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Punctuation: American English Grammar: Punctuation Mastery

Name: Punctuation: American English Grammar: Punctuation Mastery
Rating: 4.4 (23 reviews)

Punctuation: Achieve punctuation mastery with this short American English and business writing course on punctuation

Created byBrian Jackson

Last updated 8/2025

English

What you'll learn

Four fundamental rules of punctuation: terminate sentences with either a period or a question mark, use commas to add pauses and double quotes to enclose dialog
The major exception to the four fundamental rules of punctuation; namely, terminating a sentence with an exclamation mark to make an emphatic statement.
Use commas to separate and introduction from a sentence, to enclose parenthetical asides, to implement lists and to separate conclusions from the sentence.
What is the Oxford comma and whether to include it or exclude it in your comma separated lists.
The proper use of comma alternatives including semicolons, parentheses, colons, dashes and slashes.
The proper use of less common punctuation including ellipses, braces and brackets.
How to specifying possession and contraction using apostrophes.
How to combine related words to form a compound word using hyphens.
The rules for writing dialog using proper punctuation.

Course content

9 sections • 37 lectures • 3h 22m total length

Course Overview7:07
In this lecture, I provide an introduction to the course based on the course description.
What Is Punctuation?6:20
In this lecture, I define punctuation as marks used to separate text into complete thoughts (sentences), phrases and clauses by inserting various lengths of pauses into your writing.
Course Resources0:35
In this article, I recommend installing Microsoft Word 2016 and the free Word Grammarly plugin to follow along with the course.
How to Watch This Course5:28

Introduction to Fundamentals2:33
In this lecture, I introduce the section discussing the fundamentals of punctuation.
Four Rules of Punctuation4:14
In this lecture, I outline the 4 fundamental rules of punctuation.
Exceptions to the Four Rules of Punctuation2:53
In this lecture, I extend the Four Rules of Punctuation to include the exclamation mark as a sentence terminator.
Punctuation and Word Spacing6:54
In this lecture, I explain and demonstrate how to place punctuation relative to word space separators.
Fundamentals Section Writing Workshop12:16
In this lecture, I demonstrate the fundamentals of punctuation by writing in a Microsoft Word 2016 editor session.
Fundamentals Section Quiz
Fundamentals Section Assignment
Conclusion to Fundamentals1:34
In this lecture, I summarize the fundamentals of punctuation discussed in this section.

Introduction to Comma Usage1:36
In this lecture, I provide an overview of the section structure and contents.
Introductions, Parenthetical Asides, Lists and Conclusions3:12
In this lecture, I explain and demonstrate the four most common usages of the comma in writing.
The Oxford Comma2:15
In this lecture, I explain and demonstrate writing both with and without the Oxford Comma.
Comma Usage Section Writing Workshop7:06
In this lecture, I demonstrate the four comma usage rules and the Oxford Comma during a Microsoft Word 2016 writing session.
Comma Usage Section Quiz
Comma Usage Section Assignment
Conclusion to Comma Usage1:12
In this lecture, I provide an overview of the information just addressed in this section.

Introduction to Additional Punctuation1:48
In this lecture, I provide an overview of the section structure and topics addressed.
Comma Alternatives: Semicolons, Parentheses, Colons, Dashes and Slashes14:07
In this lecture, I discuss and demonstrate the use of comma alternatives including semicolons, parentheses, colons, dashes and slashes. Since these are all comma alternatives, you may alternately choose to keep things simple by using commas instead and completely ignoring these new forms of punctuation. Check out these new punctuation options before deciding.
Uncommon Punctuation: Ellipses, Braces and Brackets6:07
In this lecture, I discuss and demonstrate the less common forms of punctuation including ellipses (that I use most commonly in dialog), braces and brackets (that I never use).
Additional Punctuation Section Writing Workshop6:50
In this lecture, I demonstrate the use of the additional punctuation discussed in this lecture in a Microsoft Word 2016 session.
Additional Punctuation Section Quiz
Additional Punctuation Section Assignment
Conclusion to Additional Punctuation1:39
In this lecture, I provide a summary of the topics just addressed in this section.

Introduction to Word Modifiers2:11
In this lecture, I outline the structure of this section and the topics addressed.
Specifying Possession and Contraction with Apostrophes7:39
In this lecture, I explain how to use apostrophes to indicate possession and contraction.
Combining and Splitting Words with Hyphenation3:45
In this lecture, I explain how to use hyphens to combine related words into a single hyphenated word.
Word Modifiers Section Writing Workshop5:05
In this workshop, we look at the use of apostrophe for contraction and possession and hyphenating words.
Word Modifiers Section Quiz
Word Modifiers Section Assignment
Conclusion to Word Modifiers1:32
In this lecture, I provide a summary of the topic just addressed in this section.

Introduction to Dialog2:29
In this lecture, I provide an overview of the structure and content of this section.
Rules for Writing Dialog Using Punctuation7:22
In this lecture, I lay out the rules for quoting dialog and dialog punctuation.
Dialog Section Writing Workshop6:28
In this workshop, I demonstrate quoting and punctuation of dialog.
Dialog Section Quiz
Dialog Section Assignment
Conclusion to Dialog2:07
In this lecture, I provide a summary of the information just addressed in this section.

Punctuation Lecture21:09
This is my original punctuation lecture from my writing fundamentals course.
Punctuation Writing Session8:37
This is the workshop lecture in which I demonstrate punctuation.
Punctuation Writing Session Files0:09
How to Copy Edit Your Own Work11:27
In this lecture, I explain and then demonstrate how to copy edit your own work using Grammarly.
Copy Editing with Grammarly (Details)8:17
In this lecture, I recommend running the Grammarly Word extension to catch grammar, spelling and syntax errors.

Requirements

This course demonstrates punctuation using Microsoft Word 2016. Students will need access to a similar editor to follow along and complete assignments.
This course demonstrates copy editing your own work using the free version of the Grammarly Word plugin. Students will need to download and install the Grammarly word plugin to follow along.

Description

Hello, and welcome to the best (well-paced, well-structured, well-presented and complete) English punctuation course on Udemy. This course is studded with workshops, quizzes and assignments that will ingrain proper punctuation directly into your fingers so you don't have to think about it while you're writing. Warning, this short course, though targeted at beginning writers, is a challenge to complete!

Knowledge of proper punctuation is essential to writing grammatically correct English prose and dialog.

So, everyone must know how to use proper punctuation, right? Wrong!

Unfortunately, existing training on English grammar and punctuation makes using proper punctuation complicated. Until now!

I'm here to tell you that learning proper English punctuation need not be complicated nor take a long time. In fact, I teach you how to write virtually anything using proper punctuation in the second four-minute lecture. Since the second lecture is free to preview, you should watch it to establish a sound foundation for your future writing. The remainder of the course expands upon the second lecture by extending and elaborating on the fundamental rules of punctuation and by providing plenty of detailed examples.

In this course, I explain everything you need to know about punctuation to be a great writer in just under two hours.

How do I accomplish this?

By focusing on the simplest and most common punctuation needs of most writers.
By deemphasizing the most uncommon forms of punctuation.

There are only 15 punctuation marks in the English language: period (.), question mark (?), exclamation mark (!), comma (,), double quotes (""), apostrophe ('), hyphen (-), parentheses (), semicolon (;), colon (:), dash (--), ellipsis (...), slash (/), braces({}) and brackets ([]).

In the first section of this course, I discuss how to write virtually anything using the first 5 punctuation marks. By the end of the course, I explain how to use the remaining punctuation marks.

So, I explain all 15 punctuation marks while focusing on only 5.

Question: How complicated can that be?

Answer: Not complicated at all.

In this course, I discuss:

Fundamental rules for punctuation
Placing punctuation relative to word spacing
Comma usage
Oxford Comma
Comma Alternatives
Uncommon Punctuation
Using Apostrophes for Possession and Contraction
Using Hyphenation to Join Words
Punctuating Dialog

The course concludes with an overview of all the rules (accompanied by a downloadable rule sheet) and a workshop in which I demonstrate how to write using the rules. Along the way, you'll be challenged with 6 quizzes and 6 homework assignments immediately following demonstration workshops captured in Microsoft Word. If you complete this course, you're writing will improve dramatically due to the fact that you will fully understand English punctuation!

So, here's what you should do:

Check out the course syllabus below for an overview of what you'll learn.
Then watch Lecture 2 for an overview of the Four Rules of Punctuation.
Conclude by enrolling in the course.

P.S. This course builds upon the information presented in my "Words and Space" course or equivalent knowledge.

I'll see you in the classroom,

---Brian

Who this course is for:

Students brand new to English writing who want to learn to write using flawless punctuation.
Students who are experienced with English writing who want to brush up on their writing skills by learning to write using flawless punctuation.

Punctuation: American English Grammar: Punctuation Mastery

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction4 lectures • 20min

Fundamentals6 lectures • 30min

Comma Usage5 lectures • 15min

Intermission1 lecture • 1min

Additional Punctuation5 lectures • 31min

Word Modifiers5 lectures • 20min

Dialog4 lectures • 18min

Additional Material5 lectures • 50min

Conclusion2 lectures • 18min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: