 Punctuation Part 1. Using Periods and Commas Punctuation can be difficult, especially if English is not your first language. This video will deal with using periods and commas correctly. We'll focus on how to use these marks effectively in written English. Let's start with the basics. Periods are used to separate complete sentences. Commas are used to separate ideas within sentences. For example, Gary went to the post office. Period. This is a complete sentence. After he went to the post office, comma, Gary went to the bank. Spacing. After a comma, leave one space. For example, this is not correct. On the other hand, comma, space, this is correct. Leave two spaces after a period. For example, use periods correctly. Don't do this. Use periods correctly. Space, space. Do this. Do not put a space before a period or comma. Of course, space, comma, this is not correct. Space, period. Look at the drawing on the right. You see, period, space, space. comma, space. smiley face. Complete sentences. Use periods with complete sentences. For example, Gary eats a lot of candy. This is a complete sentence. For example, that is not a complete sentence. For example, comma, Gary eats a lot of candy. The for example is connected to the complete sentence. At the movies, that is not a complete sentence. At the movies, comma, Gary eats a lot of candy. Now it's a complete sentence. When Gary eats a lot of candy, that's not a complete sentence. It needs to be connected to something else. When Gary eats a lot of candy, comma, she gets sick. Extra words. Usually, extra words at the beginning of sentences can make them incomplete. Let's look at some examples. Gary eats a lot of candy. This is a complete sentence. When we add an extra word, when Gary eats a lot of candy, that makes it incomplete. The extra word, when, makes it an incomplete sentence. For example, when Gary eats a lot of candy, what? We need more information. The words need to be connected to another sentence in order to be complete. For example, when Gary eats a lot of candy, comma, she gets sick. Period. Complete sentence. Be careful. When you see an extra word at the beginning of a sentence, a comma is usually required after the first group of words. Other extra words are, because, if, before, after, since, as, and although. There are more words like this, but these are the most common ones. Groups of words. Introductory. When you put words or groups of words at the beginning of a sentence, before the main subject, a comma is usually required. In the evenings, I go swimming at the pool. Bob likes to swim in the ocean. However, I go swimming at the pool. Whenever I have time, comma, I go swimming at the pool. After finishing work, comma, I go swimming at the pool. Let's call these introductory phrases, groups of words, because they come at the beginning of sentences. Groups of words intermediary. Sometimes we put words or groups of words between the subject and main verb. In such cases, commas are required before and after the word or phrase. For example, Sam likes to swim in the ocean. Jen, comma, however, comma, swims at the pool. Sam, comma, who comes from Hawaii, comma, likes to swim in the ocean. Sam, comma, after he finishes work, comma, likes to swim in the ocean. Sam, comma, after finishing work, comma, likes to swim in the ocean. This one is actually better than the one before, because it doesn't have as many words. Let's call these types of phrases intermediary, because they come in the middle of sentences and interrupt the subject and verb. Groups of words, final position. When we use words or groups of words at the end of sentences, a comma is not always required. For example, Ron likes to serve in the evenings. No comma is required. Ron likes to serve after he gets off work. Ron likes to serve after getting off work. Ron likes to serve after work. Let's call these final phrases because they come at the ends of sentences. Can these phrases be moved around within sentences? The short answer is yes. In English, we can generally move phrases to different positions in the sentence. Just remember to keep the pronunciation rules. For example, after finishing class, Jill likes to watch TV. This is a phrase in the introductory position. Jill, after finishing class, likes to watch TV. This is a phrase in the intermediary position. Jill likes to watch TV after finishing class. This is a phrase in the final position of the sentence. These are general punctuation rules. You may find some special cases in which the rules don't apply, but most of the time you can be correct when following them. We encourage you to use a variety of sentence types in your writing to make it more interesting. For example, don't always put phrases at the beginning of sentences. That can become boring. Mix them up within your writing. More information in other videos. We deal with more punctuation rules in our other videos and web pages. Some things to watch for. Coordinators. For example, dad drinks coffee, comma, but mom drinks tea. Tammy drinks tea and coffee. Subordinators. Although dad drinks coffee, comma, mom drinks tea. Dad drinks coffee, although mom drinks tea. Sentence connectors. Dad drinks coffee, semicolon, however, mom drinks tea. Please check out the links to these videos or pages in the description below. Ready for some practice? First, review the concepts you learned. What is the basic difference between using commas and periods? What do you know about correct spacing? Give examples of complete and incomplete sentences. What do we mean by extra words? Give some examples of these. What do we mean by the following? Introductory words or groups of words. Intermediary words or groups of words. Final words or groups of words. Please feel free to stop the video to answer some of these questions. When you're ready, you can move on and we'll take a quick quiz using periods and commas. Ready to go? Here it is. Correct the mistakes with commas and periods in the following sentences. Feel free to stop the video and take as much time as you'd like for this quiz. When you're ready, we will show you the answers. Ready for the answers? Here they are. Number one, after working out at the gym, comma, Jeremy was exhausted, period. Two, actually, comma, no space between the word and the comma, I always use good punctuation, period. Although he was in class, comma, Tim didn't pay attention, period. If you play basketball, comma, you, lowercase y, might get hurt. I left my backpack at school, space, space. I had to rush back and get it, period. Marty, comma, after eating his dinner, went outside, period. Susie had some extra money, comma, so she went shopping, period. Perry finishes homework, space, before he watched TV. There's no comma necessary in this one. Because I was playing video games, comma, that first group of words is not a complete sentence. You need to connect it to another sentence. For example, because I was playing video games, comma, I had a lot of fun. You can use other words for the complete sentence. Number 10, I finished this exercise, period. I got them all right, period. These are two complete sentences. Sometimes you can combine them with the coordinator. For example, I finished this exercise, comma, and I got them all right. But that's the topic of another video. Look at the links in the description below for more information on that one. Hope that was helpful. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up in the description below. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our channel. Thanks for watching. If you have ideas for our next video, please let us know by submitting them at the link below. We would love to make a video especially for you. 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