Punctuation Marks

In the English language, there are fourteen main punctuation marks, and
here is the list of them. The word punctuation is derived from the Latin word
‗punctus‘. It means ‗pointing‘. Punctuation is the art of dividing sentences
into two groups: Breath Groups and Sense Groups. It brings ease and clarity
in deciphering the meaning. While speaking or writing, we use punctuation
marks; without it there is no complete meaning for the sentences. It is very
important in the use of language from grammatical and semantic points of
view. Following are some of the punctuation marks:
1. Full Stop / Period (.)
2. Comma (,)
3. Question Mark (?)
4. Exclamation Mark (!)
5. Quotation Marks / Speech Marks (‖ ―)
6. Apostrophe (‗)
7. Hyphen (-)
8. Dash (– or —)
9. Colon (:)
10. Semicolon (;)
11. Parentheses ()
12. Brackets []
13. Ellipsis (…)
14. Slash (/)

Punctuation Rules

Full Stop/ Period (.)

This is the most popular punctuation mark because you simply cannot write
even a single sentence without using it. So, there are two most common uses of
a full stop: to indicate the end of a sentence, or to follow an abbreviation.
For example:
 We feed this cat every evening.
 Mr. Brown does not agree with these new rules.
• Times and dates
7:40 12.01.11
• Decimals and money
 1.5+2.22
• Months and days
Feb. Thurs.
• Units of measurement
cm. ft.

Comma (,)
A comma is often used to separate different ideas in a sentence. However, it
has many other uses as well, and it is important to remember them as well.
Some of the most common comma rules follow.
1) A comma separates two sentences when putting a full stop between them
seems to create an unnecessarily long pause.

For example:

 Mark went by bus, and Allison took a train.

2) Commas separate items in a list.

For example:

 We bought apples, peaches, grapes, and oranges in the fruit market.

3) A comma is used after an introductory word or phrase, such as at the end
of the day, however, in contrast, etc.

For example:

 Nevertheless, we managed to get home until sunset.

4) If you have a tag question at the end of your sentence, you also need to use
a comma to distinguish it from the rest of the sentence.

For example:

 You are going to the party this weekend, aren’t you?

5) If you are directly addressing someone, you need a comma.

For example:
 James, what are you doing tomorrow after school?

Question Mark: (?)

A question mark, as its name suggests, needs to go at the end of
every interrogative sentence instead of a full stop. This question may be a
word, a phrase, or a complete statement
For example:

How old are you?

Do you remember what I told you about yesterday?
 It is used at the end of a tag question. For example

It is ok, isn’t it?

Exclamation Mark: (!)

An exclamation mark added at the end of a sentence shows emphasis.
Depending on the meaning of the sentence, it can indicate anger, happiness,
excitement, or any other strong emotion.
For example:
Hurrah!, Oh!, Alas!, What a wonderful!
Leave me alone!
I‟m so happy to see you!
I can‟t wait to go to Paris!

Quotation Marks / Speech Marks (‖ ―)

As their name suggests, quotation marks indicate direct quotations. You can
also use them to show that a word or a phrase is being used ironically, or for
titles of articles, book chapters, episodes of a TV-show, etc.
For example:
“You‟ll never believe what happened last night,” Jerry said.
In his article “How To Succeed in Everything You Do”, Mary Smith gives her
readers three valuable pieces of advice.

 It is also used to enclose the title of books, chapters, magazine

articles, newspaper items. For example,
Shivani said, “I am a doctor”.
 A quotation within a quotation is marked off by single inverted
commas. For example,
My father said, “Remember „it takes two to make a row.”‟

Apostrophe (‗)
An apostrophe has two very important uses. Firstly, it can be used in
contractions in place of omitted letters. Secondly, it can show possession.
For example:

 You don‟t have to go to the supermarket if you don‟t want to.

 We need to invite both of Sally‟s sisters to the party.

Hyphen (-)
Even though it looks very similar to a dash, a hyphen has very different uses.
It is most commonly used to create compound words.

For example:

 He is a very self-confident person.

 Due to various factors, Susan decided to work part-time this summer.

• The hyphen is used to join two words, numbers, and letters.

5-9
Son-in-law

• It is used in occupations
Lorry-driver, tax-inspector

• Mixed roles
Player-manager, singer-songwriter
• National and regional combinations
Anglo-French, Indo-European

• Physical descriptions
Brown-eyed, two-year-old

• Scientific terms
Infra-red, bi-metallic
• To indicate dates as in
19-06-2010

Dash (– or —)
There are two different dashes, the en dash and the em dash, the first being
slightly shorter than the second one. The en dash is usually used to show a
connection between two things, as well as a range of numbers, years,
pages, etc.

For example:

 London–Paris flight takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

 For tomorrow‟s lesson, I need to read pages 45–78 of the textbook.

The em dash can replace a comma, a colon, or parenthesis. You can also use
it to put emphasis on the ending of your sentence.

For example:

 This year, Mark has travelled to quite a few countries—Poland,

Germany, Lithuania, Georgia, and Greece.
 Her answer was loud and clear—No!

Colon (:)
A colon is a punctuation mark you will come across very often in different
circumstances. It can introduce an example, a list, an explanation, or a
quotation. Or, you can also use it to emphasize a certain point.

For example:
  There are two things you can do: continue being miserable or
move on with your life.
 There‟s only one person in the world who can tell you what you
should do: you.
 It is used to introduce a list:

The four great tragedies written by Shakespeare are: Hamlet, King Lear,
Othello and Macbeth.

 The colon is used for separating a part of a citation. In a play or a

drama, the colon comes after the name of the speaker, for example,

Sharmishtha: How are you?

Rohit: I am fine. Thank You. How about you?

 It is used in the contrasted sentences instead of but:

Man proposes: God disposes.
She says she is strong; she is actually weak.
 It is used to introduce a quotation, an example, or a short argument
which is not a part of the previous sentence.

It is not a just law: in fact, it is unjust in the extreme.

Semicolon (;)
A semicolon is a punctuation mark that creates a longer pause than a comma
but a shorter pause than a full stop. So, it can be used to create a pause
between two independent clauses that are still closely related to each other.

For example:

 My mother is a doctor; my father is an accountant.

 He didn‟t work hard; therefore, he failed.
 Jane has spent the whole morning trying to figure out what to wear; she
ended up choosing the first outfit out of all that she tried on that day.

Parentheses ()
In most cases, you will see additional information in parentheses. Usually,
it can be omitted without creating any confusion for the reader.

For example:
  My young daughters (aged 5 and 7) just love playing with our
neighbours‟ dogs.

Use parentheses to enclose directions and references.

 The comma (see Lesson 2) is often misused.

Use parentheses to clarify an idea.

 My favourite teacher, Ms. Chan (the Ms.Chan who teaches science),

lives down the street from us.

Brackets []
Brackets are, in a way, similar to parentheses. However, they are mostly used
in academic writing and when presenting quotes. For instance, the writer can
add extra information or fix mistakes in brackets, without changing the
original quotation.

For example:

 The witness said, “I could hear him [the policeman] but I couldn‟t see
him”.

Ellipsis (…)
An ellipsis creates an intriguing and mysterious atmosphere in the text. In
addition, it can be used to show that some letters or even words are omitted.

For example:

 So… what happened next?

 She was smart, funny and pretty but… something still felt wrong.

Use ellipsis points of four dots (a period followed by three spaced dots) to
indicate omission of:

• the remainder of the quoted sentence

• the beginning of the next sentence
• one or more sentences
• one or more paragraphs
Slash (/)
You might need to write a fraction, a measurement, or to suggest alternatives
in your text. These are just three of the instances where you will have to use a
slash.

For example:

 For this recipe, you will need 1/2 glass of water and 3/4 glass of
flour.
 The car was going as fast as 120 km/h.
 You need to press the On/Off button.

• To separate alternative words or phrases:

Have a pudding and / or cheese

Single / married /widowed / divorced

• In internet and e-mail addresses to separate the different elements:

http://www.oup.uk/elt/

British versus American Style

Though British and American English have lots of similarities, when it comes
to punctuation styles, there are some differences. Of course, if you‟re just
chatting with friends who live in either Canada or New Zealand, you don‟t
have to worry about them not understanding or judging you. However, if you‟re
preparing an official and formal report that will be read by English speakers
from a specific part of the world, you should be careful. Some of the most
important differences are listed below.

Quotations

Quotations within quotations are treated differently in British and American

English. According to the American style, you need to put double quotes
(‖ ―) to show the initial quotation and single quotes (‗ ‗) for any quotations
within it. The British approach is completely the opposite: single quotes for the
initial quotation and double quotes for everything within it.
Another significant difference is that the American style puts commas and
full stops inside the quotation marks, while the British style doesn‘t.

For example:

“I can‟t go out tomorrow,” John sighed, “because, as my dad said, „you‟ll go out
when hell freezes over.'” (American style)
„I can‟t go out tomorrow‟, John sighed, „because, as my dad said, “you‟ll go out
when hell freezes over”„, (British style)

Titles

In American English, you should follow people‟s titles by a full stop: Mr., Ms.,
Mrs. However, this isn‟t the case with British English. There, you would simply
write, Mr, Ms, or Mrs.

Time:

If you‟re following the American style, you need to separate hours from
minutes when writing about time with a colon. The British style, however,
states that you need to use a full stop. So, in America, you would say that the
time is 11:20, while in Britain; you would say that it‟s 11.20.
Differences Between Punctuation in British and American English
Punctuation Rules Infographics: