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Punctuation is the essence of good language that can help you bring the
best, out of your writing. Using the correct English punctuation rules
wherever necessary, can add meaning to words, thus helping your copy to
stand out, among the rest.
At times, you may find out that a well-researched paper has received a bad
marking. Even for an article that is rich in details, you can end up losing
valuable marks, because your writing wasn’t punctuated accurately. Be it
prose or poetry, punctuation rules make your writing perfect.
If you want to ensure that your efforts are well recognised, then you must
take every measure to ensure that your paper receives impressive grades.
Punctuation Rules To Write A Flawless Assignment
1. Use of apostrophe
Remember your pronoun classes in which you were taught about the
punctuation, that helped to determine the possessive pronoun clause?
Now, most students tend to neglect the use of the apostrophe, while
denoting a possessive form.
(For example, Sheila’s books, Claire’s house, etc.)
But that is certainly not all! The apostrophe is also used to shorten certain
words like she is becomes she’s, and they are becomes they’re. Students
know how to use these words in possessive forms and constrictions, and
make the mistake of using the apostrophe in plural forms.
For example, it should be “We are dining with the Jonases” and not
Jonas’s.
You are quite familiar with the use of quotations marks that are used
to denote the verbatim or the direct speech spoken by a person. Quite
often, you quote a famous personality in your writing.
For example: I am glad that you have come; we were looking forward
to meeting you.
In the above sentence, you can see how a full-stop could have been relevant
too. The two segments of the sentence that are set apart by the semi-colon
can be easily considered as two separate complete sentences.
Note: Check Image. 1 to see how commas are different from semi-colons.
However, a colon can be used to set a list of items. For cases when a clause
explains the second clause in a sentence, you need to use a colon.
For example: Please bring the following items to school: a craft book,
colour pencils and pastel colours.
4. Punctuation rule for commas (in phrases and clauses)
You should also use commas after introductory words like yes, well, and
however.
For example: Yes, we will definitely help you.
Commas are also used after the names used to address a person.
Even seasoned writers do not have an idea when they are asked the basic
difference between a hyphen and a dash. According to the basic punctuation
rules, hyphens are used to denote complex adjectives.
For cases when two or more words are collectively used as an adjective, a
hyphen is used to join the two words. Also, remember that a hyphen does
not have any spaces.
In the above sentence, you must not use a hyphen to add ‘highly’ and
‘qualified’ as the word highly is an adverb and not an adjective.
Do you know how to use the question mark? What you really know
isn’t enough.
See the two sentences given above. You will notice how one
sentence ends with a question mark while another with the period.
Some may confuse the second sentence for a question due to the
presence of what and complete the sentence with a question mark.
However, you need to understand that every query does not end
with a question mark.
Example 1: What do you know about the French revolution?
Example 2: She asked her what he knew about the French Revolution.
For example: I wonder how many people will attend the event.
If you lose the “I wonder” from the sentence, and the rest (how many people will
attend the event) sounds like a question. But altogether, it is a reflective sentence
and should not be confused for a query.
• How to use the exclamation mark
For example: Our experts are the best! We offer affordable deals!
Hire them today!
The correct usage should be: Our experts are the best, and we offer
affordable deals. Hire our services today!
Go Error Free
Moreover, the use of poetry punctuation rules can differ from that
of an essay. A dictionary should be the best guide in such cases.
You can either use the old-school Oxford, Cambridge and Collins
lexicons. Or go online with the Merriam Webster and the Urban
dictionary.
With Correct Punctuation Rules
In the above sentence, the name of the novelist is essential to the meaning
of the sentence. Otherwise, there would be no specific indication to which
of the multitude of novelists is being referred to.
You can see that in Image 2 the commas have been used in the clauses
according to the importance of the information.
You can also use a dash (-) to do the same. A dash is usually used in place
of a conjunction to make the sentences easier to understand.