Page 207 - Basic English Usage

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264 punctuation: apostrophe

We use apostrophes (’) in two important ways.
a. To show where we have left letters out of a contracted form. (See 90.)
can’t (= cannot) she’s (= sheis) Id (= / would)
b. In possessive forms of nouns. (See 250.)
the girl’s father Charles’s wife __ three miles’ walk
We do not use apostrophes in plurals, possessive determiners (except
one’s) or possessive pronouns.
blue jeans (NOT btvejean’s)
The dog wagged its tail. (NOT ... ##’s-tai/-)
This is yours. (NOT ... yetr’s-)

265 punctuation: colon

We often use colons (:) before explanations.
We decided not to go on holiday: we had too little money.
Mother may have to go into hospital: she’s got kidney trouble.

We also use colons before quotations.
In the words of Murphy's Law: ‘Anything that can go wrong will go
wrong’.

266 punctuation: comma

Some ways of using commas:
We use commas (,) to separate things in a series or list. We do not use
them between the last two words or expressions (except when these are
long).
| went to Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Germany.
You had a holiday at Christmas, at New Year and at Easter.
| spent yesterday playing cricket, listening to jazz records,
and talking about the meaning of life.
We separate adjectives by commas after a noun, but not always before.
Compare:
a tall(,) dark(,) handsome cowboy
The cowboy was tall, dark and handsome.
We put commas in a series of colour adjectives.
a green, red and gold carpet