The English Department Website

Punctuation

Punctuation exists to ensure that we are clearly understood. 

If we use punctuation badly, then either

1. Capital Letters
2. Full Stops
3. Question Marks
4. Exclamations
5. Commas
6. Apostrophes
7. Direct Speech
8. Colons
9. Semi Colons

1) CAPITAL LETTERS are used for:

People or titles

Bob     Mrs Smith    Dr Jones    President Chirac    Fifi

Places

London     Pibrac    Europe    France    The Atlantic

The United States    Madrid    Fifth Avenue

Days of the week, months, holidays, special days

January    February    Monday    Tuesday    Christmas

Easter    Divali    Chinese New Year

NO capitals for seasons

spring     summer     autumn     winter

Titles of books or films

Great Expectations    Othello    Harry Potter    The Jungle Book

The personal pronoun

I love English

Languages, nations or religions

French    British    Chinese    American    Spanish    Hebrew

Christianity    Islam

To start each new sentence

Click here and complete these exercises by inserting a capital letter where appropriate

2) Full stops are used:

at the end of a sentence

Spurs won again and the mighty crowd went home happy.

to mark an abbreviation

Trafalgar Sq.

but NOT if the abbreviation ends in the same letter as the full word

Dr Jones    Somerton Rd    Mr Dedalus

after initials

E.M. Forster    G. K. Chesterton     J.R. Hartley

3) Question marks are used:

at the end of a sentence that asks a question

"Have you done your English homework already? Was it easy?"

NOTE The question mark replaces a full stop

NOTE it is not used in reported or indirect questions

I enquired what time the film finished

"What time does the film finish?" she asked

4) Exclamations are used:

to show sudden or violent emotions

Don't shoot! Hurry! Goal! let go!

NOTE The exclamation mark replaces a full stop

5) Commas are used when a pause is needed in the sentence to help clarify meaning e.g.

to separate clauses within a sentence

When I turned around to ask for help, I found all my friends had left me alone

to separate items in a list

we need to bring a compass, a torch, some chocolate and a good book

NOTE that there is no comma before the 'and' which introduces the final item in the list

to add extra information to a noun

Martin Jol, the new Spurs coach, led the team to their first Premier League title

Our new neighbour, whom you met yesterday, is an Arsenal fan.

When we use someone's name or title when speaking to them

Come here, Bob, and meet my sister

Stand up, students, when a teacher enters the room

For tag questions and markers of politeness

We all love English, don't we?

Yes, that's the man who kicked me

No, we don't like fish fingers

Thank you, I think I will have another Mars bar

6) Apostrophes are used:

to shorten some words - only use these in informal writing

I can't and I won't! She's the one who'll have to do it

We're delighted to see you've bought a new car

to show time (o' means 'of the')

six o' clock, nine o' clock

it's and its

To show possession 

Where French would use the de construction - le stylo de mon ami, English uses the apostrophe

My friend's pen

The rule is simple...... but people keep getting it wrong

To show possession add 's

John's car    Sally's dress    Jenny's job    Jaime's opportunity

The cat's collar    The day's end    A week's holiday

The boy's mother    The men's laughter     The women's cries

Where the noun already ends in s, add just the apostrophe

Dickens' books    The girls' Mother (more than one girl) 

The boys' teacher (more than one boy)     Three weeks' holiday

REMEMBER THE GOLDEN RULE -  When in doubt, leave it out!!

7) Direct Speech

Speech marks are put around the specific words said.

The first " goes at the beginning of the words spoken, the second " goes at the end.

"Learning about speech marks is dead easy," said the optimistic English teacher.

Always start the first word of speech with a capital letter.

If a spoken sentence is interrupted by giving the name of the speaker, do NOT use a capital letter for the second part of the sentence.

"I think we'll start," said the teacher, "by looking at the use of commas."

If a new sentence starts, do

"Never mention punctuation again," said the teacher. "It would have been better not to have started."

The speaker's name should be separated by a comma unless a question or exclamation mark is present

Jenny said, "I think I understand it now."

"I think I understand it now," said Jenny.

"I think," said Jenny, "I understand it now."

"I've got it!" shouted Jenny in triumph.

Jenny shouted in triumph, "I've got it!"

Start a new line for each new speaker

Jenny shouted in triumph, "I've got it!"

"You understand apostrophes now?" beamed the delighted teacher with a proud smile.

"No," said Jenny, "I've got a full set of Diddl paper."

8) Colons are used to:

introduce a list

Jenny needs to concentrate primarily on: punctuation, spelling and staying awake in class

Sally made a list of all they would need: sweets, chocolate, sugar, crisps and lemonade

to introduce a contrast or a conclusion 

The best present was saved till last: a brand new dictionary

She enjoyed the long summer days of happiness and love: it could not last

9) Semi Colons are used to:

separate items in a list which have commas inside them

The main reasons for taking the job were: the pay which, though not high, was guaranteed; the delightful smile on the receptionist's face that first day; the fast, sleek and expensive company car and, of course, the fact that he had received no other offer.

link sentences which are contrasting in meaning. Each could stand alone but the writer wishes to show the connection between the two

Andel studied hard in his English class; he is now a multi millionaire

Frank scoffed at the semi colon; two weeks later he was struck by lightning