Punctuation marks make the written

text easier to read and understand.

Without punctuation, writing would
make no sense.
 ABC Capital Letters XYZ
Sentences always start with caps.
Proper Nouns and Proper Adjectives need to
be capitalised.
Titles of books, films or plays: all the nouns
are capitalised.
In direct speech the first word is capitalised.

e.g.: The Mexican girl said, “We are watching

The Lord of the Rings in class.”
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 . Full Stop .
A full stop ends off a sentence.
Certain abbreviations use full stops.
 Abbreviations do NOT have an end full stop if the
last letter of the full word and the last letter of the
abbreviation are the same!
 E.g.: dr = doctor but Fri. = Friday

e.g.: Mrs Blake has an appt on Mon. with

Prof. Malloy.
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 , Comma ,
Commas separate words/phrases in a list.
Commas separate phrases and clauses.
Commas are used in parenthesis to add extra
information to a sentence.
Introductory words/phrases are separated from
the rest of the sentence with a comma.
Commas are used when addressing someone.
Do NOT use a comma to join two complete
sentences!! (comma splice error)
e.g.: Once again, I was ignored by you on Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday, James.
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 ; Semi-colon ;
The semi-colon creates a long pause that balances
equally important related/parallel ideas.
Semi-colons also indicate antithesis (opposite
ideas).
A semi-colon joins two complete sentences in the
absence of a conjunction.
 To test for this: see if the semi-colon can be replaced
with a full stop or the following conjunctions: and, but,
so, for and although.
e.g.: She likes to play the violin; she cannot
master the piano.
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 : Colon :
Colons indicate the start of a list, an
explanation or an idea.
They indicate that more information is about
to follow.
A colon is used to introduce a quotation.
When writing a dialogue, a colon follows the
speaker.

e.g.: I have an idea: let’s all go to the movies!

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 ? Question Mark ?
All direct questions must end with a question
mark.
Even rhetorical questions must end with a
question mark.
Remember that a question mark is NOT used
when the question is reported!

e.g.: Why are you all here?

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 ! Exclamation Mark !
Exclamation marks convey emphasis, shock
and drama!
They help to convey the tone of a statement.
Interjections are followed with exclamation
marks.

e.g.: Wow! That was fantastic!

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 “ ” ‘ ’ Inverted Commas ‘ ’ “ ”
Direct speech and quotations are enclosed
within double inverted commas.
Metaphoric usage and an excuse for using
slang/foreign words are indicated with single
inverted commas.
Titles of books and films used to be enclosed
within single quotation marks (when hand-
written). Now the title is underlined.

e.g.: “You are such a ‘nana’ at times,” said Joe.

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 ( Parenthesis )
Brackets, dashes and commas fall under
parenthesis.
An explanation, aside or extra information is
written in parenthesis within a sentence.

e.g.: Henry’s father (a vegetarian) looks

younger than his years.

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 - Hyphen -
Hyphens are used to join parts of a compound
word.
Hyphens also link prefixes to root words.
When a word does not fit at the end of a line a
hyphen is used to divide the word into syllables.
NB: the hyphen may ONLY be used at the end of
a syllable.

e.g.: The high-heeled prima donna felt insigni-

ficant after she made a mistake.
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 - Dash -
A dash separates parts of a sentence and forces
a pause.
 It can be used to create a dramatic pause,
leading to a climax/anti-climax.
 It can be used to indicate interruptions.
 It can be used to express an afterthought.
 It can be used to prepare for a conclusion.

e.g.: It was a calm, relaxed evening – or so I

thought!
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 … Ellipsis …
Three consecutive dots form an ellipsis.
When part of a sentence is left out or not
completed then the ellipsis is used.
The ellipsis may also be used to indicate a
pause.
Should the ellipsis fall at the end of a
sentence FOUR dots should be used – the last
being a full stop.
e.g.: Well … let me think. The night was dark,
stormy and ….
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 ’ Apostrophe ’
An apostrophe may only be used to indicate either
contraction or possession.
When two words are joined then the apostrophe is
used in the place of the letter(s) that was left out.
When indicating possession/ownership an ’s or ’ is
added.
 For singular words and plurals not ending with s = ’s
 For plural words ending with s = only ’
 Biblical/Classical names ending with s = only ’
 Possessive pronouns, abbreviations & dates = NO ’
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 Exercises
Punctuate the following sentences correctly:
1. sue asked tom why cant you see its red
2. we went to the leriba lodge on friday the service
wasnt good said dad
3. you are such a silly boy said mary and i dont like
you anymore leave me alone
4. paul takes his dog to dr williams the vet for its
yearly check up
5. mr james cats arent missing theyre in the oak
tree
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 Answers
1. Sue asked, “Tom, why can’t you see it’s red?”
2. “We went to the Leriba Lodge on Friday. The
service wasn’t good,” said Dad.
3. “You are such a silly boy,” said Mary, “and I don’t
like you anymore. Leave me alone!”
4. Paul takes his dog to Dr Williams (the vet.) for its
yearly check-up.
5. Mr James’s cats aren’t missing; they’re in the
Oak tree. OR Mr James’s cats aren’t missing.
They’re in the Oak tree.
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