Punctuation

Punctuation definition

Punctuation is a bit like body language – it helps the writer express themselves through writing so that the reader interprets it in the way they intend.

Importance of punctuation

While punctuation may seem frustrating and inconvenient at times, it is essential to avoid confusions that may occur in writing. How a sentence is punctuated can change the meaning entirely.

Example: eats, shoots and leaves

Take this extract from Lynne Truss’s book on punctuation, for example:

Fig. 1 - 'A panda eats shoots and leaves' can change meaning depending on the punctuation used.

As a result of the misplaced comma, the panda bear no longer eats shoots and leaves but instead shoots, and then leaves.

Example: woman without her man is nothing

Similarly, the phrase: Woman without her man is nothing, can be punctuated in different ways to alter the meaning. It can either become:

Woman: without her, man is nothing.

Or

Woman, without her man, is nothing.

Although they include the same words, these two sentences are completely different in meaning. One suggests that mankind is nothing without women, while the other implies that a woman is nothing without her man.

These examples prove punctuation is essential to make the meaning of a sentence clear and mitigate any potential confusion.

Types of punctuation marks

The English language uses 14 different types of punctuation marks. These types are listed in the table below beside their symbol.

So how are the different types of punctuation used? Each of the punctuation marks listed has unique uses and comes with its own rules for how they are deployed in writing.

Full stop

Full stops are pretty simple – they mark the end of a declarative sentence (instead of interrogative or exclamative sentences). You may also know them by their Americanised name, a period.

Here are some examples of sentences that used full stops.

Full stops may also be used in acronyms and abbreviations, between each letter.

Question mark

Question marks are used to end interrogative sentences. When we verbalise questions, our voices usually get higher at the end, signifying that we are asking a question. This is not possible to indicate in writing, so we use a question mark.

Some examples could include:

These are examples of direct questions. However, a question mark is not used at the end of an indirect question. This is when someone reports what someone has already asked or requested, such as:

Alternatively, a question mark may convey a sense of uncertainty.

For example, when the specific date of an event is disputed (such as with ancient texts or writers), a question mark might be used around the dates themselves. These are used in parenthesis, so they do not disrupt the sentence's meaning and only add a question to the particular detail alone.

You might also notice that you raise your voice when you are unsure about what you are saying. Question marks are used in writing similarly.

Exclamation mark

Exclamation marks are typically used at the end of an exclamatory phrase or sentence to convey a sense of loudness or emphasis in writing that would be more evident in the spoken word. Exclamation marks might also be used to convey a sense of surprise. However, excessive exclamation marks in a piece of writing can appear childish, so it is advisable to avoid them in formal writing.

Colon

The colon indicates further elaboration on a phrase, whittling down a vague description into something more specific. There is always a full sentence before a colon (but it may not necessarily be succeeded by one).

Punctuation: commas

Commas are the most misused and misunderstood type of punctuation because of the variety of contexts they can be used. One of the most common ways a comma is misused is when it joins two complete sentences together, which is known as comma splicing.

This is grammatically incorrect because both parts of the sentence make full sense on their own. Therefore, they do not need to be joined with a comma.

The correct punctuation would be a full stop e.g. 'It’s getting dark already. There’s no way we will make it into town before dark.'

The 8 rules for commas

There are many ways commas are useful and required.

1. A comma when listing:

When dividing up three or more items in a series, you use commas to make a list or a tricolon because it allows a distinct division between each concept.

Using a comma in this way acts as a substitute for ‘and’ or ‘or’ when listing things. The final item listed doesn’t require a comma, but instead, the words ‘and’ or ‘or’ before it is listed.

For example:

2. A comma with conjunction:

Commas can join simple phrases or sentences together as long as the next begins with a joining word, or conjunction, like ‘or’, ‘but’, ‘while’, ‘so’ or ‘yet’.

A comma is used in this way when concluding a sentence and then beginning the next with conjunction. See the examples below:

3. A comma after an introduction:

A comma can also be used after an introductory phrase, word, or statement that precedes the main clause.

Examples of introductory phrases include: ‘although’, ‘after’, ‘if’, ‘as’, ‘when’ or ‘although’, but these are not the only possibilities.

The introductions before the comma may also be infinitive and participle phrases, nonessential appositive phrases, absolute phrases or prepositional phrases, displayed in the examples below.

4. A comma with appositives:

This sort of comma frames an appositive within a sentence.

The sentence must be able to make sense without the addition of the appositive, for example:

The description of Chaucer as a medieval writer and diplomat isn’t essential to the phrase, but it adds more understanding.

5. A comma with non-restrictive clauses:

These are similar to the usage of commas with appositives. Instead, the framed non-essential information will be a non-restrictive clause.

For example:

6. A comma with direct addresses:

This occurs when a narrator directly names the person to whom they are talking. The name (depending on where it occurs in a sentence) is framed by commas, for example:

7. A comma with direct speech:

When a speaker during a dialogue is referred to, the name and the verb will often be encompassed in commas. For example:

8. Commas with numbers, dates, addresses and people’s titles:

Commas may also be used in the conventional displaying of numbers, dates, addresses, and prestigious titles.

Regarding numbers, commas are required when referring to numbers over three digits. The commas are then placed at intervals of three numbers from the lowest end of the number, allowing the number to be more easily distinguished by the number of groupings (whether it is a million, one hundred thousand, etc.). With dates, commas separate and isolate the years from the other information.

When writing addresses, each piece of information about the location is separated by a comma. The street name, house number, town, county, country and postcode are all separated by punctuation to minimise the potential for confusion.

Commas can also separate a person's title from the rest of the sentence, which allows an individual to be respectfully addressed without interrupting the flow of the sentence.

Punctuation: semicolon

The semicolon is used for separating two complete sentences without using a full stop or splicing, which can only occur when several conditions are met:

• If the sentences are too closely related to be entirely separated by a full stop

• No connecting words already between the sentences

• A colon isn’t required instead

Slash

There are two types of slash: the forwards and the backwards slash, but the latter is only used in writing with computer programming. A forward slash can be used for multiple things such as acting as a substitute for ‘or’, indicating an abbreviation or showing two conflicting sides.

• Substitute:

• Abbreviation:

• Conflicting sides:

Punctuation: dashes

Two types of dashes are used in punctuation: the em-dash (—) and the en-dash (–), which have distinct usages. These are often confused together, along with hyphens. Let's look at their differences.

The em-dash is quite versatile in its ability to replace commas and brackets in parentheses.

The en-dash, however, can be used between:

• Ranges of numbers (whether time, dates, page numbers, etc.)

• Reports of results

• Links between conflicting, directing, or connecting sides

• Compounded adjectives

Hyphen

A hyphen's primary function is to combine two terms, but they are also used to separate words in professional printed material. They are often confused with em-dashes and en-dashes and used interchangeably, but this is incorrect. Here are some examples of how to use hyphens correctly:

Square brackets

Editors or transcribers often use brackets to clarify information that might have been omitted or misspelled. There are also braces ({}), but much like backwards slashes, these are rarely used in written language as they are typically used in maths. Brackets may be used similarly, as in the examples below.

Parenthesis

Parenthesis is how people add additional information to a complete sentence by using brackets, em-dashes, or commas. For the parenthesis to have been correctly used, it is required that the whole sentence makes sense with, and without, the isolated bit of parenthesis.

Apostrophe

Apostrophes have two usages in English grammar. The first is that they signal omitted letters in contractions.

The second usage of apostrophes allows an indication of possession. For singular nouns, we use an apostrophe followed by 's', and for plural nouns, we simply use an apostrophe.

Speech and quotation marks

Speech marks are usually used to denote direct speech (i.e. exact words spoken). Quotation marks are used to emphasise words or signal an irregular choice of words.

When used with direct speech, speech marks follow certain rules.

When using quotation marks to highlight certain elements, the point of interest is simply placed within single quotation marks: ‘ ’. However, it is common to place the quote in double quotation marks when someone is being quoted.

Ellipsis

In writing, the ellipsis usage usually suggests an omission of words or a moment of building suspense.

For example, in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 28 from Sonnets From the Portuguese (1850), she uses an ellipsis to simultaneously express a build-up of extreme emotions and highlight how these feelings have made her unable to verbalise the love she wishes to explain truly:

How to avoid punctuation errors

No easy way to solve punctuation errors exists, but there are things you can do to make your work more accurate. Try familiarising yourself with the rules of using punctuation; you could also research common errors to be sure to avoid them.

Proofreading your work is also very important – we suggest reading it aloud for the most accuracy. It can also be helpful to get someone else to proofread for you, as they may spot mistakes you might have missed.

Here are some common punctuation errors to be aware of:

Why might someone disregard punctuation?

While punctuation is an essential part of written communication, there may be instances when writers entirely disregard it to make a point.

The poet E. E. Cummings has (in his poetical collections like Tulips and Chimneys (1923)) chosen a somewhat idiosyncratic approach to punctuation to completely deconstruct poetry itself. M. L. Rosenthall described this playfulness with written traditions as 'jugglery' to 'blow open otherwise trite and bathetic motifs through a dynamic rediscovery of the energies sealed up in conventional usage'.

The incredibly short poem 'I (a (A Leaf Falls with Loneliness)' (1958):

This irregular usage of parenthesis to cut off words mid-fall allows Cummings to experiment with isolating the motion, further creating a sense of solitude and ‘loneliness’.

Fig. 2 - Cummings poem uses punctuation in a different way.

Similarly, Cormac McCarthy’s dystopian novel The Road (2006) completely avoids any form of conventionalised punctuation, allowing McCarthy to mirror how society (and its conventions) have been obliterated in the apocalyptic setting he depicts.