Punctuation Marks
On this page you can learn about how punctuation marks function in the English language
Using punctuation correctly when writing makes your writing more professional and easier to read. The same punctuation marks exist across many different languages, but are used differently and have different rules. Proper punctuation is something that nearly all writers in the English language struggle to achieve, and the first step to doing so is understanding what each of the punctuation marks do!
There are some punctuation marks used in specific subject areas, such as Maths and Science, that are not covered here. Use the table of contents on the left to jump to a specific punctuation mark.
Sentence Endings
The punctuation marks below can be used to end a sentence. They are the period, question mark, and exclamation point.
The Period.
This is probably the easiest of the punctuation marks to use. The period, sometimes called a full stop, is the punctuation mark used to indicate the end of a sentence.
The Question Mark?
This punctuation mark indicates that the sentence is a question, and takes the place of a period. Question marks in the English language always come at the end of the sentence. Typically, sentences that are questions begin with what, how, when, where, why, or who.
The Exclamation Point!
The exclamation point, like the question mark, replaces the period at the end of a sentence. The exclamation point is used to express intense emotion.
Exclamation points are rarely used in formal writing. Avoid using exclamation points when writing for professional or academic texts.
Joining Ideas and Sentences
The punctuation marks below join ideas and sentences together. They are the comma, colon, and semi-colon.
Oh, the comma
The comma can be a tricky punctuation mark to use and is perhaps one of the frequently misused punctuation mark in the English language. For this reason, the comma has an entire page dedicated to it.
The Semicolon; infrequently used, frequently abused
The semicolon is a punctuation mark that is frequently misused, and generally appears in texts with a high reading level. In nearly all cases where you may consider using a semicolon, it could be argued that you can rewrite the sentence or sentences to be more concise. The use of a semicolon often is a style choice, rather than one used for grammatical accuracy.
The semicolon looks like a comma with a period above it, and this can be a good way to remember what it does. A semicolon creates more separation between thoughts than a comma does but less than a period does. Below are the two most common uses for the semicolon.
Use a Semicolon to Separate Items in a List
When you have a list of items and some of those items have a common in them, the sentence can quickly become confusing. Consider the sentence below
I bought shiny, ripe apples, small, sweet, juicy grapes, and firm pears.
This list is confusing because we don't really know what the person bought and what words are being used to describe the things purchased. The semicolon comes to the rescue!
I bought shiny, ripe apples; small, sweet, juicy grapes; and firm pears.
This sentence is more precise and the meaning is clearly communicated to the reader. Some of the words in the list are used to describe the objects, and the semicolon helps make that clear to the reader.
Use a Semicolon to Join two Sentences Together
Semicolons can be used between two independent clauses. The semicolon keeps the clauses somewhat separate, like a period would do, so we can easily tell which ideas belong to which clause. But it also suggests that there may be a close relationship between the two clauses—closer than you would expect if there were a period between them. Let’s look at a few examples. Here are a few fine independent clauses, standing on their own as complete sentences:
I went to the grocery store today. I bought a ton of fruit. Apples, grapes, and pears were on sale.
Now—where could semicolons fit in here? They could be used to join two (but not all three) of the independent clauses together.
I went to the grocery store today; I bought a ton of fruit. Apples, grapes, and pears were all on sale.
OR
I went to the grocery store today. I bought a ton of fruit; apples, grapes, and pears were all on sale.
The Hyphen -
The hyphen, often confused with the dash and the em dash (explained below), joins two or more words together to demonstrate they are connected. The purpose of the hyphen is clarify meaning or form a phrase.
Step-by-step
Mother-in-law
Ex-boyfriend
The Dash - and the Em Dash –
There are two types of dash, and are sometimes hard to spot the difference. The dash, and the em dash. The dash is something that should be used between numbers, and the em dash should never be used. I will explain this bold statement after explaining the primary use of the dash, to indicate range.
Using a Dash to Indicate a Range
A dash is used between two numbers to indicate a range. Consider the example below:
The company was in operation from 1990-2005.
He took the Cairo-Dubai flight last night
The dash in the first example indicates that between the dates of 1990 and 2005, the company was in operation. However, it would be more formal to write using the conjunction to in the sentence, "The company was in operation from 1990 to 2005." The dash is generally used when the numbers exist on their own.
The Em Dash –
I'm going to say it. Never use the em dash. I am explaining the use of this abomination simply to educate readers in understanding how it may be used in writing they may be reading, but strongly encourage never to actually use. There are other punctuation marks that do the job more appropriately.
The em dash (–)can be distinguished from a dash (-) because it is slightly longer. The em dash replaces the comma, set off material for emphasis, or break up dialogue to show pauses or indicate other things in dialogue. The em dash is informal, and should never appear in formal writing. It should not appear in informal writing either. Don't ever use the em dash.
Adding or Clarifying Information in a Sentence or Phrase
These punctuation marks are used to add information to a word, phrase or sentence, They are brackets and parenthesis.
(Parenthesis)
Parenthesis have several uses in writing, but should be used sparingly. A parenthesis indicates that the information enclosed inside is supplemental or less important that information than other information in the sentence.
Mr. Oxford (a teacher at my school) comes to school in a flying car and drinks way too much coffee.
In the quote above the portion, "a teacher at my school" is adding information that is less important than the information in the rest of the sentence. It would be more appropriate to use a comma, but parenthesis is also grammatically correct. Parenthesis is also used in citation.
[Brackets]
The bracket is used to clarify information that came before it. Often used in technical writing or academic writing, they should be used sparingly when writing.
Brackets are used in quotes, when you are inserting information into the quote to clarify meaning that was not a part of the original quote, for example:
Mr. Oxford said, "It [English Language Arts] is the most exciting part of any students day."
In this example, the speaker, Mr. Oxford, is quoted but the "English Language Arts" was added to clarify what the speaker was referring to. When you are quoting, you cannot add words to the quote.
Apostrophe '
Apostrophes are meant to show that a letter or letters have been omitted and also to indicate the possessive or contractions. It can also be used to pluralize lowercase letters.
In the example below, the words "I have," and "it is," have been shortened. Do not use this form of apostrophe in formal writing.
I’ve been working from home for 6 months and it’s great.
In the example below, the owner of the dog, Nadia, is indicated with an apostrophe.
Nadia's dog had surgery yesterday.
"Quotation Marks"
Quotation marks are used to denote text, speech, or words spoken by someone else. In formal writing, it is to indicate the words inside the quotation marks are spoken by someone else and not the writer. It is also used to indicate dialogue in fiction writing.
“I don’t like this,” said Mark.
She told him that she, “prefers not to think about that.”
'Single quotation marks', not to be confused with apostrophes, are often used for a quote within a quote.
Jill told her mother, “Jack ran up the hill and he said he was going to ‘fetch a pail of water’ before he fell.”
Ellipsis…
An ellipsis is three periods used together to represent an omission of words or letters. They are often used to jump from one sentence or phrase to another while omitting unnecessary or obvious words.
In the example below, the countdown is introduced but does not go all the way down, because that information is not needed.
At midnight, she began to count down, “ten, nine, eight…” and then the ball dropped.
In the example below, unnecessary information is omitted in a quotation.
In Mr. Oxford's final lesson of the year he said that he is sad everyone is leaving and he will be, "...spending the summer reading great books."
This shows the reader that there is more the quote, but only the important part is being shown in the quotation.