ENGLISH PUNCTUATION

The first thing to say about English punctuation is that it is very flexible. Unlike German, the
English language does not have officially established spelling rules. Rather the traditional
spelling of distinguished dictionaries serves as a guideline. This means that you will very
probably be able to find pieces of English in magazines, newspapers and letters which
disagree with the following ideas. To help you, however, here are some guidelines which are
generally accepted.

Punctuation is the system of symbols that we use to separate sentences and parts of
sentences, and to make their meaning clear. Each symbol is called a punctuation mark .

The following punctuation marks are commonly used in English:


o full stop / period . . .
o question mark ? ? ?
o exclamation mark ! ! !
o colon : : :
o semi-colon ; ; ;
o inverted commas ... ... (sometimes also called quotation marks)
o brackets () [] (sometimes also called parentheses)
o hyphen ----
o dash (often longer than the hyphen)
o apostrophe
o asterisk * * *
o dots ......
o comma , , ,


1. Full stop / period (.)

at the end of statements and indirect questions in order to close them:

The cat is sitting on the bed.
He asked me what time it was.


at the end of commands and requests:

Please show me your passport. (although you might also find an exclamation mark here)

after most abbreviated words:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc.
Blackwell Ltd.
citrus fruits e.g. oranges
The answer is on p. 64.

N.B. In British English you do not have to put a full stop after Mr/Mrs/Ms/Dr etc.

There is NO full stop after ordinal numbers:
His birthday is on 7
th
January / 7 January.
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain
2. Exclamation mark (!)

after exclamations:

How confusing English punctuation is!

after interjections (Ausrufe):

Oh! Wow! That hurts!

N.B. The exclamation mark is used much more rarely than in German.



3. Colon (:)

to separate two main clauses when the second clause explains the first:

We decided not to go on holiday: we had too little money.
Mother may have to go into hospital: Shes got kidney trouble.

to introduce lists:

The main points are as follows: (1)..., (2)..., (3)...
We need three kinds of support: economic, moral and political.

N.B. In these cases the word after the colon does NOT have a capital letter.


to direct attention to a brief summary, a quotation or direct speech:

All her thoughts were centred on one objective: freedom.
In the words of Murphys Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
POLONIUS: What do you read, my lord? HAMLET: Words, words, words.

letters:

Americans usually put a colon after the opening salutation in a business letter:
Dear Mr. Callan:
I am writing to... (British English: comma or nothing at all)



4. Semi-colon (;)

to combine two main clauses in cases where sentences are grammatically
independent but the meaning is closely connected:

It is a fine idea; let us hope that it is going to work.
Some people work best in the mornings; others do better in the evenings.

to separate a series of items which themselves contain commas, it order to make it
totally clear where the divisions come:

I came to this conclusion after talking in Moscow with all three groups of people
concerned: foreign diplomats, students and journalists; the new Rector of Friendship
University; and the worried Afro-Asian students themselves.







5. Inverted commas / quotation marks ( ... /...)

special use of words:

We often put quotation marks round words which are used in special ways for
example when we talk about them, when we use them as titles, or when we give them
special meanings.
Quotation marks are also called inverted commas .
His first book was Heart of Darkness.
A textbook can be a wall between teacher and class.

direct speech:

We use quotation marks when we quote direct speech. Single quotation marks (...)
are more common in British English and double quotation marks (...) in American
English. For quotations inside quotations, we use double quotation marks inside
single (or single inside double).

Go away! Mr Tomkins said angrily.
His last words, said Albert, were Close that bloody window .



6. Brackets (...)-[...]

to include explanatory words or phrases that are not necessarily needed:

Lew Perkins, the Director of Athletic Programs, said that Pumita Espinoza, the new
soccer coach [at Notre Dame Academy] is going to be a real winner.
Before arriving at the station, the old train (someone said it was a relic of frontier
days) caught fire.



7. Hyphen (-)

in number words of the type twenty-one, thirty-two, four hundred and forty-three

in time and size/quantity phrases, when used as adjective phrases:

My cat is two years old I have a two-year-old cat.
Our house has four storeys. We live in a four-storey house.

between an adverb and adjective before a noun when the adverb has the same form
as its adjective form and the phrase could otherwise be ambiguous is a light blue
bag to be translated by eine hellblaue Tasche or eine leichte blaue Tasche? For the
first, we could use a light-blue bag, for the second, a light, blue bag.



8. Dash ()

is an informal punctuation device that marks a sudden break in thought, an
interruption, or an abrupt change of tone:

I suggest that you go tomorrow no, wait a moment, you cant because the pilots are
on strike.

Well be arriving on Monday morning at least, I think so.
9. Apostrophe ()

missing letters:

apostrophes show where we have left letters out:
cant (=cannot), its (=it is/it has), Id (=I would/I had)
Im going to Delphi tomorrow.

N.B. These short forms are always informal and should not be used in formal writing.

to form the possessive form of a noun:

This is Juliets basket.
Have you seen my parents new car?
On the left is the childrens room.

special plurals:

Words which usually do not have plurals sometimes have an apostrophe when a
plural form is written:
Its a nice idea, but there are a lot of ifs.
Raoul got four As last term.



10. Asterisk (*)

asterisks are commonly used to show something interesting or important that is later
explained in a footnote etc.
Important verbs that are followed by the gerund are admit* avoid consider delay
deny* - mind - ...
* these verbs can also be followed by a that-clause



11. Comma (,)

Commas generally reflect pauses in speech. In English they are used as follows:

lists:

We use commas to separate items in a series or list. In British English, a comma is
not usually used with and between the last two items in a list unless they are long.
I went to Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. (US: ...Austria, and
Germany.)
I spent yesterday playing cricket, listening to jazz records, and talking about the
meaning of life. (long items, therefore comma between the last two)


word order:

If words or expressions are put in unusual places or interrupt the normal progression
of a sentence, we usually separate them off by commas:
My father, however, did not agree.
We were, believe it or not, in love with each other.
Andrew Carpenter, the sales manager, was sick.



non-defining relative clauses:

Non-defining relative clauses, which give additional information and could be left out,
have to separated off by commas:
Mr. Grange, who was sitting behind the reception desk, gave Parker a big smile.
George Lamb, your old school friend, has come to visit you.


in direct speech:

A comma is generally used between a reporting expression (said, told...) and a piece
of direct speech:
Juliet said, Im hungry. Im hungry, Juliet complained.*
Looking at her, he said, Theres no way we can help you.

N.B. If the reporting expression follows the direct speech, we usually put a
comma instead of a full stop BEFORE the closing quotation mark.


subordinate clauses (Nebenstze) at the beginning of sentences:

When subordinate clauses begin sentences, they are often separated by commas:
If you are ever in London, come and see me. (Come and see me if you are ever in London.)


Commas are NOT used before that-clauses:

It is quite natural that you want to meet your father.
Everybody realized that I was a foreigner. (NOT Everybody realized, that...)


numbers:

Commas are often used to divide large numbers into groups of three figures by
separating off the thousands and millions. (not in dates)
6,456 (or 6456)
7,456,189

N.B. We do not use commas in decimals: 3.5 = three point five (NOT 3,5)


to avoid misunderstandings:

He left us, to pay the bill. (=he paid) - He left us to pay the bill. (=we had to pay it)
He left early, because I heard him start his car. (=I know he left early how? Because I
heard...)
He left early because I heard him start his car. (=he was annoyed because I heard..., so he
left.)


with adverbial clauses at the beginning or the end of a sentence:

Of course, nobody expects you learn all the rules at once.
Surprisingly, no-one likes Dustin Hoffmans new film.
By the way, has everyone brought their dictionaries with them?
We could leave tomorrow. On the other hand, it would be better to stay longer.
Fist of all, well look at commas. Secondly, well discuss hyphens. Finally, well...
This exercise is rather difficult, Im afraid.