HOW TO ANSWER THE EDITING QUESTION
It is advisable to use the 10-minute reading time, prior to the
commencement of the paper, to ‘get the feel of the paper’. Make a mental
note of the concepts that are being tested in this section.
when answering Question 5 is to skim through the text and then go
straight to the questions. Ensure that you respond to all the grammar
questions in the context of the passage.
Punctuation
Capital letters
Sentences always start with capital letters.
We bought popcorn.
Proper Nouns and Proper adjectives need capital letters.
We visited Mexico.
We participated in the Mexican wave.
The main words in titles of books, films or plays are written in
capital letters. Lord of the Flies Full stop .
Most sentences end with a full stop.
I am going to the shops.
After abbreviations etc.
Question mark?
Is used to ask a direct question.
What time are you coming home?
Exclamation mark !
To express emotion > surprise, amazement What a wonderful
idea!
To express strong commands.
Halt! Who goes there?
Quotation marks / Inverted commas When it is direct speech.
He said angrily, "I could not do any work today." At the beginning
and end of quotations.
“To be or not to be...”
To enclose titles of books, poems, newspapers, etc.
“The Star” / “Romeo and Juliet”
Single inverted commas are used inside double inverted
commas. “Have you read ‘Romeo and Juliet’ recently?” she asked. Dash
To indicate a break in thought.
“I can’t believe it! I thought – “ “Well, believe it!” To indicate a
change in thought.
“I want to chat to everybody about their work – no, I’ll explain your
project later.” To show hesitation.
Well – that – um – would be nice. Thanks!
To show strong interruptions or interjections.
Jane was hungry – no starving – by the time she got home Ellipses
This mark is usually used when a writer wants a reader to
complete a sentence with their imagination, or to show a
passing of time.
The monster lifted its head slowly, and revealed its enormous teeth. His
eyes glinted greedily, and...
It can also be used within a sentence to show that a word has
been left out. The word ellipses means “falling short”.
The terrified... lifted her arm slowly.
Comma
It is used to separate words or phrases in a list.
We bought books, pens, pencils end erasers for the new school year.
Use a comma before and after additional information.
(Parenthesis) Peter, my eldest brother, lives in California.
In the direct speech.
Mary said, “This is my camera.
Use the comma after “yes” and “no”, with “please” when you
address someone directly.
Yes, I think so.
No, I don’t want to go.
Pass me the sugar, please.
Please, pass me the sugar.
We place commas before and after words such as “however” and
“nevertheless”
She was, however, late for the appointment and this caused her to miss
the interview.
Semi-colon ;
It balances two equally important, related ideas.
She went by train; she would rather have flown.
It also indicates opposite ideas.
In summer she swims; in winter she skates.
A semi-colon may often be replaced by a full stop or by the
conjunctions “and’, “but”, “so”, ‘for” and “although”.
She worked hard for the examinations; (so) she had nothing to fear.
Colon :
Indicates that a list, an explanation or an idea is following.
I need to buy the following items: lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.
It introduces a quotation.
J.F. Kennedy’s famous words are: “Ask not what your country can do for
you. Ask what you can do for your country.”
* Parenthesis ( )
When something is written in parenthesis, it is usually an explanation,
an aside or some additional information.
The Chihuahua (the smallest dog in the world) can fit into a teacup.
Commas or dashes can be used instead of brackets. Hyphen
It links prefixes to words, or links two words to form compound
words. pre-school
It helps to differentiate meanings.
She had to re-make the garment.
The remake of Gone with the Wind is most enjoyable.
To make pronunciation and spelling easier. co-opt no-one
Italics
It is used to emphasise certain words or phrases such as titles
and foreign words.
The Sound of Music is an excellent film.