English Punctuation  

Punctuation refers to the specific markings, signs and symbols that are used in and around sentences to give them structure and to allow for correct understanding and comprehension.

If we think of words as bricks that build a sentence (arranged in a certain pattern according to English grammar), punctuation could be thought of as the mortar that holds the bricks together. Without punctuation, our writing would just be a continuous stream of words that lacked structure, pacing, and, ultimately, meaning. For instance, let’s see how this same paragraph would look without any punctuation:

While it’s possible to discern some of the meaning, it becomes remarkably difficult to understand what is being said when no punctuation marks are used.

In addition to providing overall structure and clarity to sentences, punctuation can also provide nuanced internal meaning as well; that is, sentences that have the exact same words can have different meanings depending on which punctuation is used (or misused). Let’s look at some sets of examples that illustrate this idea:

Here, by changing the second comma after though to a semicolon, we’ve changed what informally refers to: In the first example, it is referring to the use of a second set of parentheses as being informal; in the second example, it is the use of brackets that is now being described as informal.

Now let’s look at two examples involving more complex punctuation changes:

The second sentence’s meaning is now different from that of the first in three ways:

By understanding the various nuances of how punctuation functions in a sentence, we can be much more precise in the meaning we want our writing to convey.

There are 15 unique punctuation marks that are used in everyday written English. We’ve categorized them together according to the similarity of their function. We’ll briefly look at each one along with some examples, but you can continue on to their individual sections to learn more about the various ways they are used.

Terminal points are those that mark the end of a complete sentence. These include periods, exclamation points, and question marks.

Periods ( . ), also known as full stops (especially in British English), mark the end of sentences that are not questions or exclamations. For example:

Periods are also used to mark abbreviations, and they function as a decimal point in non-whole numbers. For instance:

An exclamation point or exclamation mark ( ! ) is commonly used to express strong, intense emotions in declarations or to add emphasis to interjections and commands.

For example:

Question marks ( ? ) are used, quite simply, to ask questions.

While it is usually a matter of intent and preference whether to use a period or an exclamation point in declarative, conditional, or imperative sentences, we must use question marks in interrogative sentences (sentences that ask questions); to use any other terminal point would turn a question into a statement.

Here are some examples:

Marks that indicate a pause or break in the flow of the sentence include commas, semicolons, and colons.

Commas ( , ) are primarily used to join two or more elements in a sentence—such as clauses, introductory elements, or items in a list—or to set parenthetical information apart from the rest of the sentence.

For example:

We also use commas for several technical purposes, such as listing a state or country after a city, writing the full date, writing long numbers, or separating quoted sentences from non-quoted text:

Semicolons ( ; ) function like more powerful commas that create a stronger break in the sentence. They are used to join lists when the items are complex and contain internal punctuation, as well as to join independent clauses without the need of a coordinating conjunction (though they are used with conjunctive adverbs). For example:

Colons ( : ) are used to add information that helps illustrate or clarify. A colon is most commonly used to introduce a list, but it can also introduce quotations and information that completes the meaning of the previous clause. Conventionally, a colon can only be used after text that can stand independently as a complete sentence.

Here are some examples:

We can insert text that has no grammatical bearing on a sentence by using the two parenthetical markers: parentheses and brackets.

Parentheses ( ( ) ), sometimes called round brackets, are used to separate parenthetical information that has no grammatical bearing on the structure of the overall sentence. This can be a clause, phrase, word, or even just a punctuation mark. For example:

Brackets ( [ ] ), sometimes called square brackets, function similarly to parentheses but are only used within quoted text, indicating clarifying or explanatory information that has been added to the quotation by the author:

Brackets are also used to distinguish parenthetical information that appears within another set of parentheses. (Informally, though, it is quite common to simply use a second set of parentheses.) For example:

When we want to demonstrate a specific relationship between different letters, words, phrases, or clauses, we variously use hyphens, dashes, slashes, and apostrophes.

Hyphens ( - ) are most often used to join two or more words and/or affixes to form a single and unique compound word. For example:

There are also several technical uses for the hyphens, such as when creating divisions in sequences of numbers or expressing ranges.

There are two types of dashes: the en dash ( – ) and the em dash ( — ).

En dashes are the preferred punctuation mark (especially in publishing) to express ranges, scores, voting results, or connections between two people or things (although hyphens are very commonly used instead). For instance:

Em dashes, the longest of the dash marks, are most often used in place of commas or parentheses to give greater emphasis to parenthetical information. They can also informally stand in for colons when introducing a list or illustrative information. For example:

Em dashes can also be used to represent omitted or censored words, as well as to indicate an interruption in written dialogue:

Slashes ( / ) work in a similar way to hyphens, combining words and letters into compounds. The slash is generally considered an informal punctuation mark, as it provides a shorthand way of expressing connections between words. For example:

Slashes are also used to form abbreviations in very informal writing, as in quick notes or messages. For instance:

In formal writing, such as academic papers, slashes are used to show line breaks in poetry quotations. Conventionally, this is the only time when spaces are used around a slash. For example:

The apostrophe ( ’ ) is used to form contractions (two words shortened and merged into one) as well as to show possession.

When used in contractions, the apostrophe replaces the letters that are omitted from one of the two words. For instance:

When showing possession, the apostrophe comes before the letter “s” for singular nouns (and irregular plurals) or after the letter “s” in regular plural nouns:

When we quote something that someone else has written or said, we distinguish it from our own writing through the use of quotation marks. If we omit (leave out) any portion of a quote but keep the rest of it in its original form, we can use ellipses to show where the omission exists within the quote.

Whenever we reproduce exactly what someone else has said, whether it’s a word, phrase, or entire sentence, we use quotation marks—either double ( “ ” ) or single ( ‘ ’ )—to separate it from the rest of our writing. For instance:

If we use a quotation that already has a quotation within it, we alternate between double and single marks:

We can also use quotation marks to highlight text that is or might be considered somehow questionable, dubious, or uncertain, as in:

Quotation marks also have the technical use of marking the titles of smaller pieces of written or creative works, such as poems or songs:

An ellipsis (plural: ellipses) is a series of three dots ( . . . ) that represents material that has been omitted from a quotation for the sake of neatness and brevity. In general, this is only done when an omission is made in the middle of a quoted sentence; any other punctuation necessary for the structure of the sentence must be kept intact. For example:

Less formally, ellipses are commonly used to indicate when a statement trails off or is broken up due to uncertainty or hesitation, as in:

In addition to the 15 punctuation marks above, there are many different signs and symbols that are commonly used in everyday writing, such as the asterisk (*) or the ampersand (&). These are not standard punctuation marks—they are never necessary to the grammatical or syntactic meaning of a sentence—but they appear often enough that it’s important to know how they might be used. Continue on to the section Other Signs and Symbols to learn more about them.