Set off restrictive, nonrestrictive, and parenthetical elements, using commas, parentheses, dashes.
Arkansas Academic Standards:
7.L.12.C
Use commas to separate coordinate adjectives, set off series, phrases and clauses, and direct address.
Arkansas Academic Standards:
7.L.13.C
Join elements of a series when individual items of the series already include commas, using a semicolon.
7th Grade Writing - Punctuation Lesson
Punctuation
Punctuation is the practice of using certain characters in writing to separate words and make the meaning clear. There are different rules for proper punctuation in the English language.
Quotes
Quotation marks are used around dialogue, or the exact words a speaker says in a text. A question mark is used before the last set of quotation marks when the speaker is asking a question.
Comma
When a sentence uses a direct address, the name of the person being addressed, or talked to, is used with a comma.
A comma always comes before the coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence.
A comma separates the coordinating adjectives (more than one adjective describing the same noun).
Apostrophe
Apostrophes are used to create a possessive, or show ownership.
In a contraction, and apostrophe takes the place of one or more letters in the original words.
Colon
A colon is used to introduce a list. The colon should always come before the first item in the list and should not be used after a verb or preposition.
Semi-colon
A semi-colon is used to join two complete thoughts. A semicolon suggests a stronger pause in a sentence than a comma. It may also be used instead of a period.
7th Grade Writing - Punctuation Lesson