How well do you know your punctuation?

Hi everyone
Here's the punctuation exercise I promised I'd post. Maureen.

Punctuation

Match the following uses with the appropriate punctuation:
1. Full stop
2. Question mark
3. Exclamation mark
4. Comma
5. Brackets
6. Colon
7. Semicolon
8. Apostrophe
9. Dash
10. Hyphen
11. Inverted commas


a) to show quoted comments; for titles of books, plays, ships; to indicate special meanings of a word; to enclose words or phrases being defined
b) to mark the end of a sentence unless a question or exclamation mark is used; in abbreviations
c) to separate an opening expression from what follows; to avoid ambiguity; to show a natural pause; to separate items in a list
d) to indicate the start of a list or series of ideas; before an explanation; to show a contrast with what has gone before
e) to insert an 'aside' into a sentence
f) to link different ideas in one sentence; before explanatory phrases introduced by words like 'for example', 'that is' or 'namely'
g) to indicate missing letters; to form plurals of abbreviations that have full stops; to show ownership
h) to show emphasis; to indicate a break; to identify a part of a sentence which is separate from the main theme
i) to help pronunciation where a prefix creates a double letter; with combined words; to help prevent ambiguity; to link words; with prefixes; when the end of a line splits a word
j) to show an answer is expected at the end of a sentence
k) to show emotion or urgency


Here are some examples to help:

Inverted commas: (either single or double)
'Qualifying teams' indicates those with less than four players under 6 years old.
Some 'colloquialisms' are really slang.
The 'Daily Express' reported the incident fully.
My assistant said ' I will never resign'.


Hyphen:
Pre-conceived ideas; the New York-Chicago route; know-it-all; multi-tasking; co-operative.

Apostrophe:
Dave and Maria's house; John's computer; the M.D.'s assistants; it's not cold.

Dash:
We travelled by rail - a long and terrifying experience - all the way to Mumbai.
It is not too difficult - so they say!

Colon:
Bring the following items: mosquito net, anti-malarial pills, tent.
The conference was a huge success: over three thousand delegates attended.
Business here has been good: in the USA it has been appalling.

Brackets:
Tim Messenger (the chief accountant) wnts to see you.

Semicolon:
There are three types of prophylactic; namely......
It is not difficult to see the connection; only an imbelice would fail to notice.

Exclamation mark:
Danger!

Comma:
Whenever I see him, I feel embarrassed about the incident.
It is not a bad film. However, I have seen better.
The water, having run over the bank, was stained brown.
The water having run over, the bank was stained brown.
It is available in large, medium, or small.

Question mark:
When will I ever learn?

Full stop:
Following your enquiry, I am pleased to enclose a brochure.
w.p.m.


Answers at next meeting!!!