Punctuation

What is Punctuation?

Punctuation is the art of using proper stops and marks in writing so as to make the sense of a sentence or a passage quite clear.

The Principal marks of Punctuation are:

(1) The Full Stop (.)
(2) The Comma (,)
(3) The Semicolon (;)
(4) The Colon (:)
(5) The Sign of Interrogation (?)
(6) The Sign of Exclamation (!)
(7) The Inverted Commas (” “)
(8) The Hyphen (-)
(9) The Dash (—)
(10) The Apostrophe (‘)
(11) The Capital Letter.
(12) The Bracket [{( )}]

The Full Stop (.)

The Full Stop indicates the longest pause. It is used:

(1) At the end of a sentence other than Interrogative, Exclamatory, and Optative; as,

(a) Andrew lost his pen and purse.
(b) Catherine sang and danced.

(2) After Abbreviations; as,

(a) M.A., M.B.B.S., L.L.B.

The Comma (,)

The Comma represents the shortest pause in writing and speaking English. It is used:

(1) To separate the two or more words of the same parts of Speech; as,

(a) He bought a purse, a pencil, a pen, and a notebook. (Nouns)
(b) She is honesttruthfuldiligent, and intelligent. (Adjectives)
(c) He writes quicklyneatly, and correctly. (Adverbs)
(d) He laughedsangdanced, and made merry. (Verbs)

(2) To separate each pair of words connected by ‘and’; as,

(a) High and low, rich and poor, wise and foolish, all have to die.

(3) Before and after words or phrases in Apposition; as,

(a) George, the monitor of VII class, won the prize.
(b) Clinton, the captain of our cricket team, is a fast bowler.

(4) To separate the Nominative of Address; as,

(a) Boys, do not make a noise.
(b) Don’t go there, Calvin.

(5) To mark off a direct quotation from the rest of the sentence;

(a) “Look sharp,” cried the Superintendent, “Do not waste time.”

(6) After an Adverb Phrase, a Clause or an Adverb if it precedes the Principal Clause; as,

(a) As a matter of right, you must fight for it.
(b) When the old cock crows, the young cock learns.

(7) To separate the words yes, no please, thank you, well; as,

(a) Yes, I will do it for you.
(b) No, none has turned up yet.
(c) Shut the door, please.
(d) I am quite well, thank you.
(e) Well, I need your assistance.

(8) To separate phrases like weather permitting, God willing, in fact, after all, at last, if they occur in the beginning of a sentence; as,

(a) Weather permitting, we shall go out for a walk.
(b) God willing, success shall be ours.
(c) After all, he is your brother.
(d) In fact, he accepted my proposal.

(9) To separate the Coordinate Clause of a Compound Sentence; as,

(a) The world is a looking glass, and it gives back to every man the reflection of his own face.

The Semicolon (;)

The Semicolon shows a pause longer than that of a Comma. It is used:

(1) To separate pairs of clauses joined by commas; as,

(a) He came home, because he was called; he went away, because he had no work.

(2) To mark division of a long Compound Sentence; as,

(a) Between salary and wages there is much difference; the former is a regular monthly amount; the latter is the remuneration of daily work.

(3) To give greater emphasis to the various clauses; as,

(a) He wants money to spend; friends to talk to; a car to drive about; a bungalow to live in.

(4) To separate pairs of words; as,

(a) Sink, drown; bail, bale; tail, tale; hail, hale; mail, male.

The Colon (:)

The Colon shows a pause longer than that of a Semi-colon but shorter than that of a Full Stop. It is used:

(1) To introduce a quotation or speech; as,

(a) We all know the proverb: “Might is right.”

(2) To separate two opposite clauses; as,

(a) Man proposes: God disposes.
(b) To err is human: to forgive divine.

(3) Before a list or enumeration of examples; as,

(a) The following articles were bought: flour, pulses, butter, curd, and cheese.
(b) The following students were absent: George, William, Max, Andrew, and Steve.

The Note of Interrogation (?)

The Note of Interrogation (?) is used after the direct question; as,

(a) What do you want?
(b) Where do you live?
(c) Who brought you up?

The Note of Exclamation (!)

The Note of Exclamation (!) is used after direct sentences expressing sudden surprise, joy, sorrow, anger, or other feelings; as,

(a) Alias! I am undone.
(b) Hurrah! I have won a prize.
(c) Oh that I were the Prime Minister!

The Inverted Commas (” “)

The Inverted Commas are used to enclose the actual words of the speaker; as,

(a) She said, “Hope sustains life.”
(b) They said, “Be patriots.”
(c) “What do you want?” said she to the beggar.

The Hyphen (-)

The Hyphen (-) is used to join the parts of a compound word; as,

Father-in-law, lookers-on, passer-by, commander-in-chief.

The Dash (—)

The Dash (—) is used to make a sudden break or change of thought in the sentence; as,

Relatives, friends, companions— all left me in my misfortune.

The Apostrophe (‘)

The Apostrophe (‘) is used to show:

(1) Some letter or letters have been omitted; as,

(a) 7 o’clock, can’t, don’t, Hon’ble.

(2) Possessions; as,

(a) Catherine’s slate, Ramoo’s comb.

(3) Plurals; as,

(a) M.A.’s, M.L.A’s.

The Capital Letter

The Capital Letter is used to begin:

(1) A sentence; as,

(a) They love humanity.

(2) Proper Nouns; as,

(a) Europe, Asia, North America, Africa.

(3) Every line of poem; as,

The habit of each little bird
And all of his patient skill,
Are surely taught by God Himself
And ordered by His will.

(4) The Direct Speech within Inverted Commas; as,

(a) She said, “Happy is he who owes nothing to anybody.”

(5) The days of the week; as,

(a) Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

(6) Subjects of study, languages, newspapers, historical events; as,

(a) Mathematics, English, Science, Portuguese, Spanish, The New York Times, The Anglo-French War.

(7) The name of communities; as,

The Christian, The Hindus, The Sikhs, The Muslims.

(8) To write the Pronoun ‘I’ and Interjection ‘O’.

(9) Letters denoting abbreviations; as,

(a) J. H. Kellogg, B. Tech, M. Tech, B.E.

(10) Personified objects; as,

(a) O Death, where is thy sting?

(11) For names of Institutions; as,

(a) Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University.

(12) Important words in the heading of a story or an essay; as,

(a) A Picnic Party, The Fox and the Grapes.

(13) Name of Political Parties; as,

(a) The Democratic Party, The Republican Party.

(14) Names of festivals; as,

(a) The BottleRock Music Festival, The Bonnaroo Music Festival.

The Bracket [{( )}]

The Brackets are used to separate from the main sentence, a Phrase, or a Clause that does not grammatically belong to it; as,

At a tender age (such is the power of genius) he could multiply figures of four or five digits.

A Few Solved Examples

Unpunctuated Passage:
good said the stranger i shall return just about this time tomorrow and will bring the money with me having said that he drove away in his car

Punctuated Passage:
“Good,” said the stranger, “I shall return just about this time tomorrow and will bring the money with me.” Having said that, he drove away in his car.
Unpunctuated Passage:
who is this angel asked the child who brings such beautiful presents for little children his name is santa claus replied the mother on the night before christmas when everybody is asleep he comes from heaven with presents for good children.

Punctuated Passage:
“Who is this angel,” asked the child, “who brings such beautiful presents for little children?” “His name is Santa Claus,” replied the mother. “On the night before Christmas when everybody is asleep, he comes from heaven with presents for good children.”
Unpunctuated Passage:
can you tell me the way to the nearest inn said the traveler yes said the peasant do you want one where you can spend the night no said the traveler i only want a meal in that case replied the peasant peacock inn will be the best will you be kind enough to show me the way said the traveler.

Punctuated Passage:
“Can you tell me the way to the nearest inn?” said the traveler. “Yes,” said the peasant, “do you want one where you can spend the night?” “No,” said the traveler, “I only want a meal.” “In that case,” replied the peasant, “Peacock Inn will be the best.” “Will you be kind enough to show me the way?” said the traveler.