24. Punctuations
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Section outline
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Punctuation marks are a set of symbols that give complete meaning to a sentence by adding the right pauses or by separating words / sentences.
Features:
- It helps to express & understand a written passage clearly.
- It helps to put right pauses, separate sentences, express questions, exclamations, etc.
- Various punctuation marks are: full stop, comma, apostrophe, quotation, question mark, exclamation mark, dash, hyphen, colon, semicolon etc.
To write correct English, it is very important to understand all the rules for use of various punctuation marks.
2.
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Some basic important punctuation marks & their uses:
1. Full stop (.)
Uses:
- At the end of statement, command, requests, instructions, etc.
Examples:
He is a big boy. (statement)
Please shut the door. (request)
- For abbreviation or initials.
Example: K. Das or Ph. D.
- To write a decimal number.
Example: 98.6 or 567.2
2. Question Mark (?)
- It is used after a question (interrogative sentence).
Example: Are you coming today?
3. Exclamation Mark (!)
- It is used after exclamations showing sudden strong feelings of joy, surprise or grief.
Example: Hurrah! we won the match.
4. Inverted commas ('' ")
- They are used in direct speech.
- They enclose the actual words of the speaker.
Example: Sam said, 'I am happy today'.
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Comma is the shortest pause in the sentence.
Features:
- It is used to separate words or statements within a sentence to give a clear meaning.
- It never comes at the end of the sentence.
It is used to separate:
1. Words, phrases & pairs of words in a sentence.
Example:
I had bread & butter, cake & cookies, fruits & omelet for breakfast.
2. Words in a series.
Example:
I bought some apples, oranges, bananas & grapes.
3. A direct speech.
Example:
Sam said, 'I will pay the bill.'
4. The date, month & year.
Example: May 5, 2024.
5. Words like 'yes, no, of course, however, in fact, etc.' from the rest of the sentence.
Examples:
- Yes, I will come tonight.
- In fact, the event is tomorrow.
6. Question tags.
Example:
She is happy, isn't she?
7. Details of address, salutation & complementary closure in a letter.
Example: Flat no. 44, Building no. 4,
Andheri East, Mumbai.
8. Word or group of words in apposition.
Example:
Miss Mary, my class teacher, is a very well versed with English.
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Apostrophe (') is used to show:
1. Possession
Examples:
Jack's car, Jane's doll, Mira's house.
Exception:
Apostrophe is not used with ours, yours, his, hers & theirs
2. Omission of some letters.
Examples:
isn't (is not), didn't (did not)
3. Time, distance, space or money.
Examples:
- She needs a month's leave.
- The park is an hour's drive from here.
4. Plurals of letters and figures.
Examples:
- There are two Ph.D.'s in our group.
- Find the four m's in the puzzle.
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Semicolon ( ; ) is used to show longer pause than comma.
It is used to separate:
1. Pairs of words.
Example:
The teacher said that happy and sad; war and peace; small and big are all antonyms.
2. Parts of sentence separated by comma.
Example:
The dancers from New York, USA; Tokyo, Japan; and Paris, France took part in the event.
3. To mark independent clauses that have not been joined by a conjunction.
Example:
I am bringing fruits; Sam is bringing football; and Tom is getting energy drinks.
4. It is often used before words like moreover, however, then, hence, therefore consequently, etc.
Example:
She is sick; hence she cannot come for the party.
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Colon ( : ) indicates a long pause.
It is used:
1.To introduce a quote after an independent clause.
Example:
Chief said it rightly: ''Honesty is the best policy''.
2. Before a list of items.
Example:
Purchase the following items: two pens, pencil box, crayon box, compass & a ruler.
3. To state an explanation or statement or elaboration or example related to a preceding clause.
Example:
She had one goal: to become an air hostess.
4. To separate the main title from the subtitle.
Example:
The Art of Writing: A Guide to Style and Structure.
5. To show ratio & proportion:
Example:
The ratio of rice to water for this recipe is 1:3.
6. To show time by separating hours from minutes.
Example:
The game begins at 19:30.
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Capital Letters means writing the first alphabet of a word in upper case.
They are used when:
1. First letter of the first word that begins a sentence.
Example:
She is going to school.
2. First letter of the first word of every line of a poem.
Example:
Incy Wincy spider.
Climbed up the water spout.
Down came the rain.
3. First letter of the first word of direct speech.
Example:
The teacher said, ''Write the answers in your notebooks."
4. Proper nouns* & proper adjectives.
Example:
Sam, January, Christmas, Italian, India, Taj Mahal, etc.
* For more details on proper nouns, click here.
5. Pronoun 'I' & names that stand for God.
Example:
I will go for a swim.
6. Official names of government departments & officers in high ranks.
Example:
The Chief Minister will visit us today.
7. First letter of all the words used in titles of essays, stories, articles, poems, plays, movies, speeches, reports, etc. except for conjunctions, prepositions & articles.
Example:
An Evening at the Railway station. (essay topic)
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Uses of Dash ( — ):
1. Before or after a list.
Example:
Riya, Priya and Gita — will take part in dance.
2. For a break or interruptions in the sentence.
Example:
The event — held in May — was a success.
3. To show range of things.
Example:
The race will take place from 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM
4. To link related terms or concepts.
Example:
The Dubai – New York flight is delayed.
Uses of Hyphen (-):
1. For compound words.
Examples:
sister-in-law, well-known, etc.
Difference between Dash & Hyphen:
Hyphen is:
- It is shorter than dash.
- Used to join words or parts of words.
- It is directly connected with the words i.e. without any space on either side.
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In this course, we learn't:
- Punctuation marks are symbols that are used in a sentence.
- About some important punctuation marks that are used frequently, like:
- Full stop (.) - Used at the end of the sentence.
- Question mark (?) - Used at end of a question.
- Exclamation mark (!) - Used with a imperative sentence.
- Inverted commas ('' '') - Used when we speak or quote something.
- Comma(,): for short pauses.
- Semi colon (;) : for long pauses or breaks in sentence.
- Colon (
: to long pause.
- Dash & hyphens : to list things.
- Use of capital letters.
In the next course, we'll learn another interesting topic of question tags.