PUNCTUATION MARKS

Prepared By AdemUlusoy249612

The Period USE A PERIOD [ . ] AT THE END OF A

SENTENCE that makes a statement. There is no space between the last letter and the period. Use one space between the period and the first letter of the next sentence. This goes against the grain for people using the typography instilled by generations of old-fashioned typewriter users, but modern word-processors nicely accommodate the spacing after a period, and double-spacing after a period can only serve to discombobulate the good intentions of one's software.

Period have three distinct uses:

1. is completely black.

2. To indicatTo mark the end of a sentence

The cat e abbreviated words A full stop indicates an abbreviation, unless first and last letters of the word are shown.

The teacher will be Mr John Smith (B. Sci.).

3. To punctuate numbers and dates

All assignments should be submitted by 6. 6. 04.

The Comma The comma is the most important punctuation mark after the full stop.

Its main use is for separating parts of sentences. Commas function in five main ways:

1. Before or after adverbial clauses and groups. Recently, the number of service enterprises in wealthier free-market

economies has grown rapidly.

2. Before various connectives to join two independent clauses. What we require is a National Emergency Government, but no two men I

meet can agree how this can be formed.

3. To separate some non-defining phrases from the rest of the sentence. Malaria, once a widespread disease, is under control.

4. To separate words, groups and clauses in a series. Many U.S. firms attempt to tap emerging markets by pursuing business in

China, India, Latin America, and Russia and other Eastern European countries.

5. To separate adjectives that separately modify the same noun. Critics praise the novel's unaffected, unadorned style.

Common mistakes A comma cannot separate subject from predicate. The following sentences are

not possible:

*A man of his great abilities, would always be successful.

*The number of service enterprises in wealthier free-market economies, 

has grown rapidly.

*Only occupants of the deep oceans or the darkest recesses of caves, will escape

such rhythmic influences.

*Experience indicates that, these rhythms do not result wholly

from our life-style.

A comma cannot be used to join grammatically separate sentences.

The following sentences are not possible:

*London is a very cosmopolitan city, there are people from many culture living there.

*Learning a new language is like learning to swim, it takes a lot of practice.

*Students in Higher Education face many problems, for example, they have to cope with a new culture.

THE QUESTİON MARK

USE A QUESTION MARK [ ? ] AT THE

END OF A DIRECT QUESTION. It is considered

bad form to use a question mark in combination

with other marks, although that is often done in

informal prose in an attempt to convey complex

tones: He told you what!? That combination (or

similar combination) of punctuation marks is

sometimes called an interrobang, but the

interrobang currently has no role in academic

prose.

A question mark is used at the end of a sentence which is a question.

Have the students completed the exam?

Be careful not to put a question mark at the end of an indirect question.

The instructor asked the students what they were doing.

Be careful to distinguish between an indirect question (above), and a question that is embedded within a statement which we do want to end with a question mark.

We can get to Boston quicker, can't we, if we take the interstate?

If a question mark is part of an italicized or underlined title, make sure that the question mark is also italicized:

My favorite book is Where Did He Go?

THE EXCLAMATİON MARK The main use of the exclamation mark is to end sentences that express:

an exclamation:

Ow! That hurt!

Hello! How are you?

direct speech that represents something shouted or spoken very loudly:

‘Look up there!’ she yelled.

something that amuses the writer:

Included on the list of banned items was 'crochet hooks'!

An exclamation mark can also be used in brackets after a statement to show that the writer finds it funny or ironic:

She says she’s stopped feeling insecure (!) since she met him.

 

People tend to use a lot of exclamation marks in informal writing such as emails or text messages, but you should avoid using them in formal writing.

 

THE COLON

Colons are used to add extra information after a clause. This

can be divided into three main categories.

between two main clauses in cases where the second clause

explains or follows from the first:

That is the secret of my extraordinary life: always do the

unexpected.

to introduce a list:

The price includes the following: travel to London, flight to

Venice, hotel accommodation, and excursions.

before a quotation, and sometimes before direct speech:

The headline read: ‘Taxi Driver Battles Gangsters’.

THE SEMİCOLON The main task of the semicolon is to mark a break that is stronger than a comma

but not as final as a full stop. It’s used between two main clauses that balance each other and are too closely linked to be made into separate sentences, as in these two examples:

 

The road runs through a beautiful wooded valley; the railway line follows it.

An art director searched North Africa; I went to the Canary Islands.

You can also use a semicolon as a stronger division in a sentence that already contains commas:

 

The study showed the following: 76% of surveyed firms monitor employee Web-surfing activities, with 65% blocking access to unauthorized Internet locations; over one-third of the firms monitor employee computer keystrokes; half reported storing and reviewing employee emails; 57% monitor employee telephone behaviour, including the inappropriate use of voicemail.

THE HYPHEN

Hyphens are used to link words and parts of words. They are not

as common today as they used to be, but there are three main cases

where you should use them:

in compound words

to join prefixes to other words

to show word breaks

  Hyphens in compound words

  Hyphens are used in many compound words to show that the

component words have a combined meaning (e.g. a pick-me-up,

mother-in-law, good-hearted) or that there is a relationship

between the words that make up the compound: for example, rock-

forming minerals are minerals that form rocks. But you don’t need

to use them in every type of compound word.

 

THE DASH Hyphens should not be confused with dashes. Dashes are like

brackets; they enclose extra information. A colon and semicolon would work just as well in the example opposite. Dashes are rarely used in academic writing.

Although often used in pairs, dashes can also be used singularly.

Examples:

To the three divisions of the economy—agriculture, manufacturing, and service industries—Jones has added a fourth.

Have an orange—or would you prefer a banana?

PARENTHESES Parentheses are brackets used to include extra or

nonessential material in sentences. Parentheses should be used sparingly and always appear in pairs.

In citation systems like Harvard, parentheses are used to include in-text references.

Example: It was unusual to see Paul awake so early (as he often studied late into the night) and Jane greeted him with amazement.

Larsen and Greene (1989) studied the effects of pollution in three major cities.

Brackets [ ]

Brackets are mainly used to enclose words added by someone

other than the original writer or speaker, typically in order to

clarify the situation:

 

He [the police officer] can’t prove they did it.

 If round or square brackets are used at the end of a sentence,

the full stop should be placed outside the closing bracket:

 

They eventually decided to settle in the United States

(Debbie's home).

 

Ellipsis ( ... )

An ellipsis consists of three full stops. Itindicates

that material has been left out of a quotation.

When quoting, it is sometimes necessary to leave out

words or lines for reasons of relevance or length.

Using an ellipsis makes any omissions known to your

reader.

Example:

"But to be restricted to just two forms of punctuation

mark ... is like building a house using only a hammer

and a saw: you can do it; but not very well."

Apostrophe ( ' )There are two uses for the apostrophe:

1. ContractionsA contraction is a shortened version of a word. An apostrophe is used to show that something has been left out, and where it has been left out.

don't (do not)It'll (It will)she'll (she will)the dog's tail (belonging to a single dog)

2. PossessivesAn apostrophe is used to indicate ownership/possession with nouns. To show ownership by a single individual, insert the apostrophe between the noun and the 's'. To show ownership by more than one individual, use the apostrophe at the end of the word.Be careful: It's is the contraction of it is. It's is not a possessive (a possessive denotes ownership).

the women's magazinesboys' football boots (belonging to more than one boy)Einstein's theory of relativityAvagradro's number

Quotation Marks We use quotation marks to show (or mark) the beginning and end of

a word or phrase that is somehow special or comes from outside the text that we are writing. Quotation marks can be double ("...") or single ('...') - that is really a matter of style (but see below for more about this).

1.We use quotation marks around the title or name of a book, film, ship etc.

2.We use quotation marks around a piece of text that we are quoting or citing, usually from another source:

3.We use quotation marks around dialogue or direct speech:

4.We use quotation marks around a word or phrase that we see as slang or jargon:

5.We use quotation marks around a word or phrase that we want to make "special" in some way: