PUNCTUATION: PART- II

LITTLE MARKS
 QUOTATION MARKS
• “Double Marks ” OR ‘Single Marks’ are used to show
words that are directly spoken or quoted from a speech or
reference.
• Full stops or commas go inside these marks.
• Titles are also placed between Q Marks
• Example:
• “Any further delay,” she said, “would result in a lawsuit.”
 QUESTION MARK ‘?’
• No full stop is used after this.
• Used at the end of a interrogative sentence.
• Used as tagged questions.
• To reflect doubt.
• It’s a nice day, isn’t it?
• It’s going to be the end now?
 SEMI COLON ‘;’
• Most difficult of these little marks.
• If in doubt, avoid using it.
• As a general rule, it’s used in following cases:
• When joining two sentences.
– We set out at dawn; the weather looked promising.
• Used to assemble details
– The conference was attended by delegates from Paris, France;
London, UK; Stockholm, Sweden; Colombo, Sri Lanka; and
Islamabad, Pakistan.
 HYPHEN ‘-’
• Hyphen is used for linking words to make new word
or explanation.
• Examples: sub-part, happy-go-lucky, second-class
post, non-verbal etc.
• Used to replace comma:
• Zaid is arranging a party- all male party- to celebrate
his birthday.
 BRACKETS
• Brackets come in pairs and are used to make an aside,
or a point which is not part of the main flow of
sentence.
• Punctuation comes within the brackets.
• Square Brackets […] used:
– to abbreviate lengthy quotations
– to correct the tense of a quotation to suit your sentence.
 BRACKETS
• Examples:
– She nonchalantly told us that she would be spending her
birthday in Lahore ( Larkana, Sindh; not Lahore, Punjab).
(Luckily, we were not invited. )
– “The major classes that exist in Western societies are
an upper class […]; a middle class […]; and a working
class […].”
• To reflect plurals in a sentence using singular word.
 SLASH
• Used to replace ‘or’
–His/her; He/she (s/he)
 CAPITALIZATION
• Every new sentence begins with Capital letter.
• Proper name begins, even within a sentence, with
capital letter.
• Abbreviations are used in capital letter.
• Every major word of a title begins with capital letter.
 SOME TIPS
1. Use apostrophes correctly
2. Know where to place quotation marks
3. Know how to punctuate with parentheses
4. Use a hyphen for compound adjectives
5. Distinguish between the colon and the semicolon
6. Avoid multiple punctuation at the end of sentence.
7. Use commas to indicate nonessential information
8. Use dictionary (U.S.A. or USA; coworker or co-worker
9. If in doubt rewrite
•Thanks
• Any Question?