Lesson Twenty-fivePunctuation The type of punctuation you choose is dependent on the type of sentence of question you create. There are some rules for punctuation that you can learn and remember; however, to use punctuation properly requires a good knowledge of English grammar and sentence structure. |
A period ends a sentence. | . | A question mark goes at the end of a question. - What are you doing today?
| | A comma separates parts of a sentence. - After the class ended, we went to work.
| | An exclamation mark shows emphasis. Something is really important! | | An apostrophe is used for making contractions and forming possessive nouns. - We’re = We are
- Let’s go over to John’s house. (Let’s = Let us / John’s = singular possessive)
- Those are the girls’ instruments. (girls’ = plural possessive)
- Who’s at the door? (Who’s = Who is)
| | Quotation marks indicate the exact words that a person says. - "It’s time to find a new car," my wife said.
| | A semicolon separates clauses within a sentence. - Most of the students were happy about the results on their test; the others were disappointed.
| ; | A colon is used to list things. - There are three things you must remember: never give up on yourself, always do your best work, and respect those who have come before you.
| : | A hyphen is placed between two words when they function as an adjective. - They live in a four-bedroom apartment.
| – | A long dash separates elements in a sentence. | — | A slash is used to separate things in a sentence. It’s also used in web addresses. | / | Parentheses enclose words or sentences that are added to a sentence. | ( ) | An "at" sign is used with email addresses. [email protected] | @ | An ampersand is used for the conjunction "and." - She works for Johnson & Johnson.
| & | An asterisk draws the attention of the reader to something else on a page. * | * | A pound sign is used to represent the word "number." - You’ll need a #2 pencil for the test.
| # | A dollar sign represents money. - The repair will cost $452.78
| $ | A plus sign is used when doing addition. | + |
* The asterisk drew your attention to the bottom of the page. Next: Lesson Twenty-six Sentence Patterns |