Punctuation

This is the most popular punctuation mark. Used to indicate the end of a sentence.

For example:

- We feed this cat every evening.

- Mr. Brown does not agree with these new rules.

A comma is often used to separate different ideas in a sentence. However, it has many other uses as well, and it is important to remember them as well. Some of the most common comma rules follow.

For example:

- Mark went by bus, and Allison took a train.

- We bought apples, peaches, grapes, and oranges in the fruit market.

A question mark, as its name suggests, needs to go at the end of every interrogative sentence instead of a full stop.

For example:

- How old are you?

- Do you remember what I told you about yesterday?

An exclamation mark added at the end of a sentence shows emphasis. Depending on the meaning of the sentence, it can indicate anger, happiness, excitement, or any other strong emotion.

For example:

- Leave me alone!

- I’m so happy to see you!

- I can’t wait to go to Paris!

As their name suggests, quotation marks indicate direct quotations. You can also use them to show that a word or a phrase is being used ironically, or for titles of articles, book chapters, episodes of a TV-show, etc.

For example:

- “You’ll never believe what happened last night,” Jerry said. In his article

- “How To Succeed in Everything You Do”, Mary Smith gives her readers three valuable pieces of advice.

An apostrophe has two very important uses. Firstly, it can be used in contractions in place of omitted letters. Secondly, it can show possession.

For example:

- You don’t have to go to the supermarket if you don’t want to.

- We need to invite both of Sally’s sisters to the party.

Even though it looks very similar to a dash, a hyphen has very different uses. It’s most commonly used to create compound words.

For example:

- He is a very self-confident person.

- Due to various factors, Susan decided to work part-time this summer.

The dash is usually used to show a connection between two things, as well as a range of numbers, years, pages, etc.

For example:

- London–Paris flight takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

- For tomorrow’s lesson, I need to read pages 45–78 of the textbook.

A colon is a punctuation mark you will come across very often in different circumstances. It can introduce an example, a list, an explanation, or a quotation. Or, you can also use it to emphasize a certain point.

For example:

- There are two things you can do: continue being miserable or move on with your life.

A semicolon is a punctuation mark that creates a longer pause than a comma but a shorter pause than a full stop.

For example:

- My mother is a doctor; my father is an accountant.

In most cases, you will see additional information in parentheses. Usually, it can be omitted without creating any confusion for the reader.

For example:

- My young daughters (aged 5 and 7) just love playing with our neighbors’ dogs.

Brackets are, in a way, similar to parentheses. However, they are mostly used in academic writing and when presenting quotes. For instance, the writer can add extra information or fix mistakes in brackets, without changing the original quotation.

For example:

- The witness said, “I could hear him [the policeman] but I couldn’t see him”.

An ellipsis creates an intriguing and mysterious atmosphere in the text. In addition, it can be used to show that some letters or even words are omitted.

For example:

- So… what happened next? She was smart, funny and pretty but… something still felt wrong.

You might need to write a fraction, a measurement, or to suggest alternatives in your text. These are just three of the instances where you will have to use a slash.

For example:

- For this recipe, you will need 1/2 glass of water and 3/4 glass of flour.

- The car was going as fast as 120 km/h.

- You need to press the On/Off button.