Joan said that she would run for mayor, but only if the time was right. Use a comma to separate words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. His father, who is a busdriver, was hurt in an accident last week. Ellen will be late for school, if she misses the bus. Because Ellen missed the bus, she was late for school.
Colon Use a colon to follow an independent clause to introduce an example, a list, or a quotation.
Quotation Marks Use quotation marks to enclose the words of the speaker. It's too bad the sun isn't shining. Dashes Use dashes to emphasize a part of a sentence and indicate a break.