12.5 – Punctuation: Exercises

Each sentence contains a punctuation error. On your own sheet of paper, correct each sentence by adding the correct punctuation. The headings will let you know which type of punctuation mistakes to look for. If the sentence does not need corrections, write OK.

Commas

1. The wedding will be July 13 2012.
2. The date by the way is the anniversary of the day that they met.
3. The groom the bride and their parents are all planning the event.
4. Actually all of their friends and relatives are involved in the planning.
5. The bride is a baker so she will be making the wedding cake herself.
6. The photography the catering and the music will all be friends.

Semicolons

1. Some people spend a lot of money hiring people for wedding services they are lucky to have such talented friends.
2. The flowers will be either roses, daisies, and snapdragons orchids, tulips, and irises or peonies and lilies.

Colons

1.  There will be three colors for the wedding: white, black, and gold.
2. They’ve finally narrowed down the dinner choices salmon, steak, and a vegan stew.
3. Their wedding invitations contained the following quote from the Roman poet Ovid If you want to be loved, be lovable.

Quotes

1. The invitations said that the wedding would be “outdoor casual.”
2. “What exactly does ‘outdoor casual’ mean?” I asked the bride.
3. She told me to dress comfortably and wear shoes that do not sink into the ground.

Apostrophes

1. On the day of the wedding, were going to rent a limo.
2. My brothers wife will make the arrangements.
3. Shes a great party organizer.

Each sentence contains a punctuation error. On your own sheet of paper, correct each sentence by adding commas, semicolons, colons, and apostrophes as needed.

1. My mothers garden is full of beautiful flowers.
2. She has carefully planted several species of roses peonies and irises.
3. She is especially proud of her thirty year old Japanese maple tree.
4. I am especially proud of the sunflowers I planted them!
5. You should see the birds that are attracted to the garden hummingbirds, finches, robins, and sparrows.
6. I like to watch the hummingbirds they are my favorite.
7. We spend a lot of time in the garden planting weeding and just enjoying the view.
8. Each flower has its own personality some seem shy and others seem bold.
9. Arent gardens wonderful?
10. You should come visit sometime Do you like to garden?

The following paragraph contains errors in punctuation. On your own sheet of paper, correct the paragraph by adding commas, semicolons, colons, and apostrophes as needed. There may be more than one way to correct the paragraph.

Read the following paragraph. Edit by adding apostrophes and semi-colons where needed. There may be more than one correct way to edit some sentences. Consider how the punctuation you choose affects the meaning of the sentence.