Punctuation

By Asad Nazir in CSS, PMS & PCS Rising Stars (Files) Edit Doc
The Comma (,)
The comma is used for the following:
1. to indicate a series of phrases
e.g. On my birthday I went to the cinema, ate dinner in a restaurant and went dancing.
2. to mention a series of nouns
e.g. The meal consisted of soup, fish, chicken, dessert and coffee.
3. to mention a series of adjectives
e.g. She was young, beautiful, kind, and intelligent.
Note: if an adjective is modifying another adjective, do not separate them with a
comma.
e.g. She wore a bright red shirt.
4. to mention a series of verbs
e.g. Tony ran towards me, fell, yelled, and fainted.
5. to give a series of clauses
e.g. The car smashed into the wall, flipped onto its roof, slid along the road, and finally
stopped against a tree.
6. to enclose insertions or comments
e.g. China, one of the most powerful nations on the Earth, has a huge population.
Note: The comma is placed on either side of the insertion. Don't leave one end open.
7. to mark off a participial phrase
e.g. Hearing that her father was in hospital, Jane left work imme-diately.
8. in 'tag questions'
e.g. She lives in Paris, doesn't she?
e.g. We haven't met, have we?
9. to mark off interjections like 'please', 'thank you', 'yes', and 'no'
e.g. Yes, I will stay a little longer, thank you.
The Semi colon (;)
The position of the semicolon is somewhere between a weak full stop and a strong

comma. That is, the semi colon is used where the sentences are linked (or relevant) to
each other but, at the same time, are independent of each other.
1. The semicolon is used to indicate two closer ideas.
e.g. Aslam is intelligent; Aslam scores high marks in examination e.g. Many great
leaders like Churchill, leader of Britain during the Second World War; Alexander, the
great Roman Emperor and general; and Napoleon, the brilliant French general had both
great strengths and weaknesses of character.
2. The semicolon is used to join phrases and sentences
That is, the semicolon substitutes a conjunction (like and, but, etc.) where the phrases
or sentences are thematically linked but inde-pendent.
e.g. Aslam is intelligent but Akram is handsome.
Aslam is intelligent; Akram is handsome.
The Colon (:)
The colon expands on the sentence that takes it.
Note: (a) The sentence which takes the colon (at its end) should be a complete
sentence. (b) Once a capital letter is used to begin the sentence after the colon,
observe the style throughout the same write up: be consistent in your practice.
1. The colon is used for enumeration of ideas and items.
e.g. There are many reasons for poor written communication: lack of writing plan, poor
grammar, misuse of punctuation marks and insuff-icient vocabulary.
e.g. Aslam collected a strange assortment of items: bird's eggs, stamps, bottle tops,
string and buttons.
2. The colon is used to explain an idea mentioned in the sentence taking the
colon.
e.g. Aslam collected a strange assortment of items: The items were not strange but
their assortment.
e.g. Aslam collected a strange assortment of items: Aslam tried to collect strange items
but ended up with a strange assortment of familiar items.
3. The colon is used to indicate 'that is'.
e.g. Once a capital letter is used to begin the sentence after the colon, observe the
style throughout the same write up: be consistent in your practice.
Apostrophe ('s)
1. to show possession and ownership
e.g. Jack's car, Mary's father.
e.g. Colombia's coffee exports have risen steadily over the past decade.

2. to indicate a contraction - he's (he is), we're (we are), they're (they are)
e.g. Colombia's one of the main coffee producing countries in the world.
Note: Using apostrophe ('s) for con traction is an informal style of writing. Prefer avoid
using that way.
The Hyphen ( - )
1. The hyphen joins two or more words together
That is, to make them one word to convey one meaning.
e.g. x-ray, door-to-door
When a new meaning of the hyphenated word stays alive in circulation for a long time,
the hyphen is dropped and those two words are written together as one word.
e.g. from 'e-mail' and email, from 'now-a-days' to nowadays.
Nevertheless, in many cases, a hyphen makes the sense clear.
e.g. I am thinking of re-covering my sofa (i.e. to put a new cover on the sofa)
e.g. I would like to recover my sofa. (i.e. to get the sofa back from someone who had
borrowed it)
2. The hyphen joins two or more numbers together
That is, the compound numbers are formed from twenty-one (21) to ninety-nine (99).
e.g. fifty-one, eighty-nine.
3. The hyphen joins the fractions together
That is, in written fractions, the hyphen is placed between the numerator and
denominator.
e.g. two-fifths, one-third
e.g. sixty-nine eighty-ninths (not 'sixty-nine-eighty-ninths')
Note: If there is already a hyphen in either the numerator or the denominator, the
hyphen is omitted between the numerator and denominator.
4. The hyphen is used make the numbers a part of an adjectival compound
e.g. France has a 35-hour working week.
e.g. He won the 100-metre sprint.
The dash ()
Part I: The dash () and the small brackets ( ) in pair
Formula: By length, one dash is equal to two hyphens.
To insert a parenthetical statement
For insertion of a parenthetical statement, the dash is used in pair like the comma and

the small bracket before and after the statement.

e.g. China one of the most powerful nations on the Earth has a huge population.
e.g. China (one of the most powerful nations on the Earth) has a huge population.
Note: (a) By writing convention, if a writer intends to highlight a parenthetical
statement, a pair of dash is used. On the other hand, if a writer intends to lessen the
effect of a parenthetical statement, a pair of small bracket is used. (b) The statement
used in parenthesis may be a complete sentence, a phrase, a few words or a single
word. (c) The statement in parenthesis may be an explanation, a contrast, an
afterthought, a comment, a sarcastic remark or a compliment.
Part II: Single dash
1. to explain an idea mentioned in the preceding sentence
e.g. She was trapped no escape was possible.
That is, in that way the single dash acts like the colon.
2. to indicate irony in the preceding sentence
e.g. She was trapped she still doubts her intelligence.
e.g. You may think she is a liar - she isn't.
The Brackets ( )
1. to insert a parenthetical statement
The brackets are used to insert a parenthetical statement in the following ways:
a. to explain a point
e.g. The government's education report (April 2005) shows that the level of literacy is
rising in nearly all areas.
b. to add a comment
e.g. I visited Kathmandu (which was full of tourists) on my way to the Himalayas.
c. to introduce an afterthought
e.g. You can eat almost anything while travelling in Asia if you are careful to observe
simple
rules (avoiding unboiled or unbottled water is one of the main rules to be aware of.)
Note: Use small brackets and dashes sparingly unless unavoidable.
The Quotation mark ( )
The quotation mark is used to quote the words of a speaker/writer.
e.g. Akbar was a great King, writes Mahajan.
The Exclamation Mark ( ! )

1. to exclaim something
That is, the exclamation mark is used to express exasperation, astonishment or surprise
or to emphasise a comment or short, sharp phrase.
e.g. Help! Help!
e.g. Look out!
2. to mark a humor, irony or sarcasm
e.g. What a lovely day! (when it obviously is not a lovely day)
e.g. That was clever! (when someone has done something stupid)
The Full Stop ( . )
1. to mark the end of a sentence which is not a question or an exclamation.
e.g. Rome is the capital of Italy.
2. to indicate an abbreviation
e.g. I will be with you at 6 a.m.
Note: Dr, Mr, Mrs and Ms do not take a full stop when used in the flow of a sentence.
Similarly, certain established abbreviations like MA, PhD, CNN, etc., do not take a full
stop.
The Suspension
1. To indicate a missing a special case - three dots (suspension)
Used in the middle of a sentence
The three dots (or three full stops) are used in the middle of the sentence to indicate
that there is a portion of the sentence left out for not being relevant or important.
e.g. Aslam left Lahore for Peshawar and returned to Lahore on Monday.
2. Used at the end of a sentence four dots (Suspension)
The three dots are used at the end of a sentence to indicate that there are more than
one sentence in between this sentence and the next sentence.
e.g. The Lord's Prayer begins, 'Our Father which are in Heaven....'
e.g. Aslam came back to Lahore on Monday. He left for Peshawar again on Tuesday.