Punctuation in English

1
Punctuation in English

• Rules and recommendations.

2
Introduction.

• In writing, we can use punctuation marks to
  emphasize, clarify, what we mean.
• Meanwhile, in speaking, we can make a pause,
  stop, change our tone of voice
• Thats why in writing, we make use of Punctuation
  marks as signals to our readers.

3
1. The full stop.

• The full stop is used
• a. at the end of a complete statement (or
  utterance) which is neither an exclamation nor a
  question.
• e.g. He saw a UFO among the trees.
• He asked me if I had seen it.
• Yes. A UFO.

4
1. The full stop.

• b. After abbreviations.
• B.A. ( Bachelor of Arts ).
• e.g. ( exempli gratia, for example ).
• N.B. ( Nota bene, note well ).
• Note It is often the practice to omit the full
  stop if the last letter of the abbreviated word
  is given
• e.g. Mr
• Dr

5
1. The full stop.

• The full stop is the most important of the
  punctuation marks.
• Its omission, when its use is undeniably
  required,
• will confuse the reader
• ideas will be mixed up and
• the meaning intended by the writer will not be
  probably communicated to the reader.

6
2. The comma.
,

• A comma is a punctuation mark that indicates a
  pause is needed in a sentence.
• It separates the structural elements of sentences
  into manageable segments.
• Commas are both an aid to sense and to ease of
  reading.
• They are sometimes used in long sentences to
  break up words into sections where the sense
  allows a pause to be taken. It is better to
  underuse them than to overuse them.

7
2. The comma.

• Commas are frequently overused. It is as well
  always consider the effect on the sense and
  construction of a sentence that their inclusion
  or omission would have. Consider the following
• e.g. I saw my friend John.
• I saw my friend, John.

8
2. The comma.

• The first sentence implies that I have several
  friends, but the one that I saw was Tom. The
  omission of the comma allows Tom' to define which
  friend it was that I saw.
• The second sentence may imply that I have only
  one friend and that his name happens to be Tom'.
  The inclusion of the comma allows the word Tom'
  merely to qualify the word friend. It might also
  mean that the speaker is addressing Tom when he
  or she says, "I saw my friend".

9
2. The comma.

• Conventional uses of the comma.
• To separate two descriptions, set side by side,
  of the same object or person
• The second of the two descriptions adds to the
  meaning of the first and is parallel to it.
  (Technically, the second statement is said to be
  'in apposition to' the first.)
• e.g. Mr Brown, the grocer, sells butter.

10
Conventional uses of the comma.

• 2. To separate the items or elements in a list.
• e.g. At the grocer's I bought some eggs, bacon,
  sugar, tea and biscuits.
• Note Some writers would not insert the comma
  before the final and but others would argue that
  because it separates 'tea' from 'biscuits' as
  elements in a list it should be there. Look,
  however, at the final coma in the following list,
  where it is essential
• For breakfast I ate some cereals, toast, and
  eggs and bacon.
• The final pair of items here (eggs and bacon)
  may be seen as a single element to have omitted
  the comma after 'toast' would have obscured the
  sense by running 'toast' and 'eggs and bacon'
  together.

11
Conventional uses of the comma.

• 3. To mark off the name or title of a person
  being addressed.
• e.g.
• Mr Smith, what is the trouble ?
• I'd much rather, James, you told me the truth.
• Doctor, I have had a pain in my back for quite
  a time.

12
Conventional uses of the comma.

• 4. Following introductory words which introduce
  direct speech or a direct question.
• e.g. He said, 'I know that I should not have
  said that.'
• The policeman asked, 'why did you hesitate?'

13
Conventional uses of the comma.

• 5. To separate short clauses which list actions,
  events, and so on.
• e.g. The man rose, left the room, slammed the
  door, and made his way into the street.

14
Conventional uses of the comma.

• 6. To indicate a statement interpolated within a
  sentence. Commas here effectively bracket off the
  interpolation.
• e.g. It was obvious, all things considered, that
  he had done the wrong thing.

15
Conventional uses of the comma.

• 7. To separate, or mark off, a phrase which
  stands apart from the rest of a sentence.
• e.g. The decision taken, there was no going back.

16
Conventional uses of the comma.

• 8. To indicate where the words have been
  deliberately omitted but need to be understood.
• e.g. The professor could pursue his own ideas
  I, mine.

17
Conventional uses of the comma.

• 9. To mark off a series of statements in the same
  sentence.
• e.g. He knew what he had to do, where he had to
  go, and when he should take the next step.

18
Conventional uses of the comma.

• 10. To mark off a statement which qualifies the
  meaning of a word. (The omission of the comma
  here would alter the sense by changing the
  qualification into a clear definition.)
• e.g. He stumbled into the house, which was his
  home.
• (This implies that there was only one house and
  this house happened to be his home.)
• Use commas wherever you think they are are
  necessary to prevent possible confusion or
  misreading.

19
Conventional uses of the comma.

• The comma in a compound sentence is placed before
  the coordinating conjunction.
• Andy built a sand castle, and Joe played with his
  dog.

S V conj. Andy
built a sand castle, and Joe played with his
dog. S V
20
Conventional use of the comma

• When a dependent clause is located after an
  independent clause,
• DO NOT place a comma between the two.

S.Agustín is a good team but Natación is
better. S V
DCM S V
I became very sick when the S V
DCM roller coaster zoomed upside down.
S V
21
3. The semicolon.

• The semicolon marks off one part of sentence from
  another much more sharply than a comma.
• It is particularly useful to divide a long
  sentence into self-contained sections. The
  semicolon is used

22
3. The semicolon.

• To separate a series of complete statements
  which, nevertheless, belong to a longer whole
  statement.
• e.g. He was ill he now knew it he would go to
  the doctor's.
• Note
• The semicolons here give to the three short
  statements a dramatic note which would not be
  present if the first were replaced by a comma and
  the second by a conjunction, such as and indeed,
  to change the statement in this way would weaken
  it so much that it would become almost
  meaningless.

23
3. The semicolon.

• 2. To introduce a sharp contrast between complete
  statements which are closely related.
• e.g. He knew what he should do yet he could not
  do it.
• He trusted the doctor he distrusted himself.

24
3. The semicolon.

• Note
• The semicolon is particularly useful to make
  this kind of contrast before liking words such as
  
• therefore,
• otherwise,
• still,
• yet,
• for,
• nevertheless.

25
3. The semicolon.

• 3. To break up a long sentence which would
  otherwise be overwhelmed by a confusion of
  commas.
• e.g. He would do it, if he could do for, after
  all, he had the time.

26
The Colon

• The colon is used
• To introduce a list which follows immediately.
• e.g. He studied the use of the following
  punctuation marks full stops, semicolons,
  colons, question marks, etc.
• (ii) To introduce examples which illustrate or
  expand an idea and which follow immediately.
• e.g. He counted his treasures gold, silver,
  diamonds, and books.

27
The Colon

• (iii) To introduce a quotation which follows
  immediately.
• e.g. Hamlet once contemplated his own death "To
  be or not to be...
• (iv) To introduce an explanation which follows
  immediately.
• e.g. This is what to do pour the yellow liquid
  into the green one and then get out - fast.

28
The Colon

• (v) To introduce a speech which follows
  immediately.
• e.g. He rose to his feet, cleared his throat,
  and began 'Unaccustomed as I am to public
  speaking, I should like to say ...
• (vi) To divide two sharply contrasting
  statements.
• Note A semicolon sometimes has this function,
  too.
• Speech is silver silence is golden.
• The river ran downhill he made his way slowly
  up the path.

29
4. The colon.

• The colon is used
• (i) To introduce a list which follows
  immediately.
• e.g. He studied the use of the following
  punctuation marks full stops, semicolons,
  colons, question marks, etc.
• (ii) To introduce examples which illustrate or
  expand an idea and which follow immediately.
• e.g. He counted his treasures gold, silver,
  diamonds, and books.

30
4. The colon.

• (iii) To introduce a quotation which follows
  immediately.
• e.g. Hamlet once contemplated his own death "To
  be or not to be...
• (iv) To introduce an explanation which follows
  immediately.
• e.g. This is what to do pour the yellow liquid
  into the green one and then get out - fast.

31
4. The colon.

• (v) To introduce a speech which follows
  immediately.
• e.g. He rose to his feet, cleared his throat, and
  began 'Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking,
  I should like to say ...
• (vi) To divide two sharply contrasting
  statements.
• Note A semicolon sometimes has this function,
  too.
• Speech is silver silence is golden.
• The river ran downhill he made his way slowly up
  the path.

32
5. The question mark.

• The question mark had its origin in an awareness
  not of grammar but of rhetoric
• It indicated where the voice was to turn upward
  to indicate that a question was being asked.
• The full stop which forms part of this
  punctuation mark shows that a statement ( in this
  case, a question) has come to an end.

33
5. The question mark.

• The question mark is used
• To mark the end of a direct question.
• e.g. Where did you go.
• Note It is not used in an indirect question
• e.g. He asked where you went.
• (ii) To show that statements within a given
  context are to be taken as direct questions.
• e.g. Question marks are not used in indirect
  questions ?
• No, they are not.
• He asked where you went ? You may well be
  surprised.

34
6. The exclamation mark.

• The exclamation marks, like the question mark, is
  mainly a rhetorical sign
• It shows where a statement is used as an
  interjection or carries very strong emotion.
• The full stop which forms part of this
  punctuation mark shows that a statement ( in this
  case, an exclamation ) has come to an end.

35
6. The exclamation mark.

• e.g. Good Gracious ! You must certainly not go
  there !
• Oh dear ! I thought that you might say that.
• After this last sentence an exclamation is also
  possible but, if it is added, it will inject
  strong emotion into the utterance.
• This is one of the occasions in the use of
  punctuation where a sign does not merely follow
  the sense and structure but can determine
  meaning.
• The context will usually make it clear when the
  emotion in a statement is strong enough to
  warrant the use of an exclamation mark.

36
7. The apostrophe.

• The apostrophe is one of the most interesting
  punctuation marks in English but it is very often
  misused.
• Misunderstandings abound and it is not uncommon
  to find on notices displayed in shops simple
  plurals of nouns that are wrongly given an
  apostrophe -s
• e.g. Sign is men's hairdresser's No boy's today.

37
7. The apostrophe.

• The apostrophe is used
• (i) To denote the possessive form of the noun.
• All nouns, singular and plural, take an
  apostrophe -s to show the possessive case.
• e.g. The boy's book.
• The men's hats.

38
7. The apostrophe.

• There are two main groups of exceptions which
  merely take an apostrophe without the final -s
• e.g. (a) Plural nouns which already end in -s
• The boys' book.
• (b) Singular nouns that already contain so many
  's' sounds (sibilants) that the addition of a
  further -s would be ugly.

39
7. The apostrophe.

• (ii) To mark the omission of a letter or group of
  letters in a word.
• e.g. don't ( do not ). Shan't (Shall not).
• (iii) To form the plurals of letter, figure, and
  contractions consisting of initial letters.
• e.g. Dot your i's and cross your t's.
• There are three 4's in twelve.

40
7. The apostrophe.

• The use of the apostrophe in such cases is often
  confusing.
• It is now the convention to omit the use of the
  apostrophe here but to italicise single letters
  before adding the final -s es, gs, but 4s, the
  1930s, M.P.s and so on.
• (iv) Current practice omits the apostrophe in the
  following cases in spite of what has been said
  above

41
7. The apostrophe Omission

• ? Certain words where the initial letters are
  omitted
• e.g. bus ( for omnibus ), phone (telephone), car
  (autocar).

42
7. The apostrophe Omission

• ? Some place names
• e.g. Land's End but Golders Green St Jame's Park
  but St Helens.
• ? Some well-known proper nouns
• e.g. Marks and Spencers, Woolsworths, ...

43
7. Parentheses (Brackets and the double dash).

• Most frequently brackets are used to mark off
  within a sentence,a word, comment, explanation or
  statement without which the sentence would
  otherwise be grammatically complete.
• It should be possible to take out the brackets
  and what they contain and then read the sentences
  without feeling that it is incomplete.

44
7. Parentheses (Brackets and the double dash).

• Sometimes, instead of brackets two dashes are
  used what is placed between the dashes will,
  however, remain an interpolation.
• If there is a distinction to be made between the
  use of brackets and the use of dashes it is
  probably that dashes mark off the interpolation
  less sharply from the rest of the sentence than
  brackets.

45
7. Parentheses (Brackets and the double dash).

• Compare, for example, the following
• He managed (such was his skill) to build his own
  house.
• He managed -such was his skill- to build his own
  house.
• He had enough money ( he was rich ) to buy the
  car.
• He had enough money - he was rich - to buy the
  car.

46
7. Parentheses (Brackets and the double dash).

• Brackets are also used to add information, to
  amplify a comment without interrupting its
  general flow.
• e.g. They were all there ( John, Mary, Tom, and
  Sarah ) and the party was complete.
• (iii) Brackets are used, too, to provide a
  comment or a gloss on a statement what is
  contained within the brackets should be taken as
  an 'aside' when they are used in this way. It is
  often effective to use brackets like this to
  convey humour, satire, or irony.
• She thought she was beautiful. (It was a pity
  about her squint.)
• He said he needed five pounds. (That's what he
  said last time.)

47
7. Parentheses (Brackets and the double dash).

• Square brackets are used to indicate
  comments, corrections, explanations, or other
  comments not in the original text but added later
  by the writer or by an editor.
• e.g. The poem was written in 1972, although it
  referred to events which took place two years
  before. Editor's note see the poet's
  Autobiography, p.10.

48
8. The dash.

• It is not acceptable to use dashes in a slovenly
  manner to avoid having to decide whether a full
  stop is required or not. They are most
  effectively used to achieve a deliberately
  specific effect.
• (i) To indicate a change in the direction of a
  comment
• e.g. She was wearing a top hat -I noticed her
  immediately.

49
8. The dash.

• (ii) To provide an antithetical ( or contrasting)
  comment within a sentence
• e.g. Everything -except the mummy- left the
  auction room hurriedly.
• (iii) To indicate hesitant of faltering speech
• e.g. 'I -er- I should like to -er- emphasise
  that - that public speakers should -er- should
  always speak - talk clearly.'

50
8. The dash.

• (iv) To mark a sudden breaking-off of a
  statement, often for dramatic effect
• e.g. 'If I were you, I should get off the camel,
  unless-
• (v) To suggest a sudden start to a statement,
  perhaps by way of interruption
• e.g. -Oh, I don't agree with you for one minute
  when you say so confidently that there is life
  after death.-

51
8. The dash.

• (vi) To mark off a parenthesis, perhaps less
  emphatically than brackets.
• (vii) To pull together items in a list or a
  number of loosely strung words in order to resume
  the direction of a sentence
• e.g. Kicking in the stomach, twisting arms,
  stamping on a fallen opponent, gouging eyes
  -these are not the actions of a gentleman playing
  rugby.

52
9. Inverted Commas.

• What follows is a summary of the practises more
  usually found in books, serious newspapers, and
  magazines.

53
9. Inverted Commas.

• (i) Where only one set of quotation marks is
  needed the single are usually preferred to the
  double. They are used to mark off the exact words
  used by a speaker or writer.
• e.g. He said, 'I never know how to use quotation
  marks.'
• Quirk argued that quotation marks 'are a
  nuisance to the writer'.

54
9. Inverted Commas.

• The placing of the final full stop in these
  examples is interesting.
• In the first, the full stop marks both the end of
  the statement in single inverted commas and the
  end of the whole sentence beginning He said... It
  is unnecessary to use two full stops here and the
  normal practice is to allow the one inside the
  closing inverted comma to do the work of both.

He said, 'I never know how to use quotation
marks.'
55
9. Inverted Commas.

• In the second example, the words within the
  inverted commas do not constitute a complete
  sentence but are merely six quoted words used by
  a writer the full stop, therefore, might be
  placed after the quotation to indicate the end of
  the whole sentence beginning Quirk argued...

Quirk argued that quotation marks 'are a nuisance
to the writer'.
56
9. Inverted Commas.

• For the sake of uniformity, however, many
  publishing houses place a single full stop within
  the final inverted comma, whatever the situation.

57
9. Inverted Commas.

• (ii) Where a direct statement, question, or
  exclamation is given in the form of the actual
  words used and this statement, question, or
  exclamation include another that is quoted ( as
  in the examples in (i) above, double inverted
  commas are used to mark off the quotation within
  the statement, question, or exclamation

• e.g. The weeping child said, ' I never said,
  "What a big nose you have!" to auntie.'

58
9. Inverted Commas.

• (iii) Inverted commas are used to mark a word or
  phrase outside the predominant variety of English
  being used
• e.g. To argue that economically, politically,
  and socially it would be better for Great Britain
  to leave the European Union is 'bosh'.

59
9. Inverted Commas.

• (iv) Inverted commas re used to mark a quotation
  from an article, a book, a poem, a magazine and
  so on
• 'To be or not to be' is a quotation from Hamlet.

60
10. Italics.

• Although italic script is a device used for
  printing, underlining can be used by writers
  effectively in order to
• (i) avoid the confusing over-use of double
  inverted commas within single inverted commas
• it is often clearer and more convenient to
  underline titles, words used outside the
  predominant variety of English, and short
  quotations

e.g. The judge asked the accused one-armed man,
'Did you not see the notice which said, Do not
feed the animals?'
61
10. Italics.

• (ii) Stress a word or short phrase
• e.g. I cannot really say that I like eating cold
  porridge.
• I positively abhor eating cold, lumpy porridge.

62
11. Hyphens.

• (i) Hyphens should be used to convey a
  significance in the relationship on one word to
  another or others.
• For example, examine the differences in meaning
  between
• e.g. eleven-year-old children and eleven year-old
  children.

63
11. Hyphens.

• (ii) Hyphens are used to form compound nouns or
  adjectives, especially where such compounds are
  newly-coined, not fully established as compounds,
  or carry a specific meaning
• e.g. teddy-boys, punk-rockers.

64
11. Hyphens.

• (iii) Hyphens often separate elements in a
  compound word
• which would look awkward (perhaps because of a
  clash of vowels or a danger of confusing
  consonants ) or
• be difficult to read or pronounce if it were
  written as a single word
• e.g. socio-economic hi-fi retro-active.

65
11. Hyphens.

• (iv) Hyphens may be used to split words at the
  end of lines (because of lack of space ) in order
  to carry them forward to the next line.
• It is customary, however, to divide words in
  British English at an appropriate morphological
  point e.g. posit-ion rather than positi-on.
• Often this morphological break (i.e. the point at
  which a unit with its own division of meaning
  within the word ends) coincides with the syllabic
  break (i.e. the point at which the part of a word
  uttered by a single effort of the voice ends)
  e.g. resent-ment.

66
Bibliography

• Banks, R.A. (1983). Living English. Hodder and
  Stoughton.
• Purdue University Writing Lab at
• http//owl.english.purdue.edu/