How To Use Punctuation Correctly?
December 23, 2009 — Mr Geerts
Hi kids,
I would like to thank you very much for all the nice comments you wrote. Almost 40 comments to two posts, it’s just amazing.
I did notice that some of you don’t pay a lot of attention to the punctuation rules. So let me give you two nice tricks. This way you can remember how and where to use the correct punctuation from now on in your future comments.
Use Capitals
The word to remember is SNIP. If you remember the word SNIP, then you know to use capitals (big letters) for …
- Starting a sentence – the first letter of a sentence has to be capital or big (e.g. The children of year 5 are great!)
- Names, days and months – the first letter of a name, day or month also has to be capital or big (e.g. Arda, Nurçin, Kaşgarlı Mahmut, Coca-Cola, Tuesday, Sunday, April, October, etc.)
- I – you always write the personal pronoun ‘I’ with a capital or big letter. (e.g. I am, not i am) Also, make sure there is not dot on the capital ‘I’. The small ‘i’ must have a dot.
- Places – the first letter of names of places is always a capital or big letter. (e.g. Turkey, Taksim, etc.)
More Punctuation Tips
Another nice word to remember is ACE. This way you remember to use…
- Apostrophes (’) – put an apostrophe for short forms (e.g. I’m, we’re, etc.) and for possessives (e.g. Ezgi’s pencil, Murat’s bag, etc.)
- Commas – put a comma to separate long sentences, or to separate items in a list (e.g. Today we study English, Turkish and Mathematics.)
- End of a sentence – Make sure your sentence ends with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or an exclamation mark(!).
Your Turn
To practice the punctuation rules, please rewrite the following paragraph with the correct punctuation as a comment.
hi my names ilayda and im from istanbul ın turkey my schools name is kasgarli mahmut im studying english german and turkish in class how many languages do you know
Hint – there are 23 mistakes! Good luck 
December 23, 2009 at 5:19 pm
This blog is very very funny.
[Reply]
December 23, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Hi my name is Ilayda and I’m from Istanbul in Turkey. My schools’ name is Kasgarli Mahmut I’m studying English, German and Turkish. In class how many languages do you know?
[Reply]
December 23, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Hi! My names Ilayda and I am from Istanbul in Turkey. My schools name is Kasgarli Mahmut . I am studying English , German and Turkish. In class how many languages do you know?
[Reply]
December 24, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Hi! My name’s Nurçin and l’m from İstanbul ın Turkey my schools name is Kasgarli Mahmut. Im studying English, German and Turkish. In class how many languages do you know?
[Reply]
December 25, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Hi my names İlayda and im from Istanbul ın Turkey. My schools name is Kasgarli Mahmut. I’m studying English, German and Turkish. In class how many languages do you know.
[Reply]
December 30, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Hi, my name is Ezgi and I am from Istanbul in Turkey. My schools name is Kasgarlı Mahmut. I am studying English German and Turkish in class. How many languages do you know?
[Reply]
December 31, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Hi! My name is Ilayda and I am from Istanbul in Turkey. My schools name is Kasgarli Mahmut . I am studying English , German and Turkish. In class how many languages do you know?
[Reply]
January 3, 2010 at 10:13 pm
Hi, my names İlayda and im from Istanbul ın Turkey. My schools name is Kasgarli Mahmut. I’m studying English, German and Turkish in class. How many languages do you know?
[Reply]
January 4, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Hi,my name is Liva.And am from İstanbul in Turkey.My schools name is Kaşgarlı Mahmut.I am studying English,German anad Turkish in class.How many languages do you know?
[Reply]
January 4, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Hi!My name is İrem.And I am from İstanbul in Turkey.My schools name is Kaşgarlı Mahmut.I am studying English,German and Turkish in class.How many languages do you now?
[Reply]
January 4, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Hi! My names Ayça and I am from Istanbul in Turkey. My schools name is Kasgarli Mahmut . I am studying English , German and Turkish in class.How many languages do you know?
[Reply]
January 4, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Hi! My names Ayça and I am from Istanbul in Turkey. My schools name is Kasgarli Mahmut . I am studying English , German and Turkish. In class how many languages do you know?
[Reply]
January 4, 2010 at 11:22 pm
Hi, my name is Arda and I am from Istanbul in Turkey. My schools name is Kasgarli Mahmut. I am studying English, German and Turkish in class. How many languages do you know?
[Reply]
January 5, 2010 at 11:37 pm
Hi! My name is Arman and I’m from İstanbul in Turkey. My school’s name is Kaşgarlı Mahmut. I’m studying English, German and Turkish in class. How many languages do you know?
[Reply]
January 5, 2010 at 11:41 pm
Hi, my name is Berkay and I am from Istanbul in Turkey. My schools name is Kasgarli Mahmut. I am studying English, German and Turkish. In class how many languages do you know?
[Reply]
January 6, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Hi everybody,
Here’s the correct answer:
Hi, my name’s Erlend and I’m from Istanbul in Turkey. My school’s name is Kasgarlı Mahmut. I’m studying English, German, and Turkish in class. How many languages do you know?
See you in class,
Mr Geerts
[Reply]
January 6, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Hi , my name’s Fadıl Can and I’m from Istanbul in Turkey . My school’s name is Kasgarli Mahmut .I’m studying English German , and Turkish in class . How many languages do you know?
[Reply]
January 6, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Hi, my name’s Erlend and I’m from Istanbul in Turkey. My school’s name is Kasgarlı Mahmut. I’m studying English, German, and Turkish in class. How many languages do you know?
[Reply]