PUNCTUATION MARKS

1. CAPITALIZATION
 Capitalize the first letter of a sentence.
Example; She loves chocolate. He loves pizza.
He is my best friend.
My dad was going to the meeting.

 Capitalize proper nouns (specific name for a common noun)

COMMON NOUN PROPER NOUNS
boy David
day Friday
month July
country Canada, Kenya
city New York
ocean Atlantic Ocean
Examples; He is a boy. His name is David.
The best day of the week is Friday.
My favourite month is July.

2. PERIOD OR FULLSTOP(.)
 Every statement or sentence must end with a full stop.

Example: The dog ran under the fence.

 Periods are also used in abbreviations, such as in names or titles.

Examples: Dr. Smith read his patient’s chart.

Mr. H. Potter opened his front door.

K.N.H. (Kenyatta National Hospital)

U.N. (United Nations)

3. QUESTION MARK(?)

A question mark also ends a sentence; however, it ends a sentence that is a direct question. The
sentences can be questions that begin with what, how, when, where, why, or who.

Examples: How do you get to town?

Why are you late?

4. EXCLAMATION MARK (!)

 An exclamation mark is also used at the end of a sentence when that sentence expresses
an intense emotion like excitement, disgust, anger, joy, or a sense of urgency.
 Examples: Get out!

What a beautiful lady!

Wow!

5. COMMA (,)

Commas are used to insert a pause into a sentence. Commas have a few different uses.

 Commas are used for a direct address, such as:

Example: Joe, it was nice to see you again.

 They’re also used to separate two complete sentences:

Example: He went to the library, and then he went out for lunch.

 Commas can also be used to list items in a series of three or more things:

Example: She went shopping and bought shoes, a dress, two shirts, and a pair of pants.

Jake has been to India, Pakistan and China,

6. COLON (:)
 A colon can be used when introducing something such as a quote, an example, a series,
or an explanation or a list of items.

Example: There are three things every child needs: education, food and family

She took four classes last semester: history, biology, arts, and economics.

They serve many types of food: Chinese, Indian and America.

7. HYPHEN (-)
 A hyphen is used in compound words when two or more words are connected. Here are
some examples of hyphenated words: Step-by-step

Mother-in-law

Ex-boyfriend

 Used in compound numbers between 21 and 99

Examples: I have ninety-nine problems

She is thirty-two years old.

8. APOSTROPHE (‘)
 Apostrophes indicates possessives or contractions.

Examples: I’ve been working from home for 6 months and it’s great.

Rebecca’s dog had surgery yesterday. (dog belongs to Rebecca)

 DO NOT USE an apostrophe to form a plural

Incorrect: they have two car’s

Correct: they have two cars.

QUOTATION MARKS (“”) (‘’)

 Quotation marks are used to indicate text, speech, or words spoken by someone else. It
is also used to indicate dialogue.

Example: “I don’t like this,” said Mark. [ indicates speech]

She told him that she “prefers not to think about that.” [words spoken by someone]

 Single quotation marks (‘’) not to be confused with apostrophes, are often used for
quoting what the other person said.

Example: “She just said ‘see you later’ and then left,” reported Kyle.

Her daughter asked, “Why did you call that man a ‘ridiculous idiot’?”