El consumo de apóstrofo y el guión

Plurals

14p.Use an apostrophe and an s to form the plurals of all lower-case letters, of some capital letters, of numeral, of symbols, and of words referred to as words.

Examples:

1. two boys' hats two women's hats

2. two actresses' hats

3. two children's hats

4. the Changs' house

Note. To form the plurals of abbreviation that end with a period add an apostopge and an s.

Examples

1. Ph.D’s

2. M.A.’s

To form the plurals of abbreviations not followed by periods, add either and apostrophe and an s or just s.

1. CD’s or CDS

2. VCR’s or VCRs

Hyphens

14q.Use a hyphen to divide a word at the end of a line.

Examples:

1. Alicia chose to write her report about the pli-

ght of the homeless.

2. Isn’t Ethan running for student council presi-

dent this year?

3. Marcel is in charge of buying all the mate-

rials for the project.

When dividing a word at the end of a line, remember the following rules.

• Do not divide a one syllable word.

• Divide a word only between syllables

• Divide an already hyphenated word at the hyphen

• Do not divide a word so that one letter stands alone

14r.Use a hyphen with a compound number form twenty-one to ninety-one and with fractions used as modifiers.

Examples:

1. Forty-two applicants

2. About three-fourths empty

3. A two-thirds majority

14s.Hyphenate a compound adjective when it precedes the word it modifies.

Examples:

1. A well- liked author

2. A world-renewed composer

3. The less-appreciated services

14t. Use a hyphen with the prefixes ex-, self-, all-, and great-; with the suffixes –elect and –free; and with all the prefixes before a proper noun or proper adjective.

Examples:

1. Ex-mayor

2. Self-control

3. All-star

4. Great-grandson

14.u Use hyphen to prevent confusion or awkwardness.

Examples:

1. Re-collect

2. De-icer

3. Re-wind

Dashes

Sometimes a word, phrase, or sentence is used parenthetically; that is, it breaks into the man thought of a sentence. Most parenthetical elements are set off by commas or by parentheses. Sometimes, though, such elements call for a sharper separation from the rest of the sentence. In such cases, dashers are used.

14v.Use a dash to indicate an abrupt break in thought or speech.

Examples:

1. The director of the film --- I can’t recall his name – said that there would be a sequel

2. The truth is --- and you probably already know this --- we can’t finish the project on time.

3. Running with scissors – you shouldn’t do this—is one of the most dangerous things kids do.

14w.Use a dash to mean namely, in other words, or that is before, and explanation.

1. It was a close call- the sudden gust of wind pushed the helicopter to within inches of the power line.

2. Early Native American civilization --- the Mayan, the Incan, and the Aztec – relied on the farming for their livelihood.

3. He delved deep into the bowels of the earth and found instead of the hidden treasure—a button.

Parentheses

14x.Use parentheses to enclose informative or explanatory material of minor importance.

Examples:

1. The late Representative Barbara Jordan ( Texas ) was on the committee.

2. The length of the Mekong River is 4m186 kilometers ( about 2,600 miles).

3. Many ancient writers predicted that the world was due to end April 15, 1999

(Olde Booke 97).

(1) A parenthetical sentence that falls within another sentence.

Examples:

1. The

...