Punctuation
Contents
Punctuation
Punctuation is a sign or gestures used to separate various parts of written language units. The rules of punctuation have changed throughout the years and will continue to change. The punctuation marks are used to signal grammatical structure, give the reader clues about how to read the text aloud, highlight semantic units, and emphasize or clarify the meaning of our words. There are various types of punctuation that have different functions.
Period (.)
- to end a sentence
Example: I went to Manhattan last month.
- to indicate abbreviations
Example: 127 lbs.
- to indicate courtesy titles
Example: Mr. Anderson
- to indicate initials of a name
Example: W. A. Mozart
- to separate the decimal part of a number
Example: 3.5 GPA
Comma (,)
- to separate items in a list of three or more
Example: I love chocolate, ice cream, and flowers.
- to connect two or more independent clauses in a sentence
Example: We ran out of groceries, so I went to the store.
- to set apart non-restrictive relative clauses
Example: The baker, whose name was Jacob, gave us free donuts last weekend.
- to set apart nonessential appositives
Example: Her brother, Colin, came to the party last night.
- to set apart introductory phrases
Example: Without knowing why, she started crying.
- to separate parts of a date
Example: I was born on Monday, September 22, 2003.
- to set apart question tags
Example: The moon is beautiful, isn't it?
- to set apart names in direct address
Example: Hello, Daphne.
- to set off a direct quotation
Example: "It's cold outside," she said.
Question Mark (?)
- to indicate question in a sentence
Example: When will we get there?
Exclamation Point (!)
- to indicate a forceful command or statement
Example: Get out of here!
- to express strong feelings or convey emotion
Example: What a lovely view you have here!
- to emphasize short phrases
Example: Careful!
Colon (:)
- to name a list of items
Example: I have a few favorite subjects: physics, chemistry, and mathematics.
- to give emphasis
Example: She only has one love: books.
- to present dialogue
Example: Donna: Let's grab a bite before we leave.
- to separate time units
Example: 11:11 a.m.
- to separate a piece of work's title from its subtitle
Example: Avengers: Endgame
Semicolon (;)
- to connect two independent clauses
Example: Mia has gone to the shop; her sister has gone to play tennis.
- to divide items in a serial list
Example: There are countries I want to visit: Germany and Spain in Europe; Japan and China in Asia; and South Africa in Africa.
Apostrophe (’)
- to show ownership
Example: She used Xavier's phone.
- to show contractions
Example: I'd do anything for her.
- to indicate dialect
Example: 'Twas two days ago.
Quotation Marks (“ ”)
- to enclose a direct quote
Example: He said, "Don't go home too late."
- to show dialogue or transcribe speech
Example: "Why are we here?" he wondered.
- to show titles of a piece of work
Example: He watched "Back to the Future" for the second time today.
- to indicate unusual, unfamiliar, slang terms, or words that being used in a special way
Example: I thought he was a "stuffed shirt."
- to discuss a word, phrase, or letter
Example: The "p" in "raspberry" is actually silent.
- to differentiate a nickname from a given name
Example: John "Duke" Wayne was a popular actor.
Parentheses (( ))
- to add additional information
Example: I'm planning to visit my grandma (my dad's mom) tomorrow.
- to define acronyms
Example: NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) discovered an exoplanet in double star system.
Hyphen (-)
- to connect words before nouns
Example: We're looking for a pet-friendly park.
- to show compound words
Example: She is my mother-in-law.
- to separate tens and ones in numbers
Example: Ricky has arrived in Barcelona twenty-two hours ago.
- to separate numerator and denominator in fractional numbers
Example: That is about one-third of the affected population.
- to form words with prefixes
Example: She's so self-centered that she believed that the universe revolved around her.
- to separate two a's, two i's, two o's, and other combinations of letters
Example: He came from an anti-intellectual environment.
En Dash (–)
- to indicate a span of time or a range of numbers
Example: Add 10–20 grams of sugar.
- to mean "to" in certain contexts
Example: I'm taking the Berlin–Munich train.
Em Dash (—)
- to separate extra information
Example: A regular selection of three kinds of milk—plain, vanilla, and chocolate—has easily run out of stock.
- to mark a break in a sentence
Example: I'll be there soon—I promise!
Slash (/)
- to indicate "or"
Example: Each has his/her own struggle.
- to form abbreviations
Example: She looks prettier w/o her glasses.
- to denote dates
Example: 21/12/22
- to separate lines of poetry
Example: Roses are red / Violets are blue / Sugar is sweet / And so are you
Brackets ([ ])
- to explain a part of the sentence within a direct quote
Example: Liam said, "I read that novel [Harry Potter] in middle school."
Ellipsis (...)
- to indicate the omission of words
Example: "... and you'll never guess who I met! I believe we're destined for each other."
- to depict a small pause
Example: Are you ... serious?
- to depict silence in text
Example: Should I take it, or ...
- to suggest an incomplete thought
Example: The only things I want to do is ...
References
Crystal, David. (1995). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge University Press.
Olson, Gary A. (1999). Punctuation Made Simple. The College of Arts and Sciences at Illinois University.
Straus, J., & Kaufman, L. (2014). The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
