Punctuation
Imagine a sentence or a paragraph without full stops, commas, question marks, or any other punctuation marks. The first trouble is, that we have difficulty reading.
Punctuations are symbols that play a significant role in reading and understanding the text effectively. They give a clear and comprehensible meaning to the reader. Also, punctuations in the text help to read with voice modulation, and thus we read it with expression. Therefore, punctuations play a vital role in reading.
The punctuations that we are going to see in detail are:
1. Comma (,)
2. Full stop (.)
3. Colon (:)
4. Semicolon (:)
5. Hyphen (-)
6. Exclamation mark (!)
7. Inverted comma (or) Quotation marks ( ” ” )
8. Question mark (?)
9. Slash (/)
10. Rules on capital letters.
11. Ellipsis (…)
12. Parentheses ()
13. Apostrophe (‘)
Comma ( , )
1. Comma is punctuation that indicates separation or division in a sentence. A comma is used for short pauses while reading and writing.
A comma should not be placed before the word “and”.
Example: We went for shopping, but did not buy anything.
2. It is used in addressing people, or to mark off a noun.
Example: Mohan, you are a great person.
3. To separate items in a list, i.e., to separate two or more nouns, verbs, or adjectives in a sentence.
I need a pair of scissors, pencils, crayons and a sharpener.
4. To provide additional information.
Example
Paul, after his lunch, went to the class.
His generosity, to say the best, was amazing.
5. Comma is used in dialogues, to separate the direct quotation from the rest of the sentence.
Example:
1. “All right,” she said.
2. She told, “I have been so nice to you.”
6. In dates and addresses.
January 10, 2099.
7. When we address nouns (names).
Ex: John, the helper of the needy, deserves an award.
John is the noun. The comma indicates that we are talking about the noun.
Full Stop
1. Full stops are used to indicate formal titles
Ms., Mr., Mrs., B.Sc., M.Sc., M.B.B.S., Major. Sam.
2. A full stop is used to end a sentence.
The full stop is the final or the biggest pause. It is used to separate one sentence from another. It indicates the end of an imperative or a declarative sentence.
Colon (:)
A colon indicates a more complete pause.
1. A colon is used to introduce direct speech.
Ex: She kept murmuring: “I am the best.”
The newspaper said: “We are doomed.”
2. Colon is used to introducing a list of things.
Ex: The grocery list: apples, bananas, mangoes, flour, eggs and carrots.
3. A colon is used to add a piece of new information to a sentence.
Ex: I am just afraid of one thing: ghosts!
Semicolon (;)
The semicolon indicates a pause like a comma
1. We link two sentences together with conjunctions. If you want to link two sentences without a conjunction, you can use a semicolon.
Ex: I ate a burger and she ate pizza.
Here, ‘and’ is the conjunction.
But the same sentence can be written without conjunction and with the help of a semicolon.
Ex: I ate a burger; she ate pizza.
2. To separate clauses.
Ex: I gave him a car; he is ungrateful.
Hyphen ( - )
A hyphen is used to join two words together, i.e., compound words.
Ex: short-termed.
old-fashioned
thirty-one
up-to-date.
Hyphens are used for clarity purposes too.
2. Used in prefixes like
anti-clockwise
pre-midterm
3. Age.
Ex: one-year-old
Exclamation mark (!)
The exclamation mark is used after sentences that express sudden emotion or wish. It is used after sentences or phrases that express a strong sense of emotion or feeling. It is used after interjections. Interjections are parts of speech that operate as individual words that mainly express feelings.
Examples of interjections:
Wow!
Ugh!
Phew!
Hey!
Ouch!
Yuck!
Hurray!
Well done!
What!
Alas!
Great job! You have done so well!
Ouch! that hurts!
Wow! You look gorgeous!
Excuse me! I am not a loser!
Good morning! it’s good to see you again!
You would have seen a lot of these in story books. When a character speaks something, it is represented within quotation marks or inverted commas. It is referred to as direct speech. So, when I am saying dialogue as I am hungry, it goes like this,
I said, “I am hungry.”
The beginning and end of the dialogue should come within quotation marks.
“He likes cricket”, said Paul.
Question mark (?)
When to use a question mark in a sentence?
Yes, when you ask direct questions to someone.
Can I use your laptop?
May I come in?
Why is the door open?
What is your age?
When will the bell ring?
Slash (/)
1. A slash is used when you want to give choices of anything.
Example:
Would you like tea or coffee? – can be written as:
Would you like tea/coffee?
So, slash (/) is used instead of an ‘or’.
2. A slash is used for shortening words.
Example:
o/t = overtime
N/A = Not Applicable
w/r/t = with regard to
w/o = without
Capitalize the word after the slash, if the word before the slash is capitalized.
3. Slash is used to indicating ratios.
The ratio of men to women was 4/1.
That is, for 4 men per one woman.
Rules on capital letters
1. Always begin the sentence with a capital letter and end with a full stop.
2. ‘I’, no matter wherever it is in the sentence, should always be in capital letter.
3. When we use acronyms. An acronym is the abbreviated form of the initial letters and is pronounced as a word.
PIN – Personal Identification Number.
ASCII – American Standard Code for Information Interchange.
OMG – Oh my God!
RADAR – Radio Detection and Ranging.
4. Proper nouns begin with a capital letter. Proper nouns are names of a specific person, place or thing.
5. When we specify formal titles, like, Dr., Mr., Ms., Mrs., Major, Uncle Paul, Aunt Marie, Sister Philomina.
Ellipsis (...)
1. Ellipsis is used to denote that something is to be continued.
Example:
Something is not right…he usually comes soon.
John slowly added the poison…to the drink.
There should be a pause while reading the above sentence at the ellipsis part, to create a dramatic effect.
2. Ellipsis is also used in sentences where the speaker changes his mind.
I was about to go to the mall… but, let’s go to the beach.
Parentheses ( )
When we write a sentence, we may need to add additional information about the sentence. This additional information can be written in brackets or parentheses. More information about the subject or object in the sentence can be written in brackets or parentheses.
Ex:
1. I got the prize (as I wished) and was on cloud nine.
2. She went to the doctor (not interested though) and did a master checkup.
Apostrophe ( ' )
An apostrophe is used in 3 different scenarios.
1. In the possessive case.
2. In plurals of letters or figures.
3. In contraction (omission of letters).
1. Possessive case
In the possessive case, it shows the ownership of things or belongings to a person. It literally means that the thing or object belongs to that person alone and not anyone else.
Example 1:
This laptop belongs to Sara.
This is Sara’s laptop.
This tells us that the laptop belongs only to Sara and not anyone else.
Example 2:
The toy belongs to my cat.
This is the cat’s toy.
Rule 1:
If it’s a common noun add ‘s.
mother’s house.
Paul’s eraser.
Rule 2:
If the noun doesn’t end in s, then add ‘s.
Men’s razor.
Women’s clothing.
Children’s bags.
Rule 3:
If the noun ends in s, add ‘.
Girls’ hostel.
Boys’ night out.
Chairs’ arms.
Women’s clothing is expensive.
Men’s suits are available here.
Subtract three 9’s from two 4’s.
3. Contraction
Contractions can be used to shorten a word by removing one or two letters and placing an apostrophe in the place of the missing letter or letters.
Original words | Contracted words |
|---|---|
he is | he's |
it is | it's |
is not | isn't |
cannot | can't |
are not | aren't |
could not | couldn't |
did not | didn't |
do not | don't |
does not | doesn't |
she will | she'll |
he will | he'll |
it will | it'll |
he would | he'd |
I would | I'd |
I will | I'll |
I am | I'm |
I have | I've |
They will | they'll |
I am | I'm |
Keep punctuating to bring clarity.
