Page 168 - DENG102_COMMUNICATION_SKILLS_II
P. 168
Unit 11: Use of Capitals and Basic Punctuations
single or Double inverted comma Dilemma notes
There’s no hard and fast rule about which one to use but it is advisable that you stick to one type
all over a piece of writing.
If you find that you need to enclose quoted material within direct speech or another quotation,
use the style you haven’t used already. So, if you’ve been using single inverted commas, put any
further quoted material within double ones and vice versa.
Example: Kiran still sounds startled when she says: ‘We didn’t get the job because “we
represented too small a minority of the population”. They could still get away with saying things
like that then.’
Single inverted commas are generally more common in British English while double inverted
commas are used more in American English.
Task Punctuate
1. Martin Luther King said I have a dream
2. What on earth are you going to do she asked
3. Have you seen the good the bad and the ugly
4. Music Hall songs like my old man said follow the van were very popular in their
day
11.2.7 apostrophe (‘)
Use the apostrophe to show possession in the following instances:
1. Possessive singular nouns
Example: Manager’s salary
man’s character (add ‘‘s’’ to noun)
2. Possessive plural of nouns
Example: Managers’ salaries (add only the apostrophe if plural form of the noun ends in
“s”) e.g. men’s salaries (add “‘s” if the plural does not end in “s”)
3. Possessive of the pronouns “one,’’ “someone”, “somebody”, “everyone”, “everybody”,
“anyone”, “anybody”, “none”, “nobody”
Example: Anyone’s (add ‘‘‘s’’ to pronoun)
Do not use the apostrophe for
The pronouns “his”, “hers”, “its”, “ours”, “yours”, “theirs”, “whose”, (because they are already
possessive)
Example: WRONG The company announced it’s new brand. (“It’s” means “it is”)
RIGHT: The company announced its new brand.
lovely Professional university 163