CAHSEE PREP

Punctuation

PUNCTUATION Punctuation questions involve answer choices using different kinds of punctuation

marks.

COMMAS - - > ,Commas indicate short pauses between separate parts of a sentence.

PERIODS - - > .Periods indicate the ends of complete sentences.

SEMICOLONS - - > ;

Semicolons separate two complete sentences, just like periods.

COLONS - - > :

Colons introduce lists of things.

COMMAS = ,Commas = indicates short pauses between

separate parts of a sentence. Questions that involve ONLY COMMAS and

where they belong place each of the answer choices into the sentence.

READ EACH SENTENCE WITH A PAUSE in place of the comma.

ASK YOURSELF: Which answer sounds wrong?

Eliminate the answers that sound wrong.

,

Commas … indicate pauses

Commas WRONG WAY: *Juan liked Jessica, he loved flaming hot Cheetos.*Juan, liked Jessica, and he loved flaming hot

Cheetos.

RIGHT WAY: *Juan liked Jessica, and he loved flaming hot

Cheetos.*Juan, the flaming hot Cheetos -lover, liked Jessica.

You Try Write a sentence using a series of items

and commas Pair and share

Remember…

Semi-Colons… marry two complete sentences 1. Semi-colon =

separates two complete independent CLAUSES.

2. If both clauses can be separate sentences with PERIODS, you can use a semi-colon.

What is a clause? A clause is a part of a sentence. There are

two main types: independent (main clauses), dependent (subordinate clauses).

What is an Independent Clause An independent clause is a complete

sentence; it contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought in both context and meaning.

For example: The door opened.

So marry them… WRONG WAY: *Juan and Jessica; they got

married.

RIGHT WAY: *Juan loved Jessica; they ate

flaming hot cheetos at their wedding.

Juan loved Jessica. They ate flaming hot cheetos at their wedding.

You Try Write a sentence using 2 independent

clauses and a semicolon Pair and share

Colons say…

“Hey! There’s a list….”

Ask yourself Is there a list? Where does it begin? Wrong Way:

*Juan liked music: video games, the Dodgers, and flaming hot cheetos

*Juan liked music and video games: the Dodgers and flaming hot cheetos

Right Way:

*Juan was passionate about four things: music, video games, Dodgers and flaming hot cheetos

You Try Write a sentence using a colon and a series

of items Pair and share

Periods .Periods =

signals the end of a sentence.

Periods prevent run-on sentences! Wrong Way:

* Juan liked Jessica he loved flaming hot cheetos he loved life he thought it would be lovely if he and Jessica could have a life.

Periods make a sentence perfect Right Way:

*Juan liked Jessica. He loved flaming hot cheetos.

*Juan liked Jessica, and he loved flaming hot cheetos.

*Juan liked Jessica; he loved flaming hot cheetos.

Ellipsis = . . . Shows one or more words have been

eliminated from a quotation Shows a pause Shows if a omission occurs at the end of an

sentence

Only 3 dots …

Right Way

“Ernest Hemingway was fond of flaming hot Cheetos … he demonstrated this by including them in many of his writings.”

Quotations Hug “”

Rule #1: Punctuation marks at the end of a sentence go inside the quotation marks. (The Quotes HUG)

Quotation Marks show that someone has spoken. Rule #2: The comma before the quote always

goes before the quotation mark.

Example:Joe said, “My way is the best way.”

Quotation Marks Outside Huggers

Use 1 ‘ quote’ or 2 “quotes” Rule #3: Single Quotation marks are only

used for quotations inside another quotation.

‘quote’ = a quote within a quote.

Example:

Jessie said, “Eating flaming hot Cheetos while taking the CAHSEE, is ‘a big mistake’ and I listened to him!”

You Try Write a sentence using quotations. The

quote does not have to be accurate or from a work of literature

Pair and share

Parallelism matches words up

Parallelism Rule #1: Words in a sentence that have

the same function must be in the same form.

Tip: Lists of VERBS in DIFFERENT FORMS (Tenses) which means that they should have the same endings.

In other words, pick the matching ending

Are they a match??

Step 1: Check the question, look at the answers.

*What is underlined?

*Are they asking about commas?

*Are they asking about parallelism?

Step 2: Eliminate answer choices that have verbs with different endings.

Tips1.) Skim the question and look for the words AND or

OR… check on each side of those words to see whether the items that are matching are identical triplets.

2.) If they are not look for the answer that makes them identical.

3.) If there are several items in a list put them in a column and see if they are alike or parallel

4.) Read it to yourself are there words that make the same sound? i.e. Racing, skiing, boating, cooking

Let’s Try It!

A. greeting a customer, escort them to a table and offer a beverage

B. to greet customers, escorting them to tables and offering them a beverage.

C. to greet customers, escorting them to a table, and to offer a beverage.

D. greeting customers, escorting them to a table and offering beverages.

And the correct answer is…

Dgreeting customers, escorting them to a table

and offering beverages to them.

So now you can say… You can use

punctuation properly!