FORMAL AND INFORMAL LETTERS
		FORMAL		INFORMAL
Name		Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms Dupuis Dear Mary		Hi/Hello Mary Mary,....(or no name at all)
Previous contact		Thank you for your e-mail of... Further to your last e-mail,... I apologise for not getting in contact with you before now.		Thanks for your e-mail. Re your e-mail,... Sorry, I haven't written for ages, but I've been really busy.
Reason for writing		I am writing in connection with... I am writing with regard to... In reply to your e-mail, here are... Your name was given to me by... We would like to point out that...		Just a short note about... I'm writing about... Here's the...you wanted. I got your name from... Please note that...
Giving information		I'm writing to let you know that... We are able to confirm that... I am delighted to tell you that... We regret to inform you that...		Just a note to say... We can confirm that... Good news! Unfortunately,...
Attachments		Please find attached my report. I'm sending you ... as a pdf file.		I've attached... Here is the...you wanted.
Asking for information		Could you give me some information about... I would like to know... I'm interested in receiving/finding out...		Can you tell me a little more about... I'd like to know... Please send me...
Requests		I'd be greatful if you could... I wonder if you could... Do you think I could have...? Thank you in advance for your help in this matter.		Please could you... Could you...? Can I have...? I'd appreciate your help on this.
Promising action		I will... I'll investigate the matter. I will contact you again shortly.		I'll... I'll look into it. I'll get back to you soon.
Offering help		Would you like me to...? If you wish, I would be happy to... Let me know whether you would like me to...		Do you want me to...? Shall I...? Let me know if you'd like me to...
Final comments		Thank you for your help. Do not hesitate to contact us again if you require any further information. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. My direct line is...		Thanks again for... Let me know if you need anything else. Just give me a call if you have any questions. My number is...
Close		I am looking forward to...(+ -ing) Give me regards to... Best wishes Regards Source :  http://alvianustandi.blogspot.com/2014/05/formal-and-informal-letters.html		Looking forward to...(+ -ing) Best wishes to... Speak to/See you soon. Bye (for now) / All the best

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Writing Video

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Types of Essays

Effectively writing different types of essays has become critical to academic success. Essay writing is a common school assignment, a part of standardized tests, and a requirement on college applications. Often on tests, choosing the correct type of essay to write in response to a writing prompt is key to getting the question right. Clearly, students can’t afford to remain confused about types of essays.
There are over a dozen types of essays, so it’s easy to get confused. However, rest assured, the number is actually more manageable. Essentially there are four major types of essays, with the variations making up the remainder.
Four Major Types of Essays
Distinguishing between types of essays is simply a matter of determining the writer’s goal. Does the writer want to tell about a personal experience, describe something, explain an issue, or convince the reader to accept a certain viewpoint? The four major types of essays address these purposes:

1. Narrative Essays: Telling a Story
In a narrative essay, the writer tells a story about a real-life experience. While telling a story may sound easy to do, the narrative essay challenges students to think and write about themselves. When writing a narrative essay, writers should try to involve the reader by making the story as vivid as possible. The fact that narrative essays are usually written in the first person helps engage the reader. “I” sentences give readers a feeling of being part of the story. A well-crafted narrative essay will also build towards drawing a conclusion or making a personal statement.

2. Descriptive Essays: Painting a Picture
A cousin of the narrative essay, a descriptive essay paints a picture with words. A writer might describe a person, place, object, or even memory of special significance. However, this type of essay is not description for description’s sake. The descriptive essay strives to communicate a deeper meaning through the description. In a descriptive essay, the writer should show, not tell, through the use of colorful words and sensory details. The best descriptive essays appeal to the reader’s emotions, with a result that is highly evocative.

3. Expository Essays: Just the Facts
The expository essay is an informative piece of writing that presents a balanced analysis of a topic. In an expository essay, the writer explains or defines a topic, using facts, statistics, and examples. Expository writing encompasses a wide range of essay variations, such as the comparison and contrast essay, the cause and effect essay, and the “how to” or process essay. Because expository essays are based on facts and not personal feelings, writers don’t reveal their emotions or write in the first person.

4. Persuasive Essays: Convince Me
While like an expository essay in its presentation of facts, the goal of the persuasive essay is to convince the reader to accept the writer’s point of view or recommendation. The writer must build a case using facts and logic, as well as examples, expert opinion, and sound reasoning. The writer should present all sides of the argument, but must be able to communicate clearly and without equivocation why a certain position is correct.

Learn How to Write Different Types of Essays
Time4Writing essay writing courses offer a highly effective way to learn how to write the types of essays required for school, standardized tests, and college applications. These online writing classes for elementary, middle school, and high school students, break down the writing process into manageable chunks, easily digested by young writers. Students steadily build writing skills and confidence with each online writing course, guided by one-on-one instruction with a dedicated, certified teacher. Our middle school online writing courses, Welcome to the Essay and Advanced Essay, teach students the fundamentals of writing well-constructed essays. The high school online writing class, Exciting Essay Writing, focuses in depth on the essay writing process with preparation for college as the goal. The online writing classes for kids also cover how to interpret essay writing prompts in testing situations.

Source :  http://www.time4writing.com/writing-resources/types-of-essays/

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Ten steps for writing an essay

Rather than worrying about an essay for weeks, suggest to your child to read through these 10 points, get in some early preparation and have the self-belief that they can do it.

1. Read the essay question carefully

   • Highlight key words.
   • Use the dictionary to check the meaning of any unfamiliar words.
   • Identify the task words that indicate what needs to be done, eg ‘discuss', ‘explain', ‘compare'.
   • Identify the topic words that indicate the particular subject of the essay, eg the character of ‘Juliet' in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the ‘causes' of World War 1.
   • Identify any limiting words that restrict the discussion to a particular area, eg in ‘Chapters 1-3', during the ‘nineteenth century'.

2. Finish any necessary reading or research as background to the essay

   • Be selective: use sources which are relevant and accessible.
   • Write notes in your own words.
   • Write down quotations that may be particularly useful, but ensure the source of these quotes is acknowledged if they're used.
   • Take note of sources so they can be provided in footnotes and the bibliography.

3. Brainstorm ideas in response to the question

   • Jot down any relevant points.
   • Make note of any relevant evidence or quotes that come to mind.
   • Use a mind map to help stimulate lateral thinking.

4. Develop a thesis (idea/argument) that encapsulates the response to the question

   • The thesis should be a statement that strongly expresses the overall response to the question.
   • Avoid a thesis that's too simplistic – show thought has been put into some of the complexities behind the question.
   • The thesis is the backbone of the essay – it will be stated in the introduction. It also needs to be referred to several times in the essay before restating it and demonstrating how it has been proven in the conclusion.

5. Write a plan for the response

   • Order ideas in a logical sequence.
   • Make sure every point in the plan is relevant to the question.
   • After the plan has been written it should be clear where the essay is going. 

6. Write the introduction

   • Open up the discussion.
   • Introduce the thesis.
   • Indicate how the questions will be answered.
   • Name any texts to be discussed, if appropriate.
   • Engage the reader.

7. Write the main body of the essay

   • Ensure each point is given a new paragraph.
   • Use words or phrases at the start of each paragraph that will indicate to the reader how it relates to the previous paragraph, eg, 'however', ‘in addition', ‘nevertheless', ‘moreover'.
   • Start each paragraph with a topic sentence that clearly links the paragraph to the rest of the essay, eg "A striking example of Gary Crew's use of light and darkness imagery to suggest notions of knowledge and ignorance occurs in the scene on the jetty".
   • Provide supporting evidence for each point that you make.
   • Revisit the thesis, and express it in different ways if possible, to emphasise how the question is being addressed. 

8. Write the essay conclusion

   • Summarise the main ideas.
   • Demonstrate how you have proven your thesis.
   • Finish with an interesting or thought-provoking, but relevant, comment.

9. Edit the draft

   • Check for spelling, punctuation and grammar.
   • Delete any sections that are not particularly relevant.
   • Change vocabulary to improve expression.
   • Seek feedback from peers or a teacher before writing the final copy.

10. Write the final copy

    • Add any footnotes or bibliography if required.
    • Present a clean, neat copy.
    • Submit on time
    
     Source : http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/homework-and-study/homework-tips/10-tips-for-writing-an-essay
    

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8 Tips to Improve Your English Writing Skills

• Below are 8 Tips to Improve Your English Writing Skills:
• 1. Keep All of your Writing in One Place
  Buy a notebook or journal or start an electronic journal. By keeping your writing all in the same place, you will be able to see how much you are improving and keep it organized.
• 2. Practice Writing in English Daily
  The importance of writing daily is that you start to create a new habit. Writing every day in English will soon become natural and something you look forward to. You will not see a significant improvement if you are not dedicated to becoming a better writer in English. You cannot create awesome stories and papers if you never try.
• 3. Pick a Topic and WRITE!
  Don’t get stuck on figuring out what to write about. You can write about anything. You can write about what you do, things you hear or see, news, or make up a story. If you do get stuck, use some of English Tonight’s writing prompts to help you get started.
• 4. Write More than One Draft
  Draft means a preliminary version of piece of writing. Sometimes, your best writing becomes better after you take a break and work on a second or third draft. When you revise (or rewrite) your work you are often able to get your message across more clearly. You make think of things that you did not think to write in the first draft and you can add it in a later draft.
• 5. Use Online Resources to Correct your Grammar
  Yes, grammar is a pain. You don’t need to know everything about English grammar. Use online resources, such as Grammarly, GrammarCheck or GrammarBook.com to help you answer a grammar question when it comes up. You could also switch the spell and grammar check on MS Word, your iPad or Google Doc to check your spelling and grammar in English.
• 6. Think Outside the Box (or Lines)
  Don’t write about the same thing every day or you will get bored. Try writing the same story from different perspectives or different tenses. If you are writing a story about a baby that won’t stop crying; first, it could be the mother telling the story; then from the perspective of the baby. Or you could write it in present moment…. ‘My baby hasn’t stopped crying in five days…’ and then write in the perspective of a pregnant woman that is thinking about having a baby that won’t stop crying. Don’t write about topics in the obvious way. Be creative!
• 7. Have a Friend Edit Your Writing
  Have a friend that knows English correct or edit your work. Having another person read your work helps generate more ideas to better your writing. You could have them edit everything or just a part that you are stuck on. Often having another set of eyes look at your writing helps find mistakes that you have overlooked.
• 8. Find the Best Place for You to Write
  You should try writing in different places or at different times of the day. Maybe you have writer’s block at night; try getting up 15 minutes earlier and writing in the morning. Maybe you have trouble writing where there is a lot of noise; try writing in a quiet and comfortable place. Experiment in finding the right (or write?) environment for you to write.
• Writing is a process; the more you work on your writing the better it (and you) will get.

Source :  http://english-tonight.com/8-tips-to-improve-english-writing-skills/

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Punctuation Marks

Apostrophe (') is used to indicate possession, contractions, and plurals.

1. Possession:
• The possessive form of singular nouns ends in 's, including nouns ending in s, x, z, ch, or sh. For example: a dog's life, a lass's smile.
• The apostrophe follows the s for the possessive of plural nouns except for plurals which do not end in s. For example, you would write: zebras' stripes, but children's books.
• No apostrophe is used for personal pronouns like "hers," "its," "theirs;" indefinite pronouns require one: e.g., one's friend.
• In compounds, the 's is added to the word nearest the object of possession.
• Joint possession is shown by putting the apostrophe on the last word of a series, e.g., Abelard and Héloise's child.
• The apostrophe follows the s of a word with two sibilant sounds; e.g., Kansas' and Moses'.
• The apostrophe is not used in "Pikes Peak," the mountain in Colorado.

2. Contractions: The apostrophe is used when leaving out a letter or number in a contraction. For example, "I can't" (instead of "cannot"); "let's dance" (instead of "let us"); "it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood" (instead of "it is").

3. Plurals:
• Plurals of letter abbreviations with periods and single letters use 's. For example: There are four s's in .
• Plurals of letter combinations, numerals, and hyphenated nouns end in I with no apostrophe; for example: 1s and 0s.
• The apostrophe is not used in names of organizations unless actually part of the legal name.

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Braces ({ }) are used to show the relationship of elements in a group.

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Brackets ([ ]) are used to insert words in quoted matter, for explanatory, correctionary, or commentary reasons.

• Used to insert missing letters and to enclose insertions that take the place of or slightly alter the original text, e.g., [they] may replace a long list of names previously mentioned. Brackets are also used in unquoted matter for the same reasons.
• Used as parentheses within parentheses.
• Used in mathematical expressions (to show matter to be treated as a unit), chemical formulas, and for phonetic symbols.

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Colon (:)

• Used to introduce explanatory information, lists; for salutations, as in "Dear so-and-so:" and in clock time "It was at 5:00 in the afternoon"; periodical reference (e.g., 4:3); and between book title and book subtitle (e.g., Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography).
• Used before a final clause that explains, or amplifies something in that sentence, e.g., The dissertation needs work: it lacks flow.
• Introduces a series or summarizing statement (e.g., The following is on our list of places to go: grocery store, toy store, doughnut shop. /She had one great love: him.)
• Used in proportions, e.g., 2:1, and as a ratio sign, e.g., 1:2::3:6.
• May introduce a quotation, especially a long one.
• Used in dialogue text, e.g., Juliet: O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
• Used in correspondence for headings and introductory terms (To: From: Re:) and to separate writer/typist and carbon-copy abbreviation from the recipients.

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Comma (,) is most commonly used to separate or set off items that might otherwise be misunderstood, such as:

• Members of a series used with "and," "or," or "nor."
• Main clauses, or before the conjunction in a compound sentence.
• Two verb phrases in a sentence.
• Subordinate clauses/phrases within sentence.
• An apposite (noun referring to previous noun, e.g., my sister, Nancy) or contrasting words/phrases (e.g., I need you, not anyone else.)
• Introductory items, e.g., Sir, are you listening?
• Interrupting or parenthetic items.
• Before quotation following an introductory phrase, e.g.: She said quietly, "I love you."
• Inside a closing quotation mark, e.g.: I said "wash," not "drawer."
• To show omission, e.g., The thing is, we need time.
• Between compound qualifiers, e.g., He has big, broad shoulders.
• Between name and title, title and organization, name and degree, surname and Junior/Jr./Senior/Sr.
• In an inverted name, e.g., Shakespeare, William; Kipfer, Barbara Ann.
• To separate thousands, millions, etc. in number of four or more digits, e.g., 2,000.
• To set off the day of the month, e.g., Their anniversary is June 1, 1991, when they met.
• To set off elements of an address, e.g., Write to him at The Language Centre, University of Exeter, Exeter, England EX4 4QH.
• After the salutation in informal correspondence, e.g., "Dear T.B.," and after the complimentary close in all correspondence, e.g., "Respectfully,".

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Dash (--)

• Used to denote a sudden change or break in a sentence, e.g. He was gone -- heaven forbid -- for an hour and no one knew where he was. No spaces are added before or after a dash and do not combine with a colon, comma, or semicolon.
• As a substitute for parentheses or commas in an attempt to clarify meaning or place emphasis, e.g., She has this to accomplish today -- work, study, cook, and household duties -- as well as take care of her child.
• Before an amplification, definition, explanation, or summary statement, e.g., To be or not to be -- that is a question we each ask ourselves at night before we turn out the light.
• At the end of an unfinished word or sentence, e.g., The story went on to say that--.
• To precede an author's credit for a quotation and as a way of setting off something in page design, as for lists, outlines.
• The en dash is used in typeset material and is shorter than the em dash, which is represented in typewritten material by two hyphens. It is used as a replacement for a hyphen when the meaning intended is 'up to and including', e.g., "1987-91," "Monday-Saturday." A two-em (four hyphens) dash is used to show missing letters in a word. A three-em (six hyphens) dash is used to show that a word is left out or that an unknown word or number is to be supplied.

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Division of words: Guidelines for dividing words at the end of lines are:

• Pay attention to the way the word is pronounced (syllables) and do not break the word so that it would be mispronounced or misunderstood.
• Divide between doubled consonants, except when it would divide a simple base form, e.g., "re-com-men-da-tion," but "sell-ing," "buzz-er." When the doubled consonant comes before -ing, the second consonant stays with the -ing.
• Do not divide a one-syllable word, even if there is an inflected ending like -ed', e.g., spelled, bummed.
• Do not divide a word so that one or two letters is left either at the end of one line or the beginning of another. Division after a prefix, putting it at the end of a line, is permissible.
• Do not divide words of six letters or less.
• Divide hyphenated words at the hyphen.
• Do not divide before the following suffixes; they should not be at the beginning of a line alone nor should they be divided themselves: -able, -ceous, -cial, -cion, -cious, -geous, -gion, -gious, -ible, -sial, -sion, -tial, -tion, -tious.
• When a vowel alone forms a syllable in the middle of a word, keep it with the previous syllable, e.g., physi-cal.
• A liquid or silent l syllable at the end of a word or part of an inflected ending should not be put on the next line alone, e.g., read-able, twin-kling.
• Proper nouns, numerals, and abbreviations should not be divided.

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Ellipsis points or ellipses or points of ellipsis or suspension points (...)

• Used when words are omitted: three periods in the middle of a sentence, four at the end of a sentence (unless the sentence ends with a question mark or exclamation point: then it is "...?" "or '...!").
• May also indicate a break or suspension in speech.
• Punctuation that normally falls before or after the ellipsis points can be retained for clarity; a space precedes and follows ellipses.

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Exclamation point (!)

• Used to show surprise, incredulity, praise, a command -- to show force in statement.
• May be used to replace a question mark when irony or an emphatic tone is meant, e.g., How could you!
• An exclamation point and question mark may be used together to show extreme force.
• If the exclamation point ends a sentence in a quotation, the comma or period is dropped.

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Hyphen or (-):

• Used to connect the elements of some compound words, especially ones of three or more words.
• Used to divide a word at the end of a line.
• Used in fractions and compound numbers.
• Found in measurements with numbers and unit.
• Used in ages with number and unit.
• Used in prefixed words when a vowel is doubled or consonant is tripled.
• Used for certain prefixes such as ex-.
• Used to make a word clear from its homonym ("recover" and "re-cover") between a prefix and the second word if it is a proper noun and proper noun compounds.
• Used for certain suffixes such as -elect.
• Used for compounds which begin with a single capital letter, such as H-bomb.
• Used for compound adjectives, including those where the first adjective ends in -ly, as in "scholarly-written piece" (but not for compound modifiers of adverb-and-adjective, such as "widely known author").
• Used for directions, such as: north-northwest.
• Used for words spelled out letter-by-letter, as in "y-e-s."
• Used to show stuttering speech.

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Numerals/numbers:

• The most common, Arabic numerals, are 0, 1, 2, etc.
• Roman numerals use the letters I (1), V (5), X (10), L (50), C (100), D (500), M (1,000) and are used to designate certain wars (WWI, WWII), sequence in family, rulers, vehicles, major headings in documents.
• Cardinal numbers are 0, zero, 1, one, etc.
• Ordinal numbers are 1st, first, 2nd, second, etc.
• In general, write out the first nine cardinal (1-9) numbers (except for address numbers 2-9, dates, decimals, game scores, highways, latitude/longitude, mathematical expressions, measurement/weight, money/financial data, percentages, proportion, scientific expressions, statistics, technical expressions, temperature, time, unit modifiers, votes, and numbers not written out in a proper noun) and any number that begins a sentence; use figures for 10 and above.
• The first nine ordinal (1st-9th) numbers are usually written out, especially when describing order in time or location.
• Governmental, political, and military units numbering one hundred or less are usually written out. Labor unions and other organizations often use figures.
• Numbers of one million and above are easier to read if written as figures with the word "million," "billion," etc.
• Written-out numbers between 21 and 99 are hyphenated.
• Figures of four digits may be written with or without a comma.
• Numbers of checks, contracts, military hours, pages, policies, rooms/suites, streets, telephone numbers, and years are written without commas.
• Check, telephone, and serial numbers may contain hyphens.
• A fraction used as a modifier is hyphenated, e.g., three-quarter time.
• A fraction used with a whole number is written as a figure, e.g., 5 1/2, as are measurements that are fractions, e.g., "/10 mile.
• A measurement as a modifier is hyphenated, e.g., nine-pound boy.
• Numbers in a series or set are written alike, e.g., 50 to 60 participants.
• Street names that are numbers are written out, but may also be written as figures from 13 and over.
• Document divisions are usually written as figures, e.g., Psalm 100, page 7.
• Ordinal numbers are not used in full dates; commas are not used in between just a month and year.
• Money designations of one or two words are often written out, e.g., one dollar.
• Times are usually spelled out in text and may be when used with "o'clock." Figures are used for exact times, e.g., 8:13. Times may be used with "a.m./A.M.," "p.m./P.M., "o'clock," or "in the ~" but those designations should not be combined.
• Year and page numbers may omit hundreds and replace with a dash, e.g., 1989-90," "pp 140-50.
• If an abbreviation or symbol is used with a number, it should be written as a figure.
• Numbers should not be divided at the end of lines.
• Plurals of written-out numbers are formed by adding s or es.
• Plurals of figures are formed by adding s or 's.

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Parentheses ( )

• Used to enclose supplementary matter that is not intended to be part of the statement.
• Appear in numeric data, including Arabic numerals confirming a spelled-out number, and in other mathematical expressions.
• Set off explanations, definitions, translations, alternatives.
• Enclose the abbreviation of the spelled-out word or the spelled-out form of an abbreviation.
• Used in bibliographical data, cross-references, and comments about the text.
• May appear in numbers or letters indicating an item in a series are enclosed such as: (1), (2), (3) and (a), (b), (c).
• At the end of a sentence, the period follows the closing parenthesis.
• A complete sentence within parentheses has its own punctuation.

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Period (.)

• Used at the end of a declarative sentence and after a question that is a suggestion and which does not require an answer.
• Used after a letter or number indicating an item in a series.
• Used as part of an ellipsis.
• Appears in numbers with integers and decimals.
• Used in some abbreviations.
• Used after a person's initials.
• Centered, to indicate multiplication, i.e., 2·3=6.

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Possessives

• The possessive case of most nouns is formed by adding an apostrophe or an apostrophe and s.
• Possessives for singular and plurals nouns not ending in an s or z sound are formed by adding 's.
• Possessives of singular nouns ending in an 's or z sound are usually formed by adding 's, though some writers may prefer just an apostrophe. An exception is for multi-syllabic words if they are followed by a word beginning with an s or z sound.
• Possessives of plural nouns ending in an s or z sound are formed by adding only an apostrophe. An exception is for one-syllable irregular plurals: add s.
• In a phrase, individual possession is shown with a 's added to each noun, e.g., Barbara's and Kyle's bicycles; joint possession is shown by adding an apostrophe or s to the last noun in the series or by adding an apostrophe or s to each noun, e.g., Barbara and Paul's house.

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Question mark (?)

• Used for punctuation after a direct interrogatory statement and one expressing doubt.
• Used after each element of an interrogative series when the series is not enumerated or lettered.
• Do not put a comma after a question mark that falls within quotation marks.

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Quotation marks (" ")

• Quotation marks are used for direct quotations. Each part of an interrupted quotation begins and ends with quotation marks, as "I am getting worried," she said, "that he has not called."
• Used for expressions following introductory terms such as: entitled, the word, the term, marked, designated, classified, named, endorsed, cited as, referred to as, signed, all of which indicate a borrowing or special use.
• Placed around words referred to as words, such as: I said "tomato," not "potato."; and around sentences referred to as sentences, as in: An example of a question is, "Where the heck are they?"
• Quotations may be used around mottos, slang, misnomers, coined words, proverbs and maxims, ironical reference, and unspoken dialogue.
• Used for translations of foreign terms.
• Used for single letters within a sentence, e.g., His name begins with a "K."
• Sometimes used to enclose document titles and parts, and addresses within a sentence, e.g.: Her book, "14,000 Things to be Happy About," is a best seller.
• In American usage, punctuation that goes inside the closing quotation mark includes a period or comma (but not a colon or semicolon). In British usage, the period and the comma go outside the quotation mark. The dash, question mark, and exclamation point fall inside quotation marks if they belong with the quoted matter but outside if they punctuate the sentence as a whole.
• For quotations which extend beyond one paragraph, a quotation mark begins each paragraph and the closing quotation mark is at the end of the last paragraph.
• Some writers now leave a preceding comma out before a quotation.
• Some writers leave periods and commas outside of quoted material if that punctuation belongs to the sentence as a whole.

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Semicolon (;)

• This punctuation sometimes is regarded as a weak period or strong comma, and is used in ways similar to periods and commas.
• A semicolon can mark the end of a clause and indicate that a clause following is closely related to it.
• A semicolon can also divide a sentence to make meaning clearer. A semicolon is placed outside quotation marks and parentheses.
• Separates independent clauses in place of a coordinating conjunction or ellipsis.
• Separates independent clauses when the second begins with a conjunctive adverb as in: accordingly, all the same, also, as a result, besides, by the same token, consequently, furthermore, hence, however, indeed, in that case, likewise, moreover, nevertheless, on the other hand, otherwise, still, then, therefore, and thus. These usually explain or summarize preceding matter.
• Clarifies meaning in long sentences and in those with several commas. The indication of a strong pause by the semicolon helps the reader understand the meaning.
• May be used before explanation phrases and clauses such as: for example, for instance, i.e., namely, that is.
• Separates lists or phrases in a series when the phrases themselves have commas.

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Single quotation marks (' ')

• Single quotation marks are used to enclose a quotation within a quotation.
• May be used around words that are special terms or for words referred to as words.

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Slash (/)

• The slash is punctuation also called the virgule, diagonal, solidus, oblique, or slant.
• It is mainly used to show that a word is not written out.
• A slash represents 'or' or 'and/or' in alternatives such as: yours/mine.
• A slash may represent 'and', as in: 1990/91, Minneapolis/St. Paul.
• A slash may represent some prepositions, such as: at, for, versus, with, i.e., c/o addressee, w/dressing.
• A slash represents 'per' or 'to' in measures and ratios, as in: 2 ft./min., price/earnings ratio.
• A slash is used to separate numbers in dates, fractions, and telephone numbers.
• A slash may be used to separate parts of an address or divide lines of poetry when written as continuous text.
• A slash is used in pronunciations (phonemic transcriptions).

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Common errors in punctuation:

• Using the apostrophe for plurals: "plural's" is incorrect, "plurals" is correct.
• Using the punctuation mark inside the quotation mark: correct for American usage; punctuation marks go outside the quotation marks in British English.
• Using punctuation in parentheses: the punctuation goes inside the parentheses if what is within the parentheses constitutes a complete sentence. 

Source : http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/g61.html

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