Quick punctuation guide

Punctuation can be hard for the linguistics layman. It can also get very subjective – depending on the language you’re writing in, and even the context of the piece. So, take this guide with a pinch of salt – it’s mostly to get the basics down and go through the recommended use of the main punctuation marks.

So, strap in, and hold on tight! This magic world of commas, full-stops and brackets (and more) will shortly begin: are you ready? Here we go…

Full Stops

Full stops are easy – just plop one onto the end of a sentence. Frankly, this might be one of the easiest punctuation marks (not to jinx it!). A full stop is used to give a little pause when reading aloud, and to mark the end of one point. A new sentence can still follow on from this, and they can also be used as decimal points.

Ellipsis

A cousin of the full stop, the ellipsis can be used to denote mystery, an unfinished trailing off, or musing… An ellipsis can also show an omission in text – which can be helpful when skipping to the meaty parts of long quotes. Although there’s also much confusion about their name, ellipsis refers to one ellipsis (a group of three dots) but ellipses are multiple instances of ellipsis occurring.

Commas

Instead of using ten million full stops, use commas to separate words, clauses or other ideas within a sentence. Used most commonly to differentiate between items in a list, commas give the reader a chance to have a short pause when reading.

The Oxford comma is a special case to be aware of, even though most of the time it is optional. One of the main rules for this is – whether or not you decide to use one – just keep it consistent! In a list of multiple items, the last two will usually be joined with ‘and’ – the Oxford comma comes just before this, such as in this example:

‘Percy had to make sure he didn’t forget his mother’s shopping list: washing-up liquid, bread, tomato sauce, tinned tuna, and mangoes.’

Although that seems pretty basic so far, things get a lot more complicated in different situations – like using them at the end of interrupted quotation marks (“Hello,” came the reply. “Who’s there?), in direct address (in which case, they should come after or before a name, depending on the context), or after parenthesis.

Exclamation Marks

Stick an exclamation mark on the end of an interjection or within highly-charged speech. You can also write an exclamatory statement, such as ‘What a strong gust!’ or anything else with a strong emotion, to pepper some extra emphasis in there.

Question Marks

Question marks come after questioning statements. Usually, these will include direct questions like ‘who, what, when, where or why?’ – but can also come from other questions. Logically, these will usually come before the close of quotation marks:

“What on Earth are you talking about?” He asked, incredulously. 

But there are times when they might escape their bonds, like if they’re used to mean a sentence as a whole, rather than just the quoted section:

“How are we supposed to just ‘calm down’?” She added.

Be careful not to overuse question marks, as it can be tempting to add more than one for emphasis, but probably isn’t the best call for formal writing.

Interrobang

Double trouble! The interrobang is a mixture of both an exclamation mark and a question mark, marking an exclamatory question. It’s not commonly used, but enjoyed popularity in the late 60s/early 70s, and was even added as a specific key to some typewriters.

What🙹

Em-dashes, En-dashes or Hyphens

En dashes are used in between words, often referring to a range like 1983-95, and are much smaller than their counterparts. 

Em dashes are longer (about the size of an ‘m’) and are used to separate information – or mark a break in a sentence – they can also be used as a parenthesis in a statement, just like you would use a pair of brackets.

Hyphens are used to connect two or more words, such as ‘slow-paced’ and come with their own set of confusing rules. 

• Adjectives that come before a noun, such as ‘well-worn shoes’ should be hyphenated, but not if it comes after, like in the case of ‘the shoes were well worn’. 
• Verbs used as nouns, like ‘burnt-in grease’ are allowed to be hyphenated, but you shouldn’t hyphenate them if they are used as verbs: ‘grease burnt in to the fabric’
• Here’s where it gets really tricky – some compound nouns are hyphenated, but some are not. It’s best to look it up in this case, as it depends on how it’s being used.
• Capitalised prefixes like ‘post-1970s’ should be hyphenated, but most others don’t need it, like in the case of ‘midcentury’ – best to check again here!

Colons or Semicolons

The semicolon is usually used to join two (otherwise complete) sentences into one. Usually, if you’re wondering whether a semicolon could be used, try substituting it for ‘and’ – or another joining word – or a full stop. If it still works, chances are a semicolon is the right choice! There must be some sort of connection between the sentences to merge them; a continuation of a point, or something similar!

On the other hand, the colon is used for two main purposes: introducing lists or further stressing information. It is also used to prelude a quote, but the clause before the colon should always make sense on its own. As a general rule, colons should not be used after a verb – in nearly all cases, a comma will do instead.

Brackets and Parenthesis

Parentheses actually refer to rounded brackets (these ones), whereas brackets are squared ones [like so]. Square brackets are more for specialised uses, such as in manuals or other technical documentation. Rounded brackets are used similarly to commas, when extra explanation or comment is needed. They’re great for adding more context to phrases, like inserting dates or descriptions into writing.

Quotation Marks

These are used for speech, or direct quotes. There are two main types – single, which is used to pull apart specific words or phrases as part of a ‘whole’ sentence. Double quotes are used to convey speech, or to mark the beginning and end of a quoted passage within text.

When using punctuation marks and quotes together, periods and commas always go inside the quotes. When the quote is an exclamation or question, exclamation points and question marks go inside the marks. But when the entire sentence, including the quote, is an exclamation or question, the punctuation marks can go outside the marks.

Apostrophes

The apostrophe is one of the hardest punctuation marks to get to grips with – mainly because it’s so versatile. They can be used to contract words, like it is into it’s, we will into we’ll, they have into they’ve, or even she would have into she’d’ve. The apostrophe replaces the omitted letters.

But we’re not done there! Plurals come to make things a lot more difficult: but as a general rule, never use an apostrophe when writing plural forms. In the British usage of apostrophes, they shouldn’t be used to pluralise dates: 1960s is fine, but 2000’s is incorrect. But numbers, like 7s or 8’s, might be written either way. Unfortunately, it gets worse – when there’s single letters, like p’s and q’s, they should make use of apostrophes if they would be indistinguishable without them. 

Right, we’ve now reached the hardest part of apostrophes – the possessive form. One of the main things to remember is that a possessive form, as in, something that belongs to someone, will have an apostrophe to show this: Susan’s ballet shoes, my girlfriend’s girlfriend, or a week’s worth of sardines. For the most part, even names that end in ‘s’ follow this rule: but there are exceptions. Get ready!

• A plural noun which already ends in an ‘s’ only has the apostrophe, and not an extra ‘s’. For example: the ladies’ room or the boys’ socks.
• But a name ending in ‘s’ only takes an apostrophe if the possessive form is not pronounced with an extra ‘s’. Like: Socrates’ works.
• Pronouns: The ram lowered its horns, or whose trousers are those?

Slashes

A slash is used to separate: either contrasting items in lists like light/dark, or to show a change of line in poetry. Hyphens, as we discovered earlier, are used to join items, so act as the antithesis to slashes. Similarly, another issue is that slashes are often used accidentally, when an ‘and’ would do, instead.

Ta-da!

Well, time for a break after all that! The best thing to do when there’s a piece of punctuation that doesn’t sit right is to do your research – ask around, use the wonderful internet, or read widely to see how it’s done right. Learn the rules, but remember, experimental texts often ignore or subvert them on purpose, so it’s up to you how you use punctuation!