What is a punctuation mark? : What is a punctuation mark? Punctuation marks are what we use at the end of sentences like period or full stop, comma, exclamation mark, question mark, colon, semicolon, dash, apostrophe etc.
Its importance : Its importance Punctuation marks are used in written work to make meanings clear.
They signal whether a person is stating something, commanding, asking or exclaiming.
They tell the reader which words belong together, which are separate items in a series, which are important and which are merely side remarks.
Howeasyisittoreadthisline? : Howeasyisittoreadthisline? You have difficulty in reading this line. Why?
Reading and comprehending is faster only when they are spread out. That is, there should be spacing between words.
Yet spacing alone is not sufficient to convey the precise meanings of words.
As words are combined to form meaningful units called sentences, the relationship between words and word groups is indicated by pauses or stops of varying kinds. They are called punctuation marks.
Mary said mother bring me my pen : Mary said mother bring me my pen Here we see spacing is there between words. But do you get the correct meaning? Who is the speaker? Is it Mary or mother?
The sentence must be punctuated to get an answer to the above question.
Now look at the sentence punctuated in 2 different ways. Mary said, "Mother, bring me my pen.” “Mary,” said mother," bring me my pen.”
So it is clear that punctuation makes the meanings clear.
Hang him not pardon him. : Hang him not pardon him. Look at this ambiguous sentence.
What does it mean?
Meaning will be clear if we put a comma in its appropriate place.
In fact if we put it in different places, the meanings differ.
Hang him not, pardon him.
Hang him, not pardon him.
Period and question mark : Period and question mark The main use of the period is to signal the end of a statement.
It is also used in abbreviation as in Mt.Everest, Mr. Smith.
Used before decimals as 5.25.
Question mark is used to end an interrogative sentence.
The comma : The comma It is an internal mark, found only within a sentence. It is used to indicate that a short pause is required. Eg:- while I was going home, I saw a snake.
It is used between words or group of words in a sentence. Eg:- I bought a pen, a book, a pencil and a cake.
To interrupt the natural flow of thought. Eg:- Long ago, it is claimed, the Indians migrated from Asia.
After the greeting in friendly letters as Dear uncle,
After the complimentary close in letters as Yours truly,
To separate titles from names as Jack Brown, M.A.
The Colon : The Colon : This is colon. Not used very extensively.
It is used to introduce a quotation. Eg:- She said: “ It’s all over with me now.”
It may be used to separate 2 contrasting statements like Man proposes: God disposes.
Can be used after the greeting in a business letter. Eg:- Dear sir:
To separate hours and minutes as 7:30.
To separate acts from scenes as III:4
To separate title from a subtitle.Eg:- Composition: Exercises.
The semicolon : The semicolon ; This is it.
Look at this sentence: Be here by 4 o’clock; otherwise we will not wait. In this sentence, a statement is made first, then an explanation is given.
We can also use it sometimes in place of a co-ordinate conjunction.Eg:- The sun was rising; we had to move.
It indicates a longer pause than a comma.
The hyphen : The hyphen It is used to join parts of some compound words. Eg:- sugar-coated, son-in-law, good-bye.
It is used in compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine.
It is used with some word groups when they come before a noun and modify it. Eg:- up-to-date fashion, drawn-out meeting.
It is used after the prefix. Eg:- anti-social, self-pity, post-graduate course.
Quotation marks : Quotation marks They are used to enclose the exact words of a speaker or writer. “what do you want ?”she asked.
Periods and commas always go inside the closing quotation marks.
Single quotation marks (‘ ‘)are used to enclose one quotation within another.
The title of a book and a special or technical term is also put in single quotation marks.