USE OF APOSTROPHONE

There are two basic uses of the apostrophe in English:

1- To show that letters or numbers are missing:

In contractions, we use an apostrophe to indicate that a letter is missing

+ Isn't = is not

+ ' 72 = 1972

2- To show possession:

If something belongs to a person or thing, we use an apostrophe to show ownership

+ Jane's house is in a nice area. (The house belongs to Jane)

We put the apostrophe after the letter s in a plural:

+ The girls' mother collected them from school. (There were two or more girls)

NB: With irregular plurals, we put the apostrophe before the letter s:

+ The children's teacher was very popular.

+ The use of the apostrophe with plurals:

Plurals-

We very rarely use the apostrophe to show plurals and only under special circumstances:

- Some people use them with acronyms (words made from the first letters of a phrase, like CD for Compact Disc)- CD's. Others do not use the apostrophe here.

- Numbers- Some people write the 1990's and others write the 1990s.

- To make a letter plural- mind your p's and q's (an expression meaning 'mind your manners')

Other than these circumstances, the apostrophe should not be used in plurals unless they are showing possession.

USE OF COMMA SPLICE

Where a sentence has two parts that could stand alone as sentences, with only a comma to separate them, it is a comma splice

+ I went outside, I needed a break.

The two parts here are both complete sentences and should not be joined by a comma. There are three basic ways of avoiding this:

1. Write them as two independent sentences:

+ I went outside. I needed a break.

(However, using this too often can make the writing rather choppy if there are too many short sentences.)

2. Separate them with a semi-colon:

+ I went outside; I needed a break.

3. Use a conjunction:

+ I went outside because I needed a break.

USE OF SEMI COLON

1. To connect two grammatically independent items that are closely connected through meaning

To link two things that could function as independent sentences, but work better together in the same sentence, we separate them with a semi-colon:

+ Some people love it; others hate it.

2. To separate items in a list

Semi-colons be used in lists, especially useful when the list is complicated or contains words like "and":

+ The government has listed its key areas for policy: law and order; the war on drugs; tax cuts and other economic incentives; .....

Some people write the words without the hyphen: semicolon.

USE OF COLON

1. To introduce quotes

A colon can be used before a quote, especially if the quote is given on a separate line.

2. Before a list

A colon can introduce a list in a sentence.

3. Before an explanation

A colon can introduce an explanation.

+ The police made several arrests: there was a lot of trouble after the match.

4. To separate titles from sub-headings.

Punctuation: the colon.