Starter quiz
- Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
- On holiday, we went to the beach, played in the park, and stayed in a caravan.
- On holiday, we went to the beach played in the park, and stayed in a caravan.
- On holiday, we went to the beach, played in the park and stayed in a caravan. ✓
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- Which sentence has the fronted adverbial correctly shown with a comma?
- Before we could even think, the train was leaving. ✓
- Before we could, even think, the train was leaving.
- Before, we could even think, the train was leaving.
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- Parenthesis can be shown using __________.
- colons
- brackets ✓
- dashes ✓
- commas ✓
- semi-colons
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- Which sentences include parenthesis?
- The room - which was very small - was full of house plants. ✓
- As I woke up, I rubbed my eyes, wondering what was happening.
- A small dog (a chihuahua, I think) was yapping at my feet. ✓
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- Which sentence is correctly punctuated?
- Miss O'Neill who loved teaching PE, helped us to play tennis properly.
- Miss O'Neill, who loved teaching PE, helped us to play tennis properly. ✓
- I was delighted - completely and utterly delighted - to see her standing there. ✓
- I was delighted completely - and utterly delighted - to see her standing there.
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- Which parenthesis could fill this gap? 'We emerged - __________ - into the sunlight.'
- blinking and rubbing our eyes ✓
- which is surprising
- relieved and delighted ✓
- slowly and cautiously ✓
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Exit quiz
- Which of the following could be used to start a list?
- I've been to many countries like:
- I've been to many countries: ✓
- I've been to many countries, including:
- I've been to many countries, including the following: ✓
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- Which of these lists is punctuated correctly?
- We have three teachers: Mr Martinez, Miss O'Neill, and Mrs Brown.
- We have three teachers: Mr Martinez, Miss O'Neill and Mrs Brown. ✓
- We have three teachers, Mr Martinez, Miss O'Neill and Mrs Brown.
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- Which sentences use dashes and colons correctly to introduce an explanation?
- Mr Martinez was furious: no-one had done the homework. ✓
- The road was flooded, there had been - heavy rain during the night.
- We all cheered the team: had come back from the competition victorious.
- I find French difficult - the pronunciation is very different to English! ✓
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- Which sentences use hyphens correctly?
- It was a hard-fought victory against a confident team of eleven-year-olds. ✓
- My long-lost cousin's ex husband is completely self obsessed.
- He washed his blood-soaked hands in a fast-flowing stream. ✓
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- Which sentence is correctly punctuated?
- The storm was terrible, trees were knocked over and fences were damaged.
- The storm was terrible; trees were knocked over; and fences were damaged.
- The storm was terrible; trees were knocked over and fences were damaged. ✓
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- When might we need to use semi-colons in a list?
- when the list items are proper nouns
- when the list items contain commas ✓
- when there are more than two list items
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Worksheet
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Presentation
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- A colon has two functions - it can introduce a list or an explanation. A dash can also introduce an explanation.
- A semi-colon has two functions - to separate detailed items in a list or to join two closely-related main clauses.
- Using colons and semi-colons can improve text cohesion.
- Bullet points are useful in certain non-fiction texts.
- Hyphens are used to join two or more words or parts of words together.
Common misconception
Pupils may struggle to identify the correct punctuation for bullet points.
There are very few hard-and-fast rules; the key is to select consistent punctuation throughout the list.
Keywords
Colon - a piece of punctuation placed after a complete sentence that can introduce a list, a question or an explanation
Semi-colon - a piece of punctuation that can join two closely-related main clauses or separate items in a detailed list
Hyphen - a piece of punctuation that can join two or more words or parts of words together
Bullet points - punctuation marks that lay key information out in a non-fiction text
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