Punctuation: MDCAT English notes
Punctuation MDCAT notes: full stop, comma, semicolon, colon, apostrophe, quotation marks, question and exclamation marks, capital letters, with examples.
End marks
- Full stop (.): ends a statement or command. A statement must not end with a question mark: "The applicants had some questions during the interview."
- Question mark (?): ends a direct question: "Did you know that they're leaving?" An indirect question takes a full stop: "She asked what time the meeting would start."
- Exclamation mark (!): ends an exclamation or strong feeling: "What a beautiful day!"
Comma
- Separates items in a list: "The wind blew, the rain fell, and the lightning flashed."
- Sets off a person addressed: "Come here, Ahmed."
- Separates a city from its country or state: "We visited Istanbul, Turkey, and Kowloon, Hong Kong."
- Introduces direct speech: He said, "I am tired."
- After an introductory phrase or clause: "After the lecture, we went home."
- Before a conjunction joining two long independent clauses.
A comma splice is an error: joining two complete sentences with only a comma. "Tennis gives exercise, it sharpens the eye" is wrong; use a full stop, a semicolon, or a conjunction.
Semicolon and colon
| Mark | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Semicolon (;) | Joins two closely related independent clauses without a conjunction | He had no worries; his pension was adequate. |
| Semicolon (;) | Separates list items that already contain commas | Lahore, Punjab; Quetta, Balochistan |
| Colon (:) | Introduces an explanation, list or statement that follows | He had one motto: serving humanity. |
After a semicolon the next word is not capitalized (unless it is a proper noun).
Apostrophe
- Contractions: let us = let's; they are = they're; it is = it's; do not = don't.
- Possession: Sarah's house; the boys' hostel (plural ending in s); children's books.
- Its (possessive) has no apostrophe; it's means "it is".
Quotation marks and direct speech
Pattern: reporting verb + comma + opening quote + capital letter + words + end mark inside the quotes.
The teacher asked, "Did you complete your homework?"
Capital letters
Capitalize the first word of a sentence, the pronoun I, proper nouns (Great Britain, France, Mr. Hashim) and proper adjectives (English, Pakistani), and titles before names.
Worked examples
- Punctuate: its raining said ali lets stay inside. Answer: "It's raining," said Ali. "Let's stay inside."
- Punctuate: i need three things pens paper and ink. Answer: I need three things: pens, paper and ink.
- Correct: The exam was hard, many students failed. Answer: The exam was hard; many students failed.
- Correct: She asked me where was I going? Answer: She asked me where I was going.
Common MDCAT traps
- Indirect questions end with a full stop, not a question mark.
- Do not use a semicolon or colon to introduce direct speech; use a comma.
- Comma splices are wrong even when they "sound" fine.
- Check for hidden spelling errors and missing capitals in the options too.
Quick revision
- Semicolon joins two full sentences.
- Colon introduces what follows.
- Let's = let us; it's = it is.
- Quoted question: question mark inside the quotes.
- Proper nouns and adjectives take capitals.