All about Punctuation Marks in English Grammar

All about Punctuation Marks in English Grammar

English Grammar has 14 punctuation marks. They are as follows : period (.) also known as full stop, question mark (?), exclamation mark(!), comma(,), semicolon (;), dash(-), hyphen(-), parentheses(()), brackets([]), braces({}), apostrophe(’), quotation marks(“ ”), and ellipsis(...).

Which punctuation should be used for sentence endings?

There are three punctuation marks which are appropriate for sentence ending:

1. Period / Full Stop ( . )

          Period / Full top can be used as sentence ender or after an abbreviation.

Examples:

    Shena is doing homework.

    Mr. John, is the manager of Jodan Corporation.

2. Question Mark ( ? )

          Question mark indicates the direct question.

   

         Example :

              At what time is your classes?

   

3. Exclamation Mark ( ! )

          Exclamation mark is used for expressing expression or to an emphasis on something.

          

         Examples :

             “Oh my god!” she said.

              You made me furious!

Where can you use: Comma, Semicolon and Colon?

Comma, semicolon, and colon are often used when you want pause in the sentence. They are often at wrong places.

1. Comma ( , )

Comma can be used at three places : to address someone, to separate two different sentences and to separate items or elements.

Examples:   

        It was a great help, Lisa

        On Sunday we went for the movie, and had lunch in the restaurant.

        Every child love chocolates, games, balloon and sweets.

2. Semicolon ( ; )

Semicolon is used to concat two different clauses to show the close relation between them.

Example:

It was a lovely weather; everyone was enjoying drinking coffee.

3. Colon ( : )

Colon is mainly used for three purposes: quotation, explanation and example or series.

Examples :

Joseph can’t live without one thing in life: his mobile.

He didn’t have time to drink tea: he was late for office.

In my college, there are mainly five courses: MBA, MCA, Ms.IT, Bs.IT and BCA.

How to use - Dash and the Hyphen?

These two punctuation marks are identical in appearance but different in usage.

1. Hyphen ( - )

         To merge two or more words to make a compound term hyphen can be used.

         Examples :

             Well-known

             Co-operative

             Now-a-days

2. Dash ( -- )

          Dash can be used for making the connection.

   

Examples:

    1995-2015

    Ahmedabad-Gujarat

    Finally, She said - Yes.

Brackets, Braces and Parentheses all are used Differently.

1. Brackets ( [ ] )

Brackets are the square notations which technically clarifies the meaning or enhance the sense of a sentence.

Example:

        She [ Kalpana Chawla ] was the first women to travel to space.

2. Braces ( { } )

Braces are usually used to join lines of text or listed items to considered as the same unit. They are seldom used but when used mostly in a mathematical expression.

Example:

        2 {2 + [ 5 * 9] }

3. Parentheses ( ( ) )

Parentheses can used in replacement of comma to augment the meaning of a sentence.

Example:

    Jack and Jill ( who are siblings ) both dance well.

What are Apostrophe, Quotation Marks and Ellipsis?

1. Apostrophe ( ’ )

Apostrophe is used for possession of something, or omission of letters, or the plurals of lowercase letters.

Examples:

        Jade’s dog barks at every unknown person he sees.

        I’ll try to complete my task as soon as possible.

        In India, mostly all girls name ends with i’s or a's.

       

2. Quotation Marks ( ? )

 To write the same sentence or line someone has spoken or exclaimed or expressed quotation marks are used.

Example:

        Rohan said to his mother, “I am very hungry.”

        “What an amazing foot it was !” she exclaimed.

3. Ellipsis ( … )

Ellipsis are used when there is a repetition of something or something needs to be understood without speaking. Also mostly used in quotes.

Examples:

        The little boy counted, “one, two, three…” till hundred.

        On the smooth surface, the marble was going round and round and …    

British vs. American English

There are a few differences between punctuation in British and American English. The following charts details some of those differences:

	British English	American English
The “ . “ symbol is called	A full stop	a period
The “ ! “ symbol is called	an exclamation mark	an exclamation point
The “ ( ) “ symbols are called	brackets	parentheses
The “ [ ] “ symbols are called	square brackets	brackets
The position of quotation marks	Joy means “happiness”.	Joy means “happiness.”
The punctuation for abbreviations	Dr, Mr, Mrs, St, Rd, Ct	Dr., Mr., Mrs., St., Rd., Ct.

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