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Level 3 La U en mi Barrio

The basic Signs of Punctuation

1.     The comma ,

2.     The full stop .

3.     The period  .

4.     The exclamation mark !

5.     The question mark ?

6.     The semi-colon ;

7.     The colon :

8.     The apostrophe '

1.    The Comma (,)

The comma is useful in a sentence when the writer wishes to:

·         pause before proceeding

·         add a phrase that does not contain any new subject

·         separate items on a list

·         use more than one adjective (a describing word, like beautiful)

For example, in the following sentence the phrase or clause between the commas gives us more information behind the actions of the boy, the subject of the sentence:

·         The boy, who knew that his mother was about to arrive, ran quickly towards the opening door.

·         The boy ran quickly towards the opening door.  He knew that his mother was about to arrive.

Commas are also used to separate items in a list.

For example:

The shopping trolley was loaded high with bottles of beer, fruit, vegetables, toilet rolls, cereals and cartons of milk.

Commas are used to separate adjectives.

For example:

The boy was happy, eager and full of anticipation at the start of his summer holiday.

2.    Full Stop (.)

A full stop should always be used to end a sentence.  The full stop indicates that a point has been made and that you are about to move on to further explanations or a related point.

3.    Period (.)

The period is also known as a full stop because it signals a speaker or reader that the sentence has come to an end.

·         A statement is a sentence that states, or tells, something.

Examples:

I like to eat pizza.                 School starts on Wednesday.                              The baby's name is Grace.

4.    Exclamation Mark (!)

An exclamation mark indicates strong feeling within a sentence, such as fear, anger or love. It is also used to accentuate feeling within the written spoken word.

For example:

“Help! I love you!”

In this way, it can also be used to indicate a sharp instruction

“Stop! Police!”

or to indicate humour

“Ha! Ha! Ha!”

5.    Question Mark (?)

The question mark simply indicates that a sentence is asking a question.  It always comes at the end of a sentence:

For example:  Are we at the end?

6.    Semi-colon (;)

The semi-colon is perhaps the most difficult sign of punctuation to use accurately.  If in doubt, avoid using it and convert the added material into a new sentence.

As a general rule, the semi-colon is used in the following ways:

·         When joining two connected sentences.

For example:

We set out at dawn; the weather looked promising.

The semi-colon can also be used to assemble detailed lists.

For example:

The conference was attended by delegates from Paris, France; Paris, Texas; London, UK; Stockholm, Sweden; Colombo, Sri Lanka; and Mumbai, India.

7.    Colon  (:)

The colon within a sentence makes a very pointed pause between two phrases.  There are two main uses of the colon:

It is most commonly used when listing.

For example:

She placed the following items into the trolley: beer, fruit, vegetables, toilet rolls, cereals and cartons of milk.

Or it can be used within a heading, or descriptive title.

For example:

Human Resource Management: Guidelines for Telephone Advisers

8.    Apostrophe (’)

·         The apostrophe, sometimes called an inverted comma has two main uses.

·         The apostrophe indicates possession or ownership.

For example:

The girl's hat was green, (girl is in the singular).

This shows the reader that the hat belongs to the girl.

The girls' hats were green, (girls in this instance are plural, i.e. more than one girl, more than one hat).

This indicates that the hats belong to the girls.

·         Another use of the apostrophe is to indicate where a letter is omitted:

For example:

We're going to do this course. (We are going to do this course.)

Isn’t this a fine example of punctuation?  (Is not this a fine example of punctuation?)

The time is now 7 o’ clock. (The time is now 7 of the clock)

It’s a lovely day is an abbreviated way of saying:  It is a lovely day.