Punctuation marks are symbols that serve to illustrate the significance of written language. There are so many common marks that are widely used. Furthermore, learning how and when to use the appropriate mark could remarkably boost your writing skills. Some common punctuation marks are the full stop BrE (period AmE) (.), question mark (?), exclamation mark BrE (exclamation point AmE) (!), semi-colon (;), colon (:), dash (_), comma (,), quotation mark (“”), hyphen (-), apostrophe ('), capital letters, ellipsis(…),brackets BrE (parenthesis AmE) (()).
|
Punctuation Mark |
Symbol |
Definition |
Examples |
|
Full Stop |
. |
It is placed at the end of declarative sentences. |
Now I can walk to work instead of using a car. |
|
Question Mark |
? |
It is placed at the end of a question. |
Do you speak English? |
|
Exclamation Mark |
! |
It is used to show excitement or emphasis. |
No! |
|
Semi-colon |
; |
*It is used between two separate sentences which are linked in the meaning.
*A semicolon is also used to separate items in a series (where commas are already in use). |
*"Is this your key?" he asked; "I found it in my pocket.”
* I found at the appointment my older brother, Jack; my cousin, Tom; and my great-aunt, Helen. |
|
Colon |
: |
* It is used before list or quote.
*It is used to separate hours and minutes. |
*There are many punctuation marks: hyphen, dash, semi-colon, and others.
*It’s 20:15 |
|
Dash |
_ |
It is used instead of o colon or a semi-colon. |
I felt nervous _ I hate coffee. |
|
Comma |
, |
It is used to separate sentences or items in a list. |
We bought rings, necklaces, and glasses. |
|
Quotation Marks |
“ ” |
They are used to show direct speech, a quotation, or a phrase. |
He said: “It’s raining.”
|
|
Hyphen |
– |
It is used to join words of a single word. |
Ice–cream. |
|
Apostrophe |
’ |
It is used with: *Short forms.
*The possessive of a noun. |
*We’re playing football.
* John’s child. |
|
Capital Letters |
A, B, C,… |
They are used at: *The beginning of a sentence and for the word I.
*Names of people, places, companies, books, films, magazines, etc.
*Days of the week, months of the year, etc. |
*The secretary said I could come back tomorrow.
* Helen and John. *Tunisia. *Samsung. *Inferno. *Titanic. *Marie Claire.
*Monday. *January. |
|
Ellipsis |
… |
It is used when a part of a text has been left out. |
0,1,2,3, … , 2000. |
|
Parentheses |
() |
They are used to enclose information that clarifies or is used as an aside. |
These phrases (like others on this page) contain many parentheses. |
Differences in British vs. American
There are two dominant ways of punctuation: American and British. And there are many differences between them, and here are some of these differences:
-
Mrs., Miss., … all take full stops in the American English but not in the British one.
-
In the American English we put the apostrophe in dates like 1820’s and we eliminate it in the British English 1820s.
-
When writing the time , we put a full stop between the hours and minutes in the British English like 12.45 , whereas in the American English we put a colon 12:45.
This is “a full stop” in British English and “a period” in the American English.
This is “an exclamation mark” in Br Eng and “an exclamation point” in Am Eng.
The position of quotation marks in Br Eng is different from that in Am Eng. Example: “Love”. in Br Eng and “Love.” in Am Eng.
