Morris Mtisi Education Correspondent
Hello my English Language young and adults students. Here is to hope you continue to benefit from your Education page.
The Colon: The colon shows that a list, an explanation or idea is following. Example. Mrs Tuso bought the following grocery items: rice, sugar, bread and cooking oil. It also introduces a quotation. Example. Ambroce Bierce’s famous words are: “Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.” In script writing (dialogue), a colon follows the speaker. Example.
Example. Abigail: I hope you are happily married, Morris.
Morris: I’m happily divorced.
Exclamation Marks (!)
Exclamation marks follow exclamations or interjections (interruptions). Oh My God! God forbid! Really! I am so scared! They are used to strengthen or heighten the tone of a statement.
Example. The Pathfinder commander screamed, ‘Attention!’ ‘Forward march!’ They are often introduced by the verbs yelled, cried, shouted, exclaimed and commanded.
Exclamation marks are used after sentences, phrases, or words containing emotions such as anger, fear, joy, anxiety, shock and misery. Eg. 1.“I’m disgusted!” shouted the frightened girl. 2. “I’m shocked,” whispered the petrified man. 3. “I ‘m over the moon! This is wonderful!”
Parenthesis (Brackets) ( )
When something is written in parenthesis or brackets, it is often an explanation, an aside or some additional information. Eg. Lionel Messi (the craftiest football player in the world) is visiting Zimbabwe next week. Please note that you can also use commas or dashes instead of brackets.
◆ Lionel Messi, the craftiest football player in the world, is visiting Zimbabwe next week.
◆ Lionel Messi — the craftiest football player in the world, is visiting Zimbabwe next week.
Hyphen (-)
A hyphen links prefixes to words, or links two words to form a compound word. Eg. Anti-Apartheid movement, pre-school, well-deserved award , life-threatening disease, tight-fisted giver, open-ended question, left-hand definition
It (the hyphen) helps to differentiate meanings.
Eg. Tuku had to re-mix this great song. The remix of Tozeza Baba is more mellifluent than the original.
You can also use the hyphen to facilitate spelling and pronunciation if a prefix ends in a vowel and the word joined to the prefix begins with the same vowel. Eg co-opt, re-examine, re-engage re-enact and no-one. Please carefully note the instruction! Only if a prefix ends in a vowel that the word beginning with the same prefix is joined to! Look at the examples supplied.
Words that cannot be completed on one line are often linked to the next line. Eg de-lightful or delight-ful. The hyphen may only be used at the end of a syllable.
DASH ( – )
The dash line is slightly longer than the hyphen line. It serves a similar purpose as a comma, colon or semi-colon. It separates parts of a sentence and compels us to pause.
Eg. There is more to church than prayer, praise and worship-life-skills, entrepreneurship, relationships and sportsmanship are gained along the way.
You also use the dash to give additional information. It can also be used in the same way as commas or brackets. Eg. 1.Next year we are visiting Joburg — the city of gold. 2. We chose to visit Harare-The Sunshine City, not Gweru.
A dash, not a hyphen, separates a comment or afterthought from the rest of the sentence. Eg I checked and there was no-one in the room-or so I thought!
A dash also creates a dramatic pause, leading to a climax or anti-climax. Eg. I ran to the car; opened the door and threw myself on the back seat!
BULLET
Modern communication, especially word processors, the internet and e-mail, has resulted in the popular use of the bullet format. Please note that the bullet is not necessarily correct English punctuation. Its use is, however, very effective to do the following:
◆ itemise points in a simple and visual manner
◆ avoid using letters (a, b, c,) or numbers (1, 2, 3)
◆ use partial sentences to save time and space
◆ omit punctuation as sentences are incomplete
ELLIPSIS (…)
The three ellipsis dots indicate that a sentence is incomplete or that something has been omitted. Eg She drove the car into the garage and… (To be continued…)
We always guess the meaning from the context of the sentence. Eg. 1. You had better be in the interview room on time or else . . . 2. You know your mom! It is either you with us during a meal or . . .
You will appreciate why I left out question marks, quotation marks and italics. Question marks and quotation marks are every commonly used. My assumption is that you know how to use them.
If you do not, please ask your teacher to explain. In our own manual handwriting (where we do not use a computer or typing machine,) we never use italics, do we?