Punctuation and Mechanics Flashcards

Grade 6 · English · Flashcards

Study punctuation marks and their rules for 6th grade writing.

Flashcards

Period (.): Ends a declarative or imperative sentence; marks abbreviations
Question mark (?): Ends a direct question
Exclamation point (!): Ends a sentence expressing strong emotion; use sparingly for effect
Comma (,): Separates list items, joins clauses with conjunctions, follows introductory phrases
Oxford comma: Comma before the final 'and' or 'or' in a list of three or more items
Semicolon (;): Connects two closely related independent clauses without a conjunction
Colon (:): Introduces a list, explanation, or quotation after a complete clause
Apostrophe ('): Shows possession (girl's) or marks omitted letters in contractions (it's)
Contraction: Two words joined with an apostrophe replacing removed letters (we're = we are)
Quotation marks (" "): Enclose direct speech and titles of short works like poems and stories
Dash (—): Sets off dramatic interruptions or adds emphasis — stronger than parentheses
Parentheses ( ): Enclose non-essential information in a quiet aside
Singular possessive: Add 's to singular nouns to show ownership (the student's book)
Plural possessive: Add only ' after plural nouns ending in s (the students' books)