Sentence Combining: Punctuation

• EOC Practice• English 351• Comments/notes:

Bell Work – 3 mins.

• Grab the handout on the basket table.• Look on the seating chart to find

your seat #.• Sit with your group (be ready to

pay attention).

Today

•We will learn:

• Passive vs Active Voice,• Sentence-combining + punctuation• & “Clear, concise sentences”

Commas are used…

• To separate two independent clauses joined by the words and, but, nor, for or yet

• After introductory clauses beginning with words like if, when, because, after, before, although, and other conjunctions

• After long introductory phrases • To separate three or more items in a list• To separate two or more words describing a word

that follows

Semicolons are used…

• Before certain joining words like however and nevertheless when they join two sentences – a comma goes after the joining word• I planned on taking French next year;

however, I decided to take German instead.

Punctuation

• A period or comma at the end of a quotation is always placed before (inside) the quotation mark

• Exclamation points or question marks stay inside the quotation mark

• Jamie whispered to Maggie, “Do you think Mark’s cute?”

“Clear, Concise Sentences”

• When an EOC question asks you for the most ‘clear, concise sentence,’ it is asking you to select the most ‘efficient’ sentence that is straightforward, understandable, & uses easy to read vocabulary.

Which is the clearer?

• Understandable, easy to read, straightforward, efficient:

• Arriving at the theater, people saw the actor getting out of the limousine.

• When the actor arrived at the theater, people watched him get out of his limousine.

• Which is clearer & why?

Which is the clearer?

• Understandable, easy to read, straightforward, efficient:

• Walking out of the bank, I was careful to put the deposit receipt in my pocket.

• I was careful to put the deposit receipt in my pocket walking out of the bank.

• Which is clearer & why?

Which is the clearer?

• Understandable, easy to read, straightforward, efficient:

• Last night, Elsa’s mother told Elsa that she would be able to stay up later than usual

• Elsa’s mother told her last night that she would be able to stay up later than usual

• Which is clearer & why?

Which is the clearer?

• Understandable, easy to read, straightforward, efficient:

• The students who work on the yearbook committee only talk on Friday afternoons.

• The students working on the yearbook committee only talk on Friday afternoons.

• Which is clearer & why?