PUNCTUATION MARKS AND THEIR USES

MARK USES EXAMPLES

P To indicate a declarative sentence We followed the instructions given by Mr. De Leon.

E To indicate imperative sentence Visit the vintage houses in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
R To indicate an indirect question The child asked if it was all right to pick flowers in the garden.
I To indicate an abbreviation Dr. and Mrs. Cruz own the apartment.
O
D To indicate an ellipsis or omission Now is the time for all… to come to the aid of their country.
(.)
To set apart words that interrupt the flow of a. Yuri Gagarin, as his name suggests, is a Russian.
the sentence. In this use, the commas function b. Mrs. Jones, while charming in every way, held doggedly to her
as the equivalent of parentheses point.
a. Because of her superior intelligence, she topped the board
To set apart a long introductory phrase or examination.
clause b. Since she earned a general average of 1.20 last semester, she now
enjoys a full scholarship.
a. Certainly no one has tried harder than James, although many of
To separate the main clause from a long his ideas have proved to be disastrous when they’ve been put to
clause or phrase that follows it, if the two are practice.
separated by a pause or break. b. He awakened something new in me, a devotion didn’t know I was
capable of.
a. The tunnel beside the house was very dark, but after school Joel
C To separate long independent clauses used it as his imaginary fortress.
by and, but, or, for,yet b. If he uses three or four cans of balls, then that’s it, and I don’t
O want him to come to me begging for more.
To separate items in a series. If two a. My friends are Lorna, Aida, and Fe.
M adjectives in a series relate to the noun that b. He raised his head, closed his eyes, and prayed.
follows, no comma is needed. c. My aunt lives in a big brown house.
M a. Sir, what shall we do?
To set apart words of address
b. Do you like the food, Marimar?
A
a. Yes, it will rain.
To set apart yes and no
b. No, it won’t rain.
(,) a. Starbright is located along Roxas Avenue, General Santos City.
To set apart dates and places
b. Martial Law was declared on September 21,1972.
a. Ninoy Aquino said, “The Filipino is worth dying for.”
To set apart quotations or direct speech
b. The thief retorted, “You don’t need the money.”
a. Juan dela Cruz, Jr. is the new bank manager.
To set apart titles and degrees from preceding
b. Harry Karandang, M.D.
names
c. Mark Anthony Hernandez, Ph.D.
a. The first man to walk on the moon is an American; his name is
To connect independent clauses that are so
Neil Armstrong.
closely connected in their meaning that they
S b. Loren left all her money to her stepson; in this respect, she
do not need a full period.
E showed considerable generosity.
M a. Mar Roxas wanted Grace Poe to be his running mate; however,
To connect independent clauses when the
I she ran for the presidency.
second clause begins with a conjunctive
- b. The first woman to walk in space is a Russian; on the contrary,
adverb. If the conjunctive adverb is not the
C the first man to walk in space is an American.
first word in the second clause, the
O c. The fever had subsided; my mother felt, nevertheless, that a
punctuation is as follows:
L doctor should be called.
O a. Her estate was divided as follows: books, diaries, and notebooks went to
N her agent; jewelry, accessories, and clothes went to her sister; and the rest
To separate phrases or clauses in a series to charity.
when commas appear within anyone of those b. For three days we followed a strict diet: eggs, jackfruit, and coffee on the
(;) first day; pork chops, toasted bread, and tomatoes on the second day; and
phrases or clauses
fruits and cheeseburger on the third day.
a. My view is supported by the following:
C b. We need the following camping equipment:
To introduce lengthy materials or lists
O c. Literature can be divided into four types: short story, drama,
L poetry, and novel.
O To use a colon after the salutation of a formal a. Dear Mr. John:
N letter, between title and subtitle of a literary work, b. The Ethnic Cult: New Fashion Trends
(:) between chapter and verse of the Bible, and c. 1 Corinthians 3:16
between hours and minutes in time d. 1:30 PM
D a. The clerk’s illiteracy, his lack of judgment, his poor writing skills-
A To indicate a sudden break in thought all added up until the company fired him.
S b. The secret of the recipe is – oh, but I promised not to tell.
a. Every house in the neighbourhood-from Kennon Road to this point-was
H To set off parenthetical material that needs to
solicited.
be emphasized b. She stood there-tall, proud and unrelenting- daring her accusers to speak.
 MARK USES EXAMPLES

Q To use a question mark after a direct Direct: He asked me, “Have you had lunch?”
U question. Do not use it when the question is Indirect: He asked me if I had had lunch.
E indirect. Direct: Who am I? Where am I going? Why am I here?
S
T
I Wrong: “When will you return?,” he asked.
Not to be followed by a comma or a period
O
N
Correct: “When will you return?” he asked.
(?)
a. What an angelic face!’
(!) To express surprise, disbelief, anger, or
b. What a snake! He couldn’t have been that evil!
other strong emotions
c. “Jinxed, by God!”
A To indicate possession. Note that if the a. The attitude of the student/ the student’s attitude
P plural ends with and s or z sound, only the b. The party of the girls/ the girl’s party
O apostrophe is added. c. The home of the aged/ the aged’s home
S a. He can’t (cannot) make it.
To indicate an omission or abbreviation
T He graduated in ’98.
R To form the plural of letters, symbols, and a. Some Filipino cannot pronounce their f’s and v’s well.
O words used as words Instead of writing and’s , you can write &’s.
P
H a. Rock groups flourished during the 1960s
Not to be used for plurals of figures
E c. The temperature was in the 90s.
(‘)
a. The big stars of the 60s (Susan Roces, Amalia Fuentes,
To enclose figures, illustrations, or
PARENTHESES Libety Ilagan) exuded an aura that was larger than life.
incidental materials. (They always come in
() b. A hermit like Emily Dickinson (aka “Nun of Amherst”)
pairs).
lived a secluded life.
a. Mother said, “Always follow the Golden Rule.”
To enclose the words of someone else
b. He asked, “Do you know her address?”
According to Jefferson’s biographer, “The celebrated equanimity
of his temper, crystallized in his pronouncement ‘Peace is our
To enclose items within single quotation
passion,’ extended to his private as well as his public life; his
marks
DOUBLE daughter Martha described how he lost his temper in her presence
QUOTATION only two times in his life.”
MARKS “” a. My favorite song is “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry. (song)
To be used for the titles of songs, paintings,
b. “The Guest” is a story written by Campus. (short story)
and short literary works
c. Da Vinci did “Mona Lisa.” (painting)
a. They killed her out of “mercy.” The author wants the
To stress certain words reader to know that it was not genuine mercy.
b. What does the word “relevant” mean?
a. Most high school students are required to read Noli Me
To be used for titles of books , magazines, Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
newspapers, and other long works b. Candy is a teen magazine.
c. Lea Salonga used to star in Miss Saigon.
a. Everyone used the word détente.
ITALICIZATION
To be used for foreign words b. I found her dress très chic.
c. He gave an apologia pro vita sua.
a. Often the word fortuitous is misused.
To be used for words, letters, and figures
b. In the word knight only letters n, i, and t are actually
spoken of as such
pronounced.
To be used for syllable break at the end of a
a. sac-ri-fi-cial b. nu-tri-tious c. lib-er-al
line
a. mother-in-law d. officer-in-charge
H
To be used in some compound words b. dilly-dally e. three-eighths
Y
c. self-esteem
P
a. well-behaved child
H
To be used in compound modifiers b. black-haired, brown-eyed baby
E
c. blue-green dress
N
Not to be used when the first word of the
(-) a. a deceptively sweet person
compound modifier is an adverb ending in
b. a plainly good meal
ly or an adjective ending in ish, or when the
c. a bluish green material
compound modifier follows the noun
Dear Mr./ Mrs./ Miss ______________
V To separate alternatives
I
To separate successive time frames Fiscal Year 2010/ 2011/2012/2013/2014
R
50 kilometers/ hour
G To represent per in abbreviations
₱25,000/ month
U
To set off phonemes and phonemic
L /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, and /g/
transcriptions
E
Tell them dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,/ Then Beauty is
(/) To divide run-in lines of poetry its own excuse for being:/ Why thou were there, O rival of the
rose!