PUNCTUATION MARKS

PERIOD (FULL STOP)

(.)
1. MARK THE END OF A SENTENCE WHICH IS NOT A
QUESTION OR AN EXCLAMATION.
Example: Rome is the capital of Italy.

2. INDICATE AN ABBREVIATION
Example: We are coming on Fri., Jan. 4.

3. PERIOD AFTER A SINGLE WORD

EXAMPLE:
 Goodbye.

 Stop.
 ELLIPSIS (…)
 Often you will see a sentence concluding with three dots. This
indicates that only part of the sentence or text has been quoted
or that it is being left up to the reader to complete the thought.

Example:
The Lord's Prayer begins, "Our Father which art in Heaven... ."
 COMMA (,)
 Use a comma before any coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet) that
links two independent clauses.
Example: I went running, and I saw a duck.
I went running; I saw a duck.
 Use a comma after a dependent clause that starts a sentence.

Example: When I went running, I saw a duck.

 Use commas to separate items in a series.

Example: I saw a duck, a magician, and a liquor store when I went running.

 Use a comma after introductory adverbs.

Example: Unsurprisingly, I saw a duck when I went running.

 Use a comma when attributing quotes.

Example: "I saw a duck," said the runner.
The runner said, “I saw a duck.”
 Use a comma to separate each element in an address. Also use a comma
after a city-state combination within a sentence.
Example:
1. I work at 257 Park Ave. South, New York, N.Y., 10010."
2. Cleveland, Ohio, is a great city.

 Use a comma when the first word of the sentence is "yes" or "no.“
Example: Yes, I saw a duck when I went running.

 Use a comma when directly addressing someone or something in a sentence.

Example: My editor often asks, "Christina, is that article up yet?”

 Use a comma between two adjectives that modify the same noun.
For example: I saw the big, mean duck when I went running.
 SEMI COLON (;)
 To help separate items in a list, when some of those items already
contain commas.
Example: I bought shiny, ripe apples; small, sweet, juicy grapes; and
firm pears.

 To join two sentences.

Note: Semicolons can be used between two independent clauses. The semicolon keeps the
clauses somewhat separate, like a period would do, so we can easily tell which ideas belong to
which clause. But it also suggests that there may be a close relationship between the two
clauses—closer than you would expect if there were a period between them.
Example: I went to the grocery store today; I bought a ton of fruit. Apples, grapes,
and pears were all on sale.
 COLON (:)
 To announce, introduce, or direct attention to a list, a noun or noun phrase, a
quotation, or an example/explanation.
Example:
1. We covered many of the fundamentals in our writing class: grammar, punctuation, style, and
voice.
2. My roommate gave me the things I needed most: companionship and quiet.
3. Shakespeare said it best: “To thine own self be true.”

 To express time, in titles, and as part of other writing conventions. Colons appear in
several standard or conventional places in writing.
Example:
1. With numbers. Colons are used to separate units of time
(4:45:00 expresses four hours, forty-five minutes, and zero seconds)
2. ratios(2:1)
3. Bible verses and chapters (Matthew 2:24).
4. Everest: The Last Frontier
 QUESTION MARK
 Use question marks when writing direct questions
Example: How are you?
Where can I find a bargain on a good laptop?
What did you think of the movie?

 Use question marks when writing rhetorical questions, even

though no answers are expected.
Example:
 How will the World Series turn out, after all is said and done?

 Who is really to blame for the world’s problems?

 APOSTROPHE
 Use the apostrophe to show possession.
Examples:
a woman's hat
the boss's wife
Mrs. Chang's house

 Regular nouns are nouns that form their plurals by adding either the letter s or es
Example: two actresses' roles (actress + es + apostrophe)
Hostels’

 Use an apostrophe with contractions.

Example:
doesn't, it's, can't, you'd, should've, rock 'n' roll, etc.

 The personal pronouns hers, ours, yours, theirs, its, whose, and the
 QUOTATION MARKS “”
 Use double quotation marks to set off a direct (word-for-
word) quotation.
Example: “I hope you will be here," he said.
He said, "I hope you will be here."
 Always capitalize the first alphabet in a complete
quotation, even midsentence.
Example: "The case is far from over, and we will win,” Lamarr
said.
 Do not capitalize quoted material that continues a
sentence.
Example: Lamarr said that the case was "far from over" and
that "we will win."
 Use commas to introduce or interrupt direct quotations.
Examples:
He said, "I don't care."
"Why," I asked, "don't you care?"
 If the quotation comes before he said, she wrote, they
reported, Dana insisted, or a similar attribution, end the
quoted material with a comma, even if it is only one word.
Examples:
“Careful," he said.
"Stop," he said.
 Periods and commas ALWAYS go inside quotation marks.
Examples:
1. The sign said, "Walk." Then it said, "Don't Walk," then, "Walk," all
within thirty seconds.

2. He yelled, "Hurry up."

 Quotation marks are used for components, such as chapter titles in a book,
individual episodes of a TV series, songs from a Broadway show or a music
album, titles of articles or essays in print or online, and shorter works such as
short stories and poems.
Example:
1. Richard Burton performed the song "Camelot" in the 1960 Broadway
musical Camelot.
2. Read the “Introduction” in War and Peace. It is very interesting.
 Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations.
Example: Dan said: "In a town outside Brisbane, I saw 'Tourists
go home' written on a wall. But then someone told me, 'Pay it no
mind, lad.’”
 Quotation marks are often used with technical terms, terms used
in an unusual way, or other expressions that vary from standard
usage.
Example:
It's an oil-extraction method known as ‘fracking.’
 PARENTHESES OR BRACKETS ()
 Use parentheses to enclose information that clarifies or is
used as an aside.
Example: He finally answered (after taking five minutes to
think) that he did not understand the question.

 Periods go inside parentheses only if an entire sentence is

inside the parentheses.
Example: Please read the analysis. (You'll be amazed.)

Take care to punctuate correctly when punctuation is

required both inside and outside parentheses.
Example: You are late (aren't you?).