Punctuation Exercises #2 (Colons, Semicolons, and Dashes)

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In the following sentences, click on the places where punctuation is undesired, is missing, or requires change. Mistakes include missing, unwanted, or misplaced colons, semicolons, parentheses, and quotation marks. Note that each sentence has at most one punctuation error. If no error exists, click on "No error." Corresponding information for this exercise can be found in The Craft of Editing (denoted CE) and The Craft of Scientific Writing (denoted CSW). Note: In the general preferences of your browser, please do not override this document's choice of font colors.

The three largest earthquakes occurred in: San Francisco, Tokyo, and Lima. (No error) #1. Congratulations, you have found an error. Revision: The three largest earthquakes occurred in San Francisco, Tokyo, and Lima. Discussion: undesired colon (it breaks a continuing thought). Note that while the comma following "Tokyo" is optional, it is certainly not incorrect. (CE, p. 103) Back to Top of Page According to Dr. D. Simpson [1986], a biologist at the Harvard Medical School, "Only 30,000 rads are needed for interphase death to occur in yeast cells". (No error) #2. Congratulations, you have found an error. Revision: According to Dr. D. Simpson [1986], a biologist at the Harvard Medical School, "Only 30,000 rads are needed for interphase death to occur in yeast cells." Discussion: Quotation marks appear outside commas and periods in the United States. (CE, pp. 124-125) Back to Top of Page The synergistic reactor contains a chamber in which the exhaust from the burning coal mixes with limestone; see Appendix A. (No error) #3. Congratulations, you have found an error. Revision: The synergistic reactor contains a chamber in which the exhaust from the burning coal mixes with limestone, as discussed in Appendix A. Discussion: A semicolon cannot join the two independent clauses because what would be on the left side of the semicolon (a sentence in the indicative mood) would not be parallel to what is on the right side (a sentence in the imperative mood). One solution (given here) is to make the reference to Appendix A a verb phrase. Another solution is to create a separate sentence. Still a third is to use parentheses to refer to Appendix A. (CE, p. 130) Back to Top of Page The synergistic reactor contains a chamber in which the exhaust from the burning coal mixes with limestone - see Appendix A. (No error) #4. Congratulations, you have found an error. Revision: The synergistic reactor contains a chamber in which the exhaust from the burning coal mixes with limestone--see Appendix A. Discussion: The em-dash can be represented by two hyphens, but not one as in the original. (CE, pp. 106-107) Back to Top of Page The synergistic reactor contains a chamber in which the exhaust from the burning coal mixes with limestone(See Appendix A.) (No error) #5. Congratulations, you have found an error. Revision: The synergistic reactor contains a chamber in which the exhaust from the burning coal mixes with limestone (see Appendix A). Discussion: The punctuation associated with the parentheses was incorrect. First a space precedes the left parenthesis. Second, for parenthetical expressions that are part of the sentence, the first word is not capitalized. Finally, for parenthetical expressions that are part of the sentence, the sentence's punctuation (a period in this case) appears outside the parentheses. Return to Top of Page The absorption A is calculated by: A = 1 - kR, where k is the correction factor and R is the measured reflectance. (No error) #6. Congratulations, you have found an error. Revision: The absorption A is calculated by A = 1 - kR, where k is the correction factor and R is the measured reflectance. Discussion: undesired colon (it breaks a continuing thought). Note that if the words "the following" had followed the word "by," then the colon would have been correct. (CE, p. 108) Back to Top of Page Which of the following appear in italics? book title and title of journal article book title and title of periodical chapter title and title of periodical chapter title and title of journal article Congratulations, you have answered #7 correctly. Discussion: Use italics for large documents: titles of books; titles of journals, periodicals, and newspapers; titles of reports longer than 75 pages; titles of full-length films; titles of record albums; and titles of large web sites. (CE, pp. 126-128) Return to Top of Page Which of the following appear in quotation marks? book title and title of journal article book title and title of periodical chapter title and title of periodical chapter title and title of journal article Congratulations, you have answered #8 correctly. Discussion: Use quotation marks for short documents: chapter titles of books; article titles from journals, periodicals, and newspapers; titles of reports shorter than 75 pages; titles of short films; titles of songs; and titles of individual web pages. You have reached the end of this exercise. Top of Page

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