Punctuation

Punctuation is the system of symbols (. , ! - : etc) that we use to separate

sentences and parts of sentences, and to make their meaning clear. Each symbol is called a "punctuation mark".
The Value of Punctuation
An English teacher wrote these words on the board:
woman without her man is nothing
The teacher then asked the students to punctuate the words correctly. The men wrote the top line. The women wrote
the bottom line.
Summary of Punctuation Marks

Click on the link for each punctuation mark to find out more.

Punctuation Mark Name Example

full stop or period I like English.

comma I speak English, French and Thai.

semi-colon I don't often go swimming; I prefer to play tennis.

colon You have two choices: finish the work today or lose the contract.

hyphen This is a rather out-of-date book.

dash In each town—London, Paris and Rome—we stayed in youth

hostels.
question mark Where is Shangri-La?

exclamation mark "Help!" she cried. "I'm drowning!"

slash, forward slash or Please press your browser's Refresh/Reload button.

oblique
backslash C:\Users\Files\jse.doc

double quotation marks "I love you," she said.

single quotation marks 'I love you,' she said.

apostrophe This is John's car.

underline Have you read War and Peace?

underscore bin_lad@cia.gov

round brackets I went to Bagkok (my favourite city) and stayed there for two weeks.

square brackets The newspaper reported that the hostages [most of them French]
had been released.
ellipsis mark One happy customer wrote: "This is the best program...that I have
ever seen."
 Although there are general rules for English punctuation, there are differences of style between, for example, British and American English, some
publishers and some writers. Anyone seeking guidance at an advanced level is recommended to consult a style guide (often included in good
dictionaries) for their particular variety of English or editorial style.
 4. Use a comma for numbers over 999. (In English,
Full Stop or Period commas separate thousands and periods separate
1. Use a full stop at the end of a sentence: decimals. Note that some languages use the
 The man arrived. He sat down. opposite system.)
2. Use full stops with abbreviations (in an  1,000 (one thousand)
abbreviation the last letter of the word and of the  1,569
abbreviation are not the same):  $73,050.75
 Co. (Company)  2,000,000
 etc. (et cetera)  3,400,500
 M.P. (Member of Parliament)  10.5 (ten and a half) - note the use of the
3. Do not use full stops with contractions (in a period, not comma
contraction the last letter of the word and of the
contraction are the same): 5. Use a comma for addresses, some dates, and
 Ltd (Limited) titles following a name.
 Dr (Doctor)  911 Avenue Mansion, Petchburi Road,
 St (Saint) Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
The rule about abbreviations and contractions is not  Los Angeles, California
followed by everyone. Sometimes it is a question of  November 4, 1948 (but 4 November 1948)
style. The important thing is to be consistent.  Fred Ling, Professor of English

6. Use a comma before or after direct speech. Do

Comma not use a comma for reported speech.
 He said, "I love you."
A comma in writing is like a pause inside a sentence  "I love you," he said.
when speaking. We use commas inside sentences.  He told her that he loved her.
Commas separate parts of a sentence into logical
elements. Commas have no meaning, but they help 7. Use a comma before a coordinating
us to see the structure and therefore the meaning of conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) to join
the sentence. two independent clauses. If the independent
Put a space after a comma. Do not put a space clauses are short and well-balanced, a comma is
before a comma. optional.
xxx, xxx correct  He didn't want to go, but he went anyway.
xxx ,xxx  I want to work as an interpreter, so I am
incorrect studying Russian at university.
xxx , xxx
 She is kind so she helps people.
1. Use a comma between items in a series or list. In
a sentence, the last two items usually do not need a 8. Use commas for parenthetical elements. A
comma between them as they are separated by "parenthetical element" is any part of a sentence
"and". However, if one or both of the last two items that can be removed without changing the real
are long, a comma may be useful. meaning of the sentence.
 coffee, tea, sugar, milk, eggs, butter, salt  John Geton, who is chairman of the
 My favourite sports are football, rugby, company, is quite old.
swimming, boxing and golf.  Andrew, my wife's brother, cannot come.
 Hunsa was wearing blue jeans, black  Andrew (my wife's brother) cannot come.
shoes, his brand new white shirt, and a  The objective, to find peace in both
brown and green cap. countries, is hard to reach.
2. Use a comma between three or more adjectives 9. Use a comma after an introductory element. A
or adverbs. comma is optional for short, simple introductory
 I like the old, brown, wooden table. elements.
 He bought an old, red, open-top  Rushing to catch the flight, he forgot to
Volkswagen. take his phone.
 He ran quickly, quietly and effortlessly.  As the year came to an end, he realised
the days were getting shorter.
3. For two adjectives, use a comma where you  By evening we were getting worried.
could use "and".  After a hefty meal cooked by his host's
 It was a short, simple film. (It was a short wife, he went to sleep.
and simple film.)  After a snack he went to sleep.
 I have a big black dog. (I have a big and
black dog.)
10. Sentence adverbs (words like however,
unfortunately, surprisingly that modify a whole Colon
sentence) often require one or two commas,
The job of the colon is simple: to introduce.
depending on their position in the sentence.
 However, Anthony did arrive. 1. Use a colon to introduce a list:
 Anthony, however, did arrive.  There are three countries in North America:
 We were, unfortunately, too late. Mexico, the USA and Canada.
 He had, not surprisingly, lost his temper.  We can see many things in the sky at night: the
moon, stars, planets, comets, planes and even
11. An adverbial clause often needs a comma satellites.
when it comes at the beginning of a sentence (but
not at the end of a sentence). 2. Actually, you can use a colon to introduce a single
 If I win the lottery, I will buy a castle. item, especially when you want to emphasize that item:
 I will buy a castle if I win the lottery.  We were all waiting for the hero of the evening:
John.
 There is one thing that he will not accept:
12. Do not use a comma to separate two complete
stupidity.
sentences. In this case, use a full stop (period) or  The job of the colon is simple: to introduce.
semi-colon.
 Ram wants to go out. Anthony wants to stay 3. Use a colon to introduce direct speech or a
home. quotation:
 Ram wants to go out, Anthony wants to stay  He stood up and said loudly: "Ladies and
home. Gentlemen, please be seated."
 John whispered in my ear: "Have you seen
Tara, Ram and Anthony enjoyed their holiday,
Andrea?"
which they spent in Rio Claro, Trinidad, from
 As Confucius once wrote: "When words lose
December 17, 2010 to January 6, 2011. their meaning, people lose their freedom."
Unfortunately, although the weather was good, if
rather hot, it rained a lot during their last week. 4. Use a colon to introduce an explanation:
Ravi, Tara's uncle, said, "When I was young we  We had to cancel the party: too many people
had very little rain, but now we have a lot of rain." were sick.
Ravi, a wealthy, good-looking man, lives in the  There is no need to rush: the meeting will be
north of the island. starting one hour late.
  5. Use a colon to introduce examples, as shown above.
I have spent most of the day putting in a For example, item 1 above reads "Use a colon to
comma and the rest of the day taking it out. introduce a list" and ends with a colon followed by two
Oscar Wilde example sentences.

Semi-colon Hyphen
1. We sometimes use a semi-colon instead of a full stop A hyphen is a very short horizontal line between words.
or period. This is to separate sentences that are Note that there is no space between a hyphen and the
grammatically independent but that have closely character on either side of it.
connected meaning. Do not confuse a hyphen (-) with a dash (-), which is
 Josef likes coffee; Mary likes tea. longer.
 Tara is a good speaker; she speaks very clearly. The rules about hyphens are not fixed. The points below
 You did your best; now let's hope you pass the are guidelines rather than rules.
exam.
 Ram wants to go out; Anthony wants to stay 1. Use a hyphen to join words to show that their meaning
home. is linked in some way:
Note that in the above examples it is not correct to use a  book-case (or bookcase)
comma instead of the semi-colon.  race-horse (or racehorse)
 pick-me-up
2. Use a semi-colon as a kind of "super comma". When
we have a list of items, we usually separate the items 2. Use a hyphen to make compound modifiers before
with commas. If the list is complicated, we may prefer to nouns:
use semi-colons in some cases.  a blue-eyed boy (but The boy was blue eyed.)
 ABC Investments has offices in five locations:  the well-known actor (but The actor is well
Kensington, London; Brighton & Hove; and known.)
Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester.  their four-year-old son (but Their son is four
 Rental cars must be returned on time; with a full years old.)
tank of petrol; in undamaged condition; and at
the same location as they were collected from.
3. Use a hyphen with certain prefixes. The prefixes all-,  They are really f––––d up. (Typically used for
ex-, and self- usually need a hyphen: offensive words.)
 all-inclusive  I will look ––––– the children. (Typically used in
 ex-wife "missing word" questions.)
 self-control
When a prefix comes before a capitalized word, use a In fact, there are two kinds of dash:
hyphen:  the en-dash (–), which is the width of the letter
 non-English "n"
When a prefix is capitalized, use a hyphen:  and the em-dash (—), which is the width of the
 A-frame letter "m"

4. Use a hyphen when writing numbers 21 to 99, and However, the difference between them is rather technical
fractions: and mainly of value to typographers. The dash is a
 twenty-one convenient and easy mark to use in hand-writing. But it is
 one hundred and sixty-five often difficult to find on a keyboard and for this reason
 two-thirds some people use the easier-to-find but shorter hyphen (-)
when word-processing.
5. Use a hyphen to show that a word has been broken at
the end of a line (hyphenation):
The directors requested that a more conven- Question Mark
ient time be arranged.
The main function of a question mark is to indicate a
question or query.
6. Use a hyphen with "suspended compounds". When we
use several very similar compounds together, it may not 1. Use a question mark at the end of all direct questions:
be necessary to repeat the last part of the compound:  What is your name?
 They need to employ more full- and part-time  How much money did you transfer?
staff. (not They need to employ more full-time
 Did you send euro or dollars?
and part-time staff.)
2. Use a question mark after a tag question:
 This rule applies only to 12-, 13- and 14-year
 You're French, aren't you?
olds. (not This rule applies only to 12-year olds,
 Snow isn't green, is it?
13-year olds and 14-year olds.)
 He should go and see a doctor, shouldn't he?

Dash 3. Don't forget to use a question mark at the end of a

sentence that really is a direct question:
A dash is a horizontal line that shows a pause or break in
 How else would I get there, after all?
meaning, or that represents missing words or letters.
Note that dashes are rather informal and should be used  What if I said to you, "I don't love you any more"?
carefully in writing. Dashes are often used informally  "Who knows when I'll die?", he asked
instead of commas, colons and brackets. A dash may or rhetorically.
may not have a space on either side of it.
Do not confuse a dash (—) with a hyphen (-), which is 4. In very informal writing (personal letter or email),
shorter. people sometimes use a question mark to turn a
statement into a question:
1. Use a dash to show a pause or break in meaning in  See you at 9pm?
the middle of a sentence: In the same situation, they may use two or three question
 My brothers—Richard and John—are visiting marks together to show that they are not sure about
Hanoi. (Could use commas.) something:
 In the 15th century—when of course nobody had  I think you said it would cost $10???
electricity—water was often pumped by hand.
(Could use brackets.) 5. Do not use a question mark after an indirect or
reported question:
2. Use a dash to show an afterthought:  The teacher asked them what their names were.
 The 1st World War was supposed to be the (What are your names?)
world's last war—the war to end war.  John asked Mary if she loved him. (Do you love
 I attached the photo to my email—at least I hope me?)
I did!  I'm wondering if she's coming. (Is she coming?)

3. Use a dash like a colon to introduce a list: 6. Many polite requests or instructions are made in the
 There are three places I'll never forget—Paris, form of a question. But because they are not really
Bangkok and Hanoi. questions, they do not take a question mark:
 Don't forget to buy some food—eggs, bread,  Could you please send me your catalogue.
tuna and cheese.  Would all first-class and business-class
passengers now start boarding.
4. Use a dash to show that letters or words are missing:
7. Be careful with titles and abbreviations when question  Please press your browser's Refresh/Reload
marks are involved: button. (Refresh or Reload)
 "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?" was a play  The speech will be given by President/Senator
before it was a film. Clinton. (President Clinton or Senator Clinton)
 Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? was a play before  Mary will eat cake and/or fruit. (Mary will eat
it was a film. cake, or Mary will eat fruit, or Mary will eat cake
 Have you seen the film "Who's afraid of Virginia and fruit.)
Woolf?"? Do not over-use the slash to indicate "or". It can suggest
 Have you seen the film Who's afraid of Virginia laziness on the part of the writer. The "and/or"
Woolf?? construction is widely considered to be very bad form.
 Have you ever been to L.A.?
Note that there should be no space immediately before a 2. Use a slash for fractions:
question mark.  1/2 (one half)
 2/3 (two thirds)
 9/10 (nine tenths)
Exclamation Mark
3. Use a slash to indicate "per" in measurements of
An exclamation mark usually shows strong feeling, such
speed, prices etc:
as surprise, anger or joy. Using an exclamation mark
when writing is rather like shouting or raising your voice  The speed limit is 100 km/h. (kilometres per
when speaking. Exclamation marks are most commonly hour)
used in writing quoted speech. You should avoid using  He can type at 75 w/m. (words per minute)
exclamation marks in formal writing, unless absolutely  The eggs cost $3/dozen. ($3 per dozen)
necessary.  They charge €1.50/litre for petrol. (€1.50 per
litre)
1. Use an exclamation mark to indicate strong feelings or
a raised voice in speech: 4. People often use a slash in certain abbreviations:
 She shouted at him, "Go away! I hate you!"  This is my a/c number. (account)
 He exclaimed: "What a fantastic house you  John Brown, c/o Jane Green (care of)
have!"  n/a (not applicable, not available)
 "Good heavens!" he said, "Is that true?"  w/o (without)
 "Help!"
 "Shut up!" 5. A slash is often used in dates to separate day, month
 "Stop!" and year:
 On credit card: Expires end 10/15 (October
2. Many interjections need an exclamation mark: 2015)
 "Hi! What's new?"  He was born on 30/11/2007. (30th November
 "Oh! When are you going?" 2007 - BrE)
 "Ouch! That hurt."  It was invented on 11/30/2007. (November 30th,
2007 - AmE)
3. A non-question sentence beginning with "what" or
"how" is often an exclamation and requires an 6. The slash is used to separate parts of a website
exclamation mark: address (url) on the Internet, and to separate folders on
 What idiots we are! (We are such idiots.) some computer systems:
 How pretty she looked in that dress! (She looked  http://www.englishclub.com/writing/punctuation-
very pretty in that dress.) slash.htm

4. In very informal writing (personal letter or email),  file:///Users/mac/tara/photos/image.jpg

people sometimes use two or more exclamation marks
together:
 I met John yesterday. He is so handsome!!!
 Remember, don't be late!! Backslash
 I'll never understand this language!!!!
The backslash is not really an English punctuation mark.
It is a typographical mark used mainly in computing. It is
Remember, try to avoid exclamation marks in formal
called a "backslash" because it is the reverse of the slash
writing such as an essay or business letter.
(/) or forward slash.
The backslash is used in several computer systems, and
Slash in many programming languages such as C and Perl. It is
commonly seen in Windows computers:
The slash (/) is also known as: forward slash, stroke,
 C:\Users\Win\Files\jse.doc
oblique. You should use the slash with care in formal
Do not confuse the backslash (\) with the slash (/) or
writing.
forward slash.
Although it is not really an English punctuation mark, the
1. A slash is often used to indicate "or":
backslash is included on these pages for completeness.
 Dear Sir/Madam (Sir or Madam)
  He said to her: 'I thought "Titanic" was a good
Quotation Marks (double, film.'

single) Punctuation inside or outside final quotation mark?

We use quotation marks to show (or mark) the beginning If the quoted words end with a full stop, then the full stop
and end of a word or phrase that is somehow special or goes inside the quotation marks. If the quoted words do
comes from outside the text that we are writing. not end with a full stop, then the full stop goes outside the
Quotation marks can be double ("...") or single ('...') - that quotation marks:
is really a matter of style (but see below for more about  He said: "I love you."
this).  She has read "War and Peace".
Quotation marks are also called "quotes" or "inverted
commas". Note that in US English, the full stop usually goes inside
the quotation marks in all cases:
1. Use quotation marks around the title or name of a  He said: "I love you."
book, film, ship etc:  She has read "War and Peace."
 The second most popular book of all time,
"Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-tung", However, US English adopts the British style for question
has sold over 800,000,000 copies and was marks and exclamation marks:
formerly known as "The Red Book".  He said: "Do you love me?"
 'Titanic' is a 1997 movie directed by James  Have you read "War and Peace"?
Cameron about the sinking of the ship 'Titanic'.  Can you imagine? He has never read "War and
Note that in the above case, we may use "italics" instead
Peace"!
of quotation marks. So the above examples would then
appear as:
How do we indicate quotation marks when speaking?
 The second most popular book of all time, People may say "quote, unquote" or "open quotes, close
Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-tung, has quotes" when reading aloud texts containing quotation
sold over 800,000,000 copies and was formerly marks:
known as The Red Book.  On page two it says, quote, Now is the time to
 Titanic is a 1997 movie directed by James invest, unquote.
Cameron about the sinking of the ship Titanic.  On page two it says, open quotes, Now is the
Obviously, the use of italics is not possible in handwriting
time to invest, close quotes.
or with old-style typewriters.
"Quote, unquote" may also be said informally in front of
2. We use quotation marks around a piece of text that we
rather than around the quoted words:
are quoting or citing, usually from another source:
 The brochure describes the car as, quote,
 In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English
unquote, total luxury.
Language, David Crystal argues that punctuation
"plays a critical role in the modern writing
"Quote, unquote" is sometimes used to mock or show
system".
disapproval or disbelief:
 Then he arrived with his quote, unquote new
3. Use quotation marks around dialogue or direct speech:
girlfriend.
 It was a moonlit night. James opened the door
and stepped onto the balcony, followed by Mary.
People sometimes say "in quotes" (often putting up their
They stood in silence for a few moments, looking
two hands with two fingers extended on each hand, like
at the moon. Then Mary turned to him and said:
quotation marks), indicating that the words came from
"Do you love me, James?"
another source, or in a mocking way, or suggesting that
they don't quite believe what they have just said:
4. Use quotation marks around a word or phrase that we
 Then he arrived with his new girlfriend, in quotes.
see as slang or jargon:
 The police were called to a "disturbance" - which
in reality was a pretty big fight. Please note: There are some differences in the use of
quotation marks between various varieties of English
5. Use quotation marks around a word or phrase that we such as British English or American English. Anyone
want to make "special" in some way: seeking guidance at an advanced level is recommended
 Note that sometimes we use "italics" instead of to consult a style guide (often included in good
quotation marks. dictionaries) for their particular variety.
Double or single quotation marks?
Apostrophe
1. Use an apostrophe in possessive forms:
Quotation marks can be double ("-") or single ('-'). If we
 the ball of the boy > the boy's ball
want to use quotation marks inside quotation marks, then
 Tara's sister
we use single inside double, or double inside single.
 my friend's mother
 He said to her: "I thought 'Titanic' was a good
film."  New York's nightmare scenario
  the moon's phases However, in print and computer writing, we use
2. Use an apostrophe in contracted forms (the underlining much less, partly because we have bold and
apostrophe shows that letters have been left out): italics to do a similar job.
 cannot > can't
 they have > they've
 I would (or I had) > I'd
 it is (or it has) > it's
 who is > who's
In addition, with the development of the Internet and
Certain words are sometimes written with an apostrophe world wide web, web pages traditionally use underlining
(to show that they are really a shortened form of the to indicate a link. As such, it is not good practice to use
original, longer word): underline on web pages.
 influenza > 'flu (or flu) Underline is also called underscore, especially in
 telephone > 'phone (or phone) American English.
Some people use an apostrophe when the first two
figures of a year are left out:
 1948 > '48 Underscore
Underscore is a line below text-level, and is typically
3. You can use an apostrophe to show the plural of
used in email addresses, filenames and urls, for
letters and numbers:
example:
 You should dot your i's and cross your t's.
 my_name@example.com
 Do you like music from the 1950's?
 image_123.jpg
You can use an apostrophe to show a plural form for
words that are not normally plural:  http://www.englishclub.com/under_score/
 Your plan is good, even if there are lots of but's In American English, underscore can also mean
underline.
in it.

Possessive pronouns or determiners (except one's) do Brackets/Round Brackets or

not use apostrophes. Do not confuse them with
contractions. The following are typical mistakes:
Parentheses
Round brackets are basically used to add extra
Wrong Right information to a sentence. Look at these examples:
Its value is British English
It's value is
It's going to rain () = brackets or round brackets
Whose are these?
Who's are these? American English
Who's coming?
() = parentheses
These are your's These are yours
1. explain or clarify
exception > One's self-esteem o Tony Blair (the former British prime
minister) resigned from office in 2007.

2. indicate "plural or singular"

Underline o Please leave your mobile telephone(s) at
the door.
An underline is a horizontal line immediately below a
piece of writing. 3. add a personal comment
In handwriting, we traditionally use underlining to indicate o Many people love parties (I don't).
emphasis:
4. define abbreviations
o The matter will be decided by the IOC
(International Olympic Committee).

Underline can be a noun and a verb. You can ask Some grammarians believe that (whenever possible) we
someone "to underline" something. ("Please underline all should use commas.
the errors.") In the above example, we can say that butter Some grammarians believe that, whenever possible, we
is "underlined". We can also use the term "underlining" in should use commas.
a more general sense. ("On most web pages, underlining
is reserved for links.) Remember that the full stop, exclamation mark or
In typewriting, we can use underlining to show emphasis, question mark goes after the final bracket (unless the
and also things like titles of books and films, and names brackets contain a complete sentence). Look at these
of ships. examples:
 My car is in the drive (with the window open).
 I just had an accident with our new car. (Sssh!
My husband doesn't know yet.)
 The weather is wonderful. (If only it were always
like this!)
  The party was fantastic (as always)!
 Do you remember Johnny (my brother's friend)? Look at these examples:
 Johnny came too. (Do you remember Johnny?)  She turned to James and said, "Darling, there is
We had a great time. something...I need to tell you. I have never felt
like...like this before."
 "It's not easy to explain. It's not..." Her voice
Square Brackets or Brackets trailed away as emotion welled up within her.

We typically use square brackets when we want to Do we use a space with an ellipsis mark? That is a
modify another person's words. Here, we want to make question of style. Many style manuals recommend no
it clear that the modification has been made by us, not by space, like this:
the original writer. For example:  three English learners...studying at university
British English  It's not...
[] = square brackets
Others recommend using a space before and after an
American English ellipsis mark, like this:
[] = brackets  three English learners ... studying at university
1. to add clarification:  It's not ...
o The witness said: "He [the policeman] hit
me." The important thing is that you choose one style and use
it consistently. Do not mix your styles.
2. to add information:
o The two teams in the finals of the first
FIFA Football World Cup were both from
South America [Uruguay and Argentina].
3. to add missing words:
o It is [a] good question.

4. to add editorial or authorial comment:

o They will not be present [my emphasis].

5. to modify a direct quotation:

o He "love[s] driving." (The original words
were "I love driving.")

We also sometimes use square brackets for nesting, for

example:
 Square brackets can also be nested (using
square brackets [like these] inside round
brackets).

Ellipsis Mark
The ellipsis mark consists of three dots (periods). We use
the ellipsis mark in place of missing words. If we
intentially omit one or more words from an original text,
we replace them with an ellipsis mark.

The ellipsis mark is also called a "suspension point" or

"dot dot dot".
 Suppose we want to quote "The film focussed on
three English learners from Asia who were
studying at university." Perhaps we want to omit
"from Asia who were" to save space. So we
write:

"The film focussed on three English

learners...studying at university."

The new sentence still makes sense, but the

ellipsis mark shows the reader that something is
missing.
We sometimes also use an ellipsis mark to indicate a
pause when someone is speaking, or an unfinished
sentence.