F. El inglés: La puntuación
Antes de repasar los signos de puntuación, debemos tener claro qué es una oración y qué NO es una oración.
a. Complete sentences
Complete sentences have a subject and a predicate (the verb). A subject is someone or something doing the predicate action. A predicate is, typically, an action expressed with the verb. There are predicates that may not be an action such as those expressed with the verb to be.
The dog was barking > this is a complete sentence because it has a subject (the dog) and a predicate (was barking)
b. Fragments
Fragments are incomplete sentences. They are serious errors.
*Was talking. > Complete sentence? No—it is a fragment. It has a predicate but no subject.
*Although I was late. > Complete sentence? No—this is an introductory phrase and whatever comes next is missing.
c. Run-Ons
Run-ons are errors because they are two sentences punctuated as if they were one. In other words, run- ons are missing a period, a semicolon, or a comma and a coordinating conjunction.
*I went to the store I was hungry. > Complete sentence? No—this is a run-on. It’s a serious error in writing.
*I went to the store, I was hungry. > Complete sentence? No—this is also a run-on because you cannot use a comma to pull together two full sentences. This type of run-on is called a “comma splice.”
d. The comma
- Commas for items in a series: Use commas to separate three or more items in a series:
I like broccoli, green beans, and cherry tomatoes.
Do you drive a motorcycle, a car, or a truck? - Do NOT use commas to separate two items in a series:
I like broccoli and cherry tomatoes.
Do you drive a motorcycle or a car? - Commas after introductory phrases:
After having breakfast, I go to work.
Well, how did you do in the final exam?
In fact, winter is not over until March 21.
*Note: It is possible to have two—or even three—introductory phrases, one after the other:
When I asked my dad what time it was, he said, “Well, it’s around 3pm.” - Commas with coordinating conjunctions: Words like so, or, but, and (“SOBA”) are often used as coordinating conjunctions. This means that, with a comma, they can pull together two full sentences:
We took a shortcut, so we arrived there earlier.
Do you drive a motorcycle, or do you drive a car?
She took the bus to work, but she was late.
I like broccoli, and I like green beans.
The trick: Use your finger to cover the “SOBA” (so, or, but, and) then ask yourself if you have two full sentences. If you do, then you need a comma before the coordinating conjunction. If you don’t, you don’t need a comma. - Commas with complementing elements: A “complementing element” is a fragment in the sentence that, if taken away from the sentence, the latter still has complete sense. Then, these elements are unnecessary; they simply complement the sentence with some extra information.
An advisor, who is usually a faculty member, will guide students as they choose their classes.
Time management, an important skill for all translators, is learned best as you work on translation tasks.
Graduate studies, although not always required, is a valuable addition to a translator’s resume.
Use commas before and after complementing elements. They must work together, like parentheses, to separate the complementing element from the rest of the sentence.
e. Commas vs Semicolons
A semicolon [;] CAN take the place of a period. A comma [,] CANNOT.
I went to the store. I was hungry.
I went to the store; I was hungry.
Why using a semicolon instead of a period? It’s usually to make your writing more fluid. A bunch of short, choppy sentences—one after the other—creates choppy, immature writing:
CHOPPY: I went to the store. I was hungry. I bought bread. I also bought peanut butter. I ate it all.
BETTER: I went to the store because I was hungry. I bought bread; I also bought peanut butter. I ate it all.
Do not overuse semicolons, though; one per large paragraph (or even one per page) is about the max.
f. Colons
A colon [:] usually introduces a list. When used in the text of a sentence,
- The colon must be a necessary part of the sentence. (If the sentence makes sense without the colon, you don’t need it.)
- A complete sentence must come before the colon.
CORRECT: I bought three things: milk, eggs, and cheese.
NOT correct: *I bought: milk, eggs, and cheese.
NOT correct: *I bought three things, including: milk, eggs, and cheese.
g. Quotation marks
- Comma and period placement: Commas and periods go INSIDE ending quotation marks (unless you’re doing in-text citation for a research paper).
- Question marks placement: Question marks go INSIDE quotation marks if the words inside the quotation marks are a question. If not, they go OUTSIDE.
- Use quotation marks with titles of SHORT works (songs, episodes of a tv series, short stories, newspaper articles, essays). If typing, italicize titles of LONG works (albums, tv shows, books, newspapers, anthologies). If handwriting, underline titles of LONG works.
h. Apostrophe
The plural of a noun is generally formed with an “s,” NOT with an APOSTROPHE.
CORRECT: I have two dogs.
INCORRECT: I have two *dog’s.
The apostrophe is also used for contractions such as it’s, I’m, can’t, don’t, etc.
The apostrophe is used to express possession [’ + s]
The car’s windows
The house’s backyard
The dog’s bed
When the possessive is plural, we don’t add an s after the apostrophe.
My parents’ house
My cousins’ dog
i. Subject-verb agreement
Sometimes when we see “and” or “or” (or even “nor”) in a sentence, we’re not sure whether to make the verb singular or plural. For example:
The student and the teacher like / likes to read.
Either the students or the teacher like / likes to read.
In the first case, the “and” means that you should go with a plural verb form (like). In the second case, the “or” means that you should match the verb to the subject closest to it, the teacher, which means you need a singular verb (likes).
