PUNCTUATION MARKS

A
capital letter
We use capital letters to mark the beginning of a sentence and we use
full stops to mark the end of a sentence
We went to France last summer. We were really surprised that it was
so easy to travel on the motorways.
- We also use capital letters at the beginning of proper nouns. Proper
nouns include personal names (including titles before names),
nationalities and languages, days of the week and months of the year,
public holidays as well as geographical places
Dr David James is the consultant at Leeds City Hospital.
- We use capital letters for the titles of books, magazines and
newspapers, plays and music
Olier! is a musical based on the noel Olier Twist! by "harles
#ickens. $he Straits Times is a daily %nglish language newspaper in
&ingapore. $hey are performing 'eethoen!s Si(th Symphony.
.
full stop
(UK)
period (US)
$he symbol . used in writing at the end of a sentence or at the end of
the short form of a word. )n addition to closing sentences, we also use
full stops in initials for personal names: David A. Johnston,
Accountant.
- *ull stops are also used after abbreiations, although this practice is
becoming less common+ etc. Dr.

noun (UK)
(plural
ellipses)
, handy deice when you-re .uoting material and you want to omit
some words. $he ellipsis consists of three eenly spaced dots (periods)
with spaces between the ellipsis and surrounding letters or other
marks. /et-s take the sentence, 0$he ceremony honored twele
brilliant athletes from the "aribbean who were isiting the 1nited
&tates0 and leae out 0from the "aribbean who were0+
The ceremony honored twelve brilliant athletes visiting the United
tates.
,
comma
$he symbol , used in writing to separate parts of a sentence showing a
slight pause, or to separate the single things in a list or phrases.
- We do not normally use a comma before and at the end of a list of
single words+
They travelled through !ulgaria, lova"ia, the #$ech %epublic and
&oland.
- ,merican %nglish does use a comma in lists before and:
'e too" bread, cheese, and (ruit with us.
- We use commas to separate words or phrases that mark where the
oice would pause slightly+
) can!t tell you now. 2oweer, all will be reealed tomorrow at
midday.We had, in fact, lost all of our money.
3
question
mark
$he symbol 3 is used in writing at the end of a phrase or sentence to
show that it is a .uestion.
- When we use a .uestion mark, we do not use a full stop+ 'hy do
they ma"e so many mista"es?
!
exclamation
mark
We use e(clamation marks to indicate an e(clamatie clause or
e(pression in informal writing.
- When we want to emphasise something in informal writing, we
sometimes use more than one e(clamation mark+ )isten! *h no!!!

colons
We use colons to introduce lists+
There are three main reasons (or the success o( the government:
economic, social and political.
- We also use colons to indicate a subtitle or to indicate a subdiision
of a topic+
)i(e in &rovence: A &ersonal +iew
- We often use colons to introduce direct speech+
Then he said: ,- really cannot help you in any way..
- We commonly use a colon between sentences when the second
sentence e(plains or 4ustifies the first sentence
Try to "eep your (lat clean and tidy: it will sell more easily.
!
semi"colons
We use semi-colons instead of full stops to separate two main clauses.
)n such cases, the clauses are related in meaning but are separated
grammatically+
panish is spo"en throughout outh America/ in !ra$il the main
language is &ortuguese.
- &emi-colons are not commonly used in contemporary %nglish. *ull
stops and commas are more common.
#$
%&
quotation
marks
5uotation marks in %nglish are 6! or 768. )n direct speech, we
enclose what is said within a pair of single or double .uotation marks,
although single .uotation marks are becoming more common. #irect
speech begins with a capital letter and can be preceded by a comma or
a colon+
he said, 'here can we (ind a nice -ndian restaurant0 (or he
said: ,'here can we (ind a nice -ndian restaurant0.)
- We can put the reporting clause in three different positions. 9ote the
position of commas and full stops here+
The (itness trainer said, ,Don.t try to do too much when you begin..
(.uotation mark after comma introducing speech and after full stop)
Don.t try to do too much when you begin, the (itness trainer said.
(comma before closing .uotation mark)
Don.t try to do too much, the (itness trainer said, when you begin.
(commas separating the reporting clause)
- When we use direct speech inside direct speech, we use either single
.uotation marks inside double .uotation marks, or double .uotation
marks inside single .uotation marks+
-t was getting really cold, he said, and they were saying 'hen
can we go bac" home0
Jaya said, They were getting really e1cited and were shouting #ome
on2.
- We commonly use .uestion marks inside the .uotation marks unless
the .uestion is part of the reporting clause+
,'hy don.t they "now who is responsible0. they as"ed.
o did they really say ,'e will win every match (or the ne1t three
wee"s.0
- We also use single .uotation marks to draw attention to a word. We
can use .uotation marks in this way when we want to .uestion the
e(act meaning of the word+
- am very disappointed by his apology. - don.t thin" he meant it at
all.
- We sometimes use .uotation marks to refer to the titles of books,
newspapers, magazines, films, songs, poems, ideos, "#s, etc+
There.s a special report all about it in The Daily 3ail.
-We can use italics instead of .uotation marks for these citations+
There.s a special report all about it in The Daily 3ail.
- ,rticles or chapters within books, or titles of short stories, are
normally punctuated by single .uotation marks+
The longest chapter in the boo" is the last one called The Future o(
A(rica.
'
das(es
#ashes are more common in informal writing. $hey can be used in
similar ways to commas or semi-colons. 'oth single and multiple
dashes may be used+
*ur teacher who o(ten gets cross when we.re late wasn.t cross at
all. 4o one could believe it2 Just wanted to than" you (or a lovely
evening we really en5oyed it.
()
)rackets
(*r.+.
)
parent(es
es
(Am.e
.)
'rackets hae a similar function to dashes. $hey often add e(tra, non-
essential information+
Thriplow (pronounced ,Triplow.) is a small village in the eastern part
o( 6ngland.
- We use brackets around dates and page numbers in academic writing+
7eaton (89:;) gives a convincing e1planation o( how hurricanes are
(ormed (pages <:=><).
- We often use forward slashes in internet addresses and to indicate
and?or in academic references+
@ou can (ind the (igures you need on www.bbc.co.u"/(inance
!in"s A899B?899:C has already researched this aspect o( %oman
history.
,unctuation
numerals
and
punctuat
ion
- )n 'ritish %nglish the date is usually gien in the order day, month, year.
- We use full stops in dates. *orward slashes or dashes are also commonly used+
Date o( birth: 8.;.89;B (or 8?;?89;B or 8=;=89;B)
- )n ,merican %nglish the day and the month are in a different order so that : ;anuary
<=:> is written as follows+
8=;=89;B (or 8?;?89;B or 8.;.89;B)
- We don!t usually punctuate weights and measures and references to numbers+
D"g AD "ilogramsC8Em A8E metresC Bm dollars (> million dollars)
- "ommas are used in numbers to indicate units of thousands and millions+
:,9;E (seen thousand, nine hundred and eighty)
88,D;:,BF< (eleen million, four hundred and eighty-seen thousand, fie hundred and
si(ty-two)
- We use full stops, not commas, to indicate decimal points+
F.B (si( point fie)
9ot+ ?,>
- We can punctuate times with full stops or colons+
The shop opens at 9.>E. Aor 9:>EC
Sa-in. email
and
internet
addresse
s
&poken %nglish+
- When we speak email and web addresses, we say each word separately. $o aoid
confusion, we sometimes spell out each letter of a word+
7annah.reevesGlit.com H 7annah dot reeves at lIiIt dot com
milesJhotel.com?home H miles underscore hotel dot com (orward slash home
www.theplace.org H www dot theplace Aall one wordC dot org
S-m)ols and
t-po.rap
(ic
con/enti
ons
#
apostrophe
-
hyphen
0
plus
'
dash
"
minus
1
multiplied by
(@ A @+ two multiplied by two)
2
diided by
(? B @+ si( diided
by two)
C
e.uals
3
forward slash
4
back slash
5.5
decimal point
(@.@+ two point two)
6
asterisk
7
degrees
(DEF+ forty degrees)
8
per cent
9
and (also called
ampersand!) :
copyright
;
less than
<
greater than
=
at

tick
5
cross
5>5
underscore (annGhobbs+ ann underscore
hobbs)
http+HHdictionary.cambridge.orgHdictionaryHbritishH
http+HHgrammar.ccc.commnet.eduHgrammarHmarksHellipsis.htm