Punctuation marks.
Punctuation can make an enormous difference in the meaning of whatever
we are writing. This effect can be achieved in speaking by making use of pauses
and pitch of the voice to make what we say clear.
·
They are used in writing to link or separate
the words, phrases, clauses, or sentences.
·
They regulate their usage in writing.
·
They make the meaning of sentences clear
·
They help us to communicate with precision
and clarity.
Look at this example: How a comma (,) can kill a person.
“Hang him not, leave him”
“Hang him, not leave
him”
Let us eat, daddy.
Let us eat daddy.
“A woman: without her, man is nothing.”
“"A woman, without her man, is nothing.”
1.The period ( . )
A period represents a greatest pause.
It is used after statements, commands and requests.
In Statements: Ex: The students attend the online classes daily.
In Commands: Ex: close the door.
In Requests: Ex: please, be
silent.
After initials or abbreviations. In modern usage they are omitted. Ex:
B.A. or BA
2.The comma ( , ) Comma is the shortest pause.
It is used to separate three or more words,
phrases, clauses in a sentence. Generally, comma is not placed before a word preceded by and. (comma
before ‘and’ in a series is called Oxford Comma)
Ex: The lunch includes rice, dal, rasam, and an egg.
She
bought earrings, a dress, shoes, and a wristwatch for
her birthday.
Before coordinating conjunctions to connect two sentences.
Ex: Pooja dances well, but she broke her
leg last week.
To indicate omission of words in cases where
repetition should be avoided.
Ex: Rama received a Parker pen. Hari, a watch.
My
brother bought a watch and my sister, a camera.
After an introductory dependent clause.
Ex: If I were a bird, I would fly in the sky.
When
I opened the door, the cat jumped in.
To be
honest, I have little interest in politics.
Before
and after words used in apposition to a noun
Ex: Winston Churchill, the statesman, was
also an eminent writer.
Janaki, my sister, is an eminent cardiologist. James, my neighbor, is a doctor.
To separate a participial
phrase
Ex: Tired, I went to bed.
Being fat, she couldn’t
run fast.
To mark off a noun,
Ex: James, can we bank on
him? ; Mary, come here.
Before and after words or
phrases let into the body of a sentence. Note: The comma can be omitted when
the subordinate clause goes after the main clause.
Ex: She had, surprisingly,
paid for everything.
The boy had, in spite of
all the hardships he faced, managed to succeed.
To mark off each one of a
series of words belonging to the same part of speech
Ex: He spoke easily,
clearly and eloquently.
The children laughed,
danced, jumped and cried for joy.
3. Question mark (
? )
Use a question mark when
a sentence is half statement and half question (Question tags).
Ex: He is a good man, isn’t he?
Use a question mark only
after a direct question.
Ex: what is your name?
Avoid using question
marks with indirect questions, which are statements that contain questions. We
use a period in place of a question mark.
Ex: I wonder if I would pass the test.
4. Exclamation marks (
! ): Avoid using exclamation marks in formal business writing. Overuse of
exclamation marks is a sign of undisciplined writing.
An exclamatory sentence is followed by an exclamation mark.
ex: What a good
movie!
The exclamation mark (!) is used when a person wants to express a sudden
emotion.
ex: Hurray! We won
the match.
To emphasis
ex: Her extravagant
behaviour makes me furious!
5. Colon ( : ) A colon means “ that is to
say” or “here’s what I mean.” Colons and semicolons
should never be used interchangeably. The colon mark is a bigger pause
than that is expressed by the semicolon
Use a colon to introduce
a list, an item or a series of items.
Ex: Students must bring: sleeping bags, books,
utensils, and warm clothing.
The three tenses are: the
present tense, the past tense and the future tense.
We need three kinds of
support: financial, political and moral.
In a title or heading, a
colon is often used to introduce a subdivision of a subject.
Ex: Tenses: the present tense,
Punctuation: colon
In letters, Americans use
a colon rather than a comma to follow the salutation in business letter. Ex: Dear Mr. Mathews:
British people prefer a
comma in this case. A comma is used after the salutation in more informal
correspondence. Americans usually put a
colon.
Ex: Dear Mr Mathews,
They are used before
explanations.
Ex: We decided to cancel
the match: it was raining.
A colon is
used when direct speech is introduced by a name or short phrase. It is also
used when famous sayings are quoted.
Ex: Bacon says: ‘Reading makes a full man, writing an exact man,
speaking a ready man.’
5.
Semicolon (
; ) Like
commas, semicolons indicate an audible pause. Semicolon is slightly longer than
a comma and short of a full stop.
Semicolons
join two independent clauses that are closely related if no coordinating
conjunction is used.
ex: Ravi got a job in 2019; he
got married later that year.
Semicolons
help avoid confusion between items in a list where there are already commas.
ex: Incorrect: He
travelled to Mumbai, Maharashtra, Bengaluru, Karnataka, Shimla, and Himachal
Pradesh.
correct:
He travelled to Mumbai, Maharashtra; and Bengaluru, Karnataka; and Shimla,
Himachal Pradesh.
7. Apostrophe ( ’ ) Apostrophes are use in writing to show possession
and also to indicate where a letter has been omitted to form a contraction.
In formal writing,
Apostrophes are used in contractions (two words which are combined into one) to
mark where the missing letter or letters would be. The personal possessive
pronouns hers, ours, yours, theirs, its, whose, his etc. never take an
apostrophe.
Ex: I am= I’m, cannot= can’t , They are= they’re, I have= I’ve,
let us= let’s
Use the apostrophe to
show possession. To show the possession with a singular noun, add an apostrophe
plus the letter ‘s’
Ex: A woman’s handbag, in one month's time, Mr. Rakesh’s home
If two people possess
the same item, put the apostrophe +s after the second name only.
Ex: That is Shyam and Ravi's home.
An apostrophe is
also used to form the plurals of letters and digits.
Ex: Mind your p’s
and q’s. She got 4 a’s this term.
Apostrophes are no
longer used to form plurals of years. Ex: 1990s (more natural than 1990’s)
Note: Its is a possessive word. Ex: The dog
wagged its tail.
It’s means it is or it has. Ex: It’s your book. (= It is) It’s stopped
raining. (= It has)
Note: They’re means they are.
Ex: They’re waiting for us. (= They are waiting for us.)
Their is a
possessive word. Ex: They took their children along.
8. Quotation marks (“
”)
Quotation marks are used
to set off text that denotes quoted or spoken language. They are also used to
set off titles of stories, novels and poems.
|
In American English,
periods and commas go inside quotation marks as in: My favourite novel is
“Gulliver’s Travels.” In direct speech,
Single quotation marks (‘ ’) are more common in British English |
In British English, you
are more likely to write: My favourite novel is ‘Gulliver’s Travels’. Double quotation marks
(“ ”) in American English. |
Quotation marks enclose
the exact words of a person (a quotation)
ex: Kiran said, “I want to go home.” He said: “It may rain.”
If a quotation occurs
within a quotation, Single Quotation marks are used
ex:
Bobbi told me, “Delia said, ‘This will never work.’”
Place periods and commas
inside quotation marks.
ex: She said, “I will visit you tomorrow.” "Don't
be late for class," the teacher said.
Do not use quotation
marks around a summary.
ex: They said they wanted to come back and settle in
their native place.
A colon is also used when
direct speech is introduced by a name.
Ex: Lord Polonius: “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”
If words are said
internally, not spoken out loudly, the writer may or may not use this marks.
Ex: “What a game!” Maria
said to herself. Or What a game, Maria said to herself.
9.Parentheses ( ) and
Brackets[ ] Parentheses
and brackets are never interchangeable. Parentheses
set off elements within a sentence that are nonessential.
Parentheses
are not part of the subject.
ex: Ramesh(and his friends) has
come back from movie.
Brackets
are far less common than parentheses; are used
in special cases. They are often used to clarify meaning.
If
you remove the information in the bracket, the sentence still makes sense.
ex: He[ Mr. Shekhar] was the last
person come out.
10.Dash and the hyphen (--)
(-) Hyphen is
shorter than the Dash.
Hyphen
is used to join two or more words together into compound word.
Hyphenate
all compound words:
Ex: passer-by, man-of-war
Use
a hyphen to join two or more words serving as a single adjective before a noun.
ex: a one-way street, a state-of-the-art gallery
Dash:
use a dash to indicate an abrupt break in thought
ex: If my husband
were alive —but why lament the past?
Use
a dash to interrupt the main idea in a sentence to include another related
idea.
ex: The student—the one who is sitting
in the last bench—is disturbing the class.
11. Capital letters
Capitals
are used
•
To begin a sentence,
•
To begin each line of poetry
•
To begin proper nouns, Ex: Delhi, Shakespeare,
Rani, India,
•
To write the pronoun 'I" and Interjection
"O"
•
To indicate all nouns and pronouns indicate
Ex: The God. The Lord,
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