Punctuation and capitalization
Punctuation is used to create sense, clarity and stress
in sentences. You use punctuation marks to structure
and organise your writing.
You can quickly see why punctuation is important if
you try and read this sentence which has no
punctuation at all:
perhaps you dont always need to use commas
periods colons etc to make sentences clear
when i am in a hurry tired cold lazy or angry i
sometimes leave out punctuation marks
grammar is stupid i can write without it and
dont need it my uncle Harry once said he was
not very clever and i never understood a word
he wrote to me i think ill learn some
punctuation not too much enough to write to
Uncle Harry he needs some help
Three of the fourteen punctuation marks are
appropriate for use as sentence endings. They are the
period, question mark, and exclamation point.
The period (.) is placed at the end of declarative
sentences, statements thought to be complete and
after many abbreviations.
For example:
• As a sentence ender: Jane and Jack went to the
market .
• After an abbreviation: Her Mar . birthday came
and went.
Use a question mark (?) to indicate a direct question
when placed at the end of a sentence. For example:
When did Jane leave for the market ?
The exclamation point/mark (!) is used when a person
wants to express a sudden outcry or add emphasis.
Within dialogue: “Holy cow!” screamed Jane.
To emphasize a point: My mother-in-law's rants make
me furious !
Comma, Semicolon and Colon
The comma, semicolon and colon are often misused
because they all can indicate a pause in a series.
The comma is used to show a separation of ideas or
elements within the structure of a sentence.
Additionally, it is used in letter writing after the
salutation and closing.
• Separating elements within sentences: Suzi
wanted the black , green , and blue shoes.
• Letter Salutations: Dear Uncle John ,
• Separation of two complete sentences: We went
to the movies , and we went to the beach.
The semicolon (;) is used to connect independent
clauses. It shows a closer relationship between the
clauses than a period would show. For example: John
was hurt ; he knew she only said it to upset him.
A colon (:) has two main uses:
The first is after a word introducing a quotation, an
explanation, an example, or a series.
The second is within time expressions. Within time, it
is used to separate out the hour and minute: 12 : 15 p.m.
Dash and the Hyphen
Two kinds of dashes are used throughout written
communications. They are the endash and the emdash. An
endash is a symbol (-) that is used in writing or printing to
connect numbers or to connect elements of a compound
adjective, such as 1880 - 1945 or Princeton - New York trains.
However, the emdash has more complicated grammatical
use. The symbol of is used to:
Indicate a break in thought or sentence structure
Introduce a phrase added for emphasis, definition, or
explanation
Separate two clauses
Use it in the following manner: We only wanted to get
two birds - but the clerk talked us into four pregnant
parakeets.
A hyphen (-) is the same symbol as the endash.
However, it has slightly different usage rules. A hyphen
is used between the parts of a compound word or
name or between the syllables of a word, especially
when divided at the end of a line of text.
Examples of this in use include:
Between a compound name: Mrs. Smith – Reynolds
Within a compound word: back - to - back
Brackets, Braces and Parentheses
Brackets, braces and parentheses are symbols used to
contain words that are a further explanation or are
considered a group.
Parentheses ( () ) are curved notations used to contain
further thoughts or qualifying remarks. However,
parentheses can be replaced by commas without changing
the meaning in most cases. For example: John and Jane (
who were actually half brother and sister ) both have red
hair.
Brackets are the squared off notations ([]) used for
technical explanations. Your Dictionary uses them when
you look up word definitions. At the bottom of each
definition page, brackets surround a technical description
of where the word originated.
Braces ({}) are used to contain two or more lines of text
or listed items to show that they are considered as a
unit. They are not commonplace in most writing, but
can be seen in computer programming to show what
should be contained within the same lines.
Apostrophe, Quotation Marks and Ellipses
The final three punctuation forms in English grammar are
the apostrophe, quotation marks and ellipses. Unlike
previously mentioned grammatical marks, they are not
related to one another in any form.
An apostrophe (') is used to indicate the omission of a
letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the
plurals of lowercase letters.
Examples of the apostrophe in use include:
• Omission of letters from a word: An issue of nat'l
importance.
• Possesive case: Sara's dog bites.
• Plural for lowercase letters: Six people were told to
mind their p's and q's. It should be noted that, according to
Purdue University, some teachers and editors enlarge the
scope of the use of apostrophe, and prefer their use on
symbols (&'s), numbers (7's) and capitalized letters
(Q&A's), even though they are not necessary.
Quotations marks ( “” ) are a pair of punctuation marks
used primarily to mark the beginning and end of a passage
attributed to another and repeated word for word. They are
also used to indicate meanings and to indicate the unusual
or dubious status of a word.
Single quotation marks (') are used most frequently for
quotes within quotes.
The ellipses mark is generally represented by three
periods (. . . ) although it is occasionally demonstrated
with three asterisks (***). The ellipses are used in
writing or printing to indicate an omission, especially
of letters or words.
Ellipses are frequently used within quotations to jump
from one phrase to another, omitting unnecessary
words that do not interfere with the meaning.
Students writing research papers or newspapers
quoting parts of speeches will often employ ellipses to
avoid copying lengthy text that is not needed.
