4.5.1 Mechanics of writing

• The hyphen and its uses
• Single and double quotation marks
• Punctuating direct and indirect speech
• The dash and the slash
• Choosing punctuation appropriate to register

• use the hyphen correctly in compound words and modifiers
• punctuate direct speech accurately
• distinguish single from double quotation marks in use
• use the dash and slash appropriately

“How does a small mark change what a sentence means?”

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1. Hyphens, dashes and slashes
   40 min · 2 practice tasks · quiz
   Three marks that look similar and do entirely different jobs.
2. Punctuating speech
   40 min · 2 practice tasks · quiz
   Getting dialogue right, and the difference between quoting and reporting.
3. Apostrophes: possession and contraction
   40 min · 2 practice tasks · quiz
   Two jobs, one mark, and the its/it's error that survives into print.
4. Colons, semicolons and brackets
   40 min · 2 practice tasks · quiz
   Three marks for introducing, balancing and inserting, without turning every pause into a comma.
5. Capitals, paragraphs and the register of punctuation
   40 min · 2 practice tasks · quiz
   What must be capitalised, where a paragraph starts, and why a travel report should not look like a text message.