PUNCTUATION MARKS

Punctuation Marks

Punctuation is the system of symbols (. , ! ? / - " : etc) that we use to separate sentences and parts of sentences, and to make their meaning clear. Each symbol is called a "punctuation mark".

Mark	Name	Example
.	full stop	I want to play game.
,	comma	I speak English, French and Turkish.
;	semi-colon	I don't often go walking; I prefer to jogging.
:	colon	You have two choices: finish the work today or lose the contract.
-	hyphen	This is a rather out-of-date book.
—	dash	In each town—London, Paris and Rome—we stayed in youth hostels.
?	question mark	Where is the my brother?
!	exclamation mark	"Help!" he cried. "I'm drowning!"
/	oblique/slash	Please press your browser's Refresh/Reload button.
"	quotation marks	"I am bigger than you" she said.
'	apostrophe	This is Emily's tea.
( )	round brackets	I went to İstanbul (my favourite city) and stayed there for 10 years.
[ ]	square brackets	The newspaper reported that the hostages [most of them Turkey] had been released.
{ }	braces
...	ellipsis	One happy customer wrote: "This is the best program...that I have ever seen."

Full Stop (.)

A full stop should always be used to end a sentence.  The full stop indicates that a point has been made and that you are about to move on to further explanations or a related point.

  A single full stop may also be used to indicate the abbreviation of commonly used words as in the    following examples:

• Telephone Number = Tel. No.
• September = Sept.
• date    = 15.04.2016

The Comma (,)

The comma is useful in a sentence when the writer wishes to:

• pause before proceeding
• add a phrase that does not contain any new subject
• separate items on a list
• 
  

example, in the following sentence the phrase or clause between the commas gives us more information behind the actions of the boy, the subject of the sentence:

1.The boy, who knew that his mother was about to arrive, ran quickly towards the opening door.

   2. She wanted the black , green , and blue shoes.

Note that if the phrase or clause were to be removed, the sentence would still make sense although there would be a loss of information.  Alternatively, two sentences could be used: 

The boy ran quickly towards the opening door.  He knew that his mother was about to arrive.

Question Mark (?)

The question mark simply indicates that a sentence is asking a question.  It always comes at the end of a sentence: 

ex:  Who do you think you are ?

Semi colon (;)

The semi-colon is perhaps the most difficult sign of punctuation to use accurately.  If in doubt, avoid using it and convert the added material into a new sentence .

As a general rule, the semi colon is used in the following ways:

When joining two connected sentences.

ex:

  It can occur in both melodic and harmonic lines; however, it is subject to certain restraints.

Deny has two dogs; Sam, one.

Colon   (:)

 The colon within a sentence makes a very pointed pause between two phrases.  There are two main uses of the colon :

It is most commonly used when listing. 

ex:

I have three sisters: Daphne, Emily, and Suzanne.

The concert begins at 23:30

  Exclamation Mark  (!)

An exclamation mark indicates strong feeling within a sentence, such as fear, anger or love. It is also used to accentuate feeling within the written spoken word..

ex:

Stop! stop!

bank!

Help me!

Apostrophe   (’)

The apostrophe, sometimes called an inverted comma has two main uses.

The apostrophe indicates possession or ownership.

For example:

1.The girl's hat was green, (girl is in the singular).

    2. Sara's dog bites.
    3. Jack's and Jill's children.

Slash  (/)

Many people use the slash instead of or, and etc., but this is not always helpful to the reader.  There is, however, a modern convention in gender-neutral writing to use ‘s/he’.

Especially while using internet links, we use double slash.

ex:

http://turkilizce.blogspot.com.tr

Hyphen  (-)

The hyphen is used to link words together.

For example:

• seventeenth-century people
• pigeon-hole
• week-end
• second-class post
• gender-neutral
• non-verbal

    fig-leaf

Brackets    (   )

Brackets always come in pairs (  ) and are used to make an aside, or a point which is not part of the main flow of a sentence.  If you remove the words between the brackets, the sentence should still make sense. 

ex:

  1.John and Jane ( who were actually half brother and sister ) both have red hair.

   2. a middle class (which includes most white-collar workers and professionals); and a working class (those in blue-collar or manual jobs).

Quotation or Speech Marks   (“….”)

Quotation or speech marks are used to:

1.  To mark out speech.
2.  When quoting someone else's speech.

For example:

1. My family  said, "Share your chocolates with your friends."

 2. "Sam, don't do that!"