-, in-, un-, non, auto-, mis-, a • Suffix/word forms – less, -ly, -ion, ble, -ive, -cy, -ty • Conjunction – co-ordinating (compound), subordinating (complex) • Antonym – opposite • Synonym – similar in meaning • Homonyms ( confusing pairs) – words that have same sound or spelling but different in meaning eg. their /there, principle/principal/bow head/bow and tie