CALUGAY, KATRINA CAMILLE L.

BM3Y1-1

PUNCTUATION MARKS
1. PERIOD (.)
 It shows that the sentence has finished.
e.g. Lock the door when you leave.
 When it is used in numbers, it is called a decimal point.
e.g. Elizabeth bought a soda $1.28 cents
 A point may also be used after a word has been shortened.
e.g. Dr. Smith
Ms. Burgos

2. COMMA (,)
 separate ideas, add pauses, and help you to list things clearly. They also
let us connect words, phrases, and clauses together to make longer
sentences.
e.g. The pet store has cats, dogs, hamsters, fish and turtles.
(listing things)
I really wanted cereals this morning, but I didn’t have any milk.
(Connecting clauses)
Well, if you really want pancakes, I guess can make them.
(Pauses)

3. QUESTION MARK (?)

 Its function is to pose a question.
e.g. What country are you from?
Will you go to the store with me?

4. EXLAMATION MARK (!)

 Use to show emotion, emphasis, or surprise.
e.g. Yay! We won!
Get off my lawn!

5. APOSTROPHE (‘)
 Used to show possession.
e.g. Mr. Chang’s house
a woman’s hat
 Contractions
e.g. let’s
don’t
6. SEMI-COLON (;)
 Connects Independent clauses
e.g. Martha has to the library; Andrew has gone to play
soccer.
 Replacement of conjunction.
e.g. The upperclassmen are permitted off-campus lunch; the
underclassmen must remain on campus.

7. COLON (:)
 Use to list things.
e.g. The bookstore specializes in three subjects; art,
architecture, and graphic design.
 Used to separate time.
e.g. 8:00 P.M
 Used in dialogues
e.g. Mr. Smith: Hello, how are you?

8. QUOTATION MARK (?)

 Quoting the words of others
e.g. In his novel White Noise, Don DeLillo neatly summarizes
the materialist philosophy: “It’s all this activity in the brain
and you don’t know what’s you as a person and what’s
some neuron that just happens to fire or just happens to
misfire.”
 Used to insert nicknames
e.g. Henry M. “Hank” Paulson Jr.
 Used to enclose a translation
e.g. His knowledge of Portuguese is limited to obrigado,
“thank you,” and adeus, “goodbye.”

9. DASH or HYPHEN (-)

 Generally, hyphenate two or more words when they come before a noun
they modify and act as a single idea
e.g. an off-campus apartment
state-of-the-art design
 often used to tell the ages of people and things.
e.g. We have a two-year-old child.
 When using numbers, hyphenate spans or estimates of time, distance, or
other quantities
e.g. 3:15-3:45 p.m.
1999-2016
300-325 people
  spelled-out fractions
e.g. More than one-third of registered voters oppose the
measure.
More than a third of registered voters oppose the
measure.

10. ELLIPSIS or ELLIPSES (…)

 can express hesitation, changes of mood, suspense, or thoughts trailing
off.
e.g. I don't know … I'm not sure.
Pride is one thing, but what happens if she …?

11. BRACKET [ ]
 Can be used for clarification if the original material includes a noun or
pronoun that is unclear.
e.g. The president stated that he “will not sign the bill they
[Republican members of the House] have been talking
about.”
 If a quotation includes a foreign word or phrase that might not be
understood, provide a translation in brackets.
e.g. Smith writes in his autobiography: “I seldom spoke in
French class. When I did, I usually just said je ne sais pas
[I don’t know].”

12. PARENTHESES ( )
 Used to enclose information that clarifies or is used as an aside.
He finally answered (after taking five minutes to think) that he did not
understand the question.
e.g. He gave me a nice bonus ($500).