How to Use Punctuation

Posted on June 9th, 2009 by Marck

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Perfect English may seem intimidating to some people, but the proper punctuation marks are often all that stand between a good piece and a bad one. Whether you’re writing a simple report or a piece of prose, punctuation marks are necessary to make your work easier to read. Here are some tips on how to use punctuation marks correctly.

Terminating Punctuation

Terminating punctuation refers to marks that end a sentence or independent clause. There are three common kinds of terminating punctuation marks in the English language:

The period (.) denotes a full stop in a declarative statement.
The question mark (?) denotes a full stop in an interrogative sentence.
An exclamation point (!) is used to end an exclamation or an interjection.

Some people have the tendency or the habit to repeat or combine terminating punctuation marks for purposes of style, or to emphasize emotion in a sentence. It’s best to avoid this practice, unless you’re using ellipses (…).

Continuing Punctuation

Continuing punctuation refers to punctuation marks that are found within a statement or a sentence, but do not end it.

Colon and Semicolon

Colons and semicolons can be quite tricky:

A colon (:) is almost always used to present a list. The elements of the list may be denoted in bullets, or may be continued in the sentence itself.
A semicolon (;) is used to separate two related, independent clauses in a single sentence. When the sentence becomes too long, awkward, or wordy, it is best to treat the clauses as separate sentences and mark them with terminating punctuation marks.

Comma

The comma (,) is one of the most useful punctuation marks in the English language. Here are some of the many uses of a comma:

Breaking a list or series of items in a sentence
Marking appositives (the comma is placed before and after the break)
Marking multiple adjectives (the comma is not placed after the last adjective)
Separating two independent clauses if a semicolon is not appropriate (the second independent clause must always be preceded by a conjunction after the comma)

Hyphen and Dash

To avoid confusion between hyphens (-) and dashes (—), here are some rules to remember:

A hyphen is often used to break a sentence, although it is also needed when you need to spell out a number or if for compound words. You should also use a hyphen when it is required by a prefix (or in rare cases, a suffix).
The dash is used to break a sentence to insert an interruption within the sentence. The clause can be used to add emphasis to a particular statement related to the sentence, or to explain a prior statement.

Quotation Marks

Using quotation marks are rather simple:

Double quotes (”) are used for direct quotations from a speaker or a source. They should always come in pairs.
Single quotes (’) may be used to enclose a quotation from a quotation. It is most often used as an apostrophe to denote possession or to create contractions.

Punctuation marks can get tricky at times, so you need to brush up on your grammar skills and practice writing every day to get them right.