Exam Busting
Punctuation
How to use punctuation effectively.
Ever unsure
what
punctuation to
use?
What
punctuation
should I be
using?
Full Stops (.):
To indicate the end of a
sentence or statement:
Giraffes are tall.
Full Stops
To signify an acronym:
Z.S.L (Zoological
Society of London)
Commas (,):
To highlight a series of adjectives:
Giraffes are tall, gentle giants.
To continue a list:
Giraffes like to eat twigs, leaves, foliage.
To mark off extra information:
Jill, my boss, is 28 years old.
After a subordinate clause which begins a
sentence:
Although it was cold, we didn’t wear our coats.
Comma
With many connecting adverbs (eg however,
on the other hand, anyway, for example):
Anyway, in the end I decided not to go.
Exclamation
Mark
Exclamation Marks (!):
Can be used to show a
loud voice or strength of
feeling.
To denote surprise, shock,
dismay, etc. :
Look how tall the giraffes
are!
Wait!
Wait!!!
Never use more than one
exclamation mark.
Question Marks (?):
At the end of a direct
question: Why are giraffes
so tall?
Question
Mark
To show the statement is
uncertain: Because they
have long legs(?)
Colon (:):
To introduce a list:
Giraffes are described as: tall, brown and
gentle.
Fruit is healthy. For example: pears, oranges,
grapes and apples.
To explain the first part of a sentence
(replacing because):
Colon
The dragon was terrifying: flames shot out
from its mouth.
He was very cold: the temperature was
below zero.
Semi-colons (;):
A semi-colon can be used to separate two
main clauses in a sentence:
I liked the book; it was a pleasure to read.
She loved the cat; it was like her best friend.
Semi-colon
Semi-colons can also be used to
separate items in a list if these items
consist of longer phrases. For
example:
I need large, juicy tomatoes; half a
pound of unsalted butter; a kilo of fresh
pasta, preferably tagliatelle; and a jar of
black olives.
To play the piano well you need: a strong
pair of hands; the ability to read music;
and a certain passion to perform.
In a simple list, commas are used.
Ellipsis (…):
To indicate suspense, or to show a
flashback in time:
The winner is…
To show some material is missing:
“O Mister Giraffe you make me
laugh…Your head so high up in the sky”
To demark a pause in thought:
Kate considered the suggestion for
several minutes ... and then spoke.
Ellipsis
To show a sentences in incomplete:
Watch this space…
Brackets (()):
To give clarification:
Giraffes like to eat foliage
(specifically plants of the
Mimosa genus).
To specify an
afterthought: or
personal opinion :
Brackets
Giraffes are so genteel
(in my opinion).
Double Quotation
Marks (“):
For speech marks:
“O Mister Giraffe you
make me laugh”
Quotation
Marks
Single Marks (‘…’):
• For quotes: NineteenEighty Four opens
with; ‘The clock struck
thirteen.’
Apostrophes (‘):
An apostrophe is a punctuation mark used to indicate either
omitted letters or possession.
To show possession:
Look at the giraffe’s long tongue.
With a plural ‘possessor’ already ending in s (eg parents), an
apostrophe is added to the end of the word:
my parents’ car, the girls’ toilets
To show condensing of two words:
Apostrophe
I’m (I am), they’ve (they have), we’re (we are), would’ve (would
have), who’s (who is/has), he’d (he had/would), it’s (it is/has),
she’ll (she will)
Hyphen (-):
A hyphen is sometimes used to join the two parts of a compound noun,
as in golf-ball and proof-read. But it is much more usual for such
compounds to be written as single words (eg football, headache,
bedroom) or as separate words without a hyphen (golf ball, stomach
ache, dining room, city centre).
However, hyphens are used in the following cases:
in compound adjectives and longer phrases used as modifiers before
nouns:
a foul-smelling substance
in many compound nouns where the second part is a short word like in,
off, up or by:
Hyphen
a break-in, a write-off
in many words beginning with the prefixes co-, non- and ex-:
co-operate, non-existent, ex-husband
Dash (-):
A dash is a punctuation mark used especially in informal writing (such
as letters to friends, postcards or notes).
Dashes may be used to replace other punctuation marks (colons, semicolons, commas) or brackets:
It was a great day out - everybody enjoyed it.
To present extra information in the way a semi-colon, colon or brackets
would:
We had a great time in the New Forest - the dogs especially liked it.
Before an afterthought or something surprising or unexpected:
It was a great day out - even Marnie enjoyed it!
Dash
When a thought or something said is broken off:
I wish you would - oh, never mind.
Don’t freak out!