Punctuation – Why It’s ImportantPunctuation marks make up an important part of written language and are the key to clear communication.
Use this section of the website to help you learn how to use them to your advantage. |
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Brackets
In American English, when people refer to brackets, they usually mean square brackets like these [ ].
Use: Square brackets are used in a quotation when you want to include information that wasn’t in the original text.
In a book about dancers, for example, the author might be discussing Grace Kelly at length.
On a second or third mention, he will refer to her as simply “Kelly.” If this sentence then goes on to be quoted, Kelly’s first name would be added so that the reader knows which Kelly is being discussed.
For example: She is convinced that “[Grace] Kelly was one of the best dancers onscreen.”
In British English, when people refer to brackets, they usually mean ( ) known in American English as parentheses. For an example of usage, see entry for Parentheses below.
Other Types of Brackets
Braces { } – These are used in printing as connecting marks. They are also known as French brackets, curly brackets, definite brackets, swirly brackets, curly braces, birdie brackets, and Scottish brackets.
These pointy brackets ⟨ ⟩ are also known as angle brackets, triangular brackets, diamond brackets, tuples, or chevrons.
Inequality signs < >
corner brackets ⸤ ⸥ or ｢ ｣
Double square brackets ⟦ ⟧
Tortoise shell brackets 〔 〕
Guillemets ‹ › and « »
For more information, click here.
These pointy brackets ⟨ ⟩ are also known as angle brackets, triangular brackets, diamond brackets, tuples, or chevrons.
Inequality signs < >
corner brackets ⸤ ⸥ or ｢ ｣
Double square brackets ⟦ ⟧
Tortoise shell brackets 〔 〕
Guillemets ‹ › and « »
For more information, click here.
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ColonsUse: A colon introduces a list, a quotation, or a statement.
List This is how the winners spent their prize money: Jane bought a car; Mike started a business; Helen went on a cruise. Quotation Upon receiving her diploma, Iris smiled and thought about her favorite quote by B.B. King: “The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.” Statement "Let me make this clear: there will be no junk food eaten before dinner." |
Exclamation Mark
Exclamation marks emphasize exclamations of astonishment, surprise, and urgency so it must be used with a healthy sense of moderation.
"Look! Dad is doing his crazy dance again!"
"School’s out for summer! Yes!"
"Look! Dad is doing his crazy dance again!"
"School’s out for summer! Yes!"
Commas
Commas are great for breaking long sentences that contain a lot of information into manageable chunks. Follow the tips below to get your message across as clearly as possible.
1. When a part of your sentence is not essential to the meaning of the sentence, use a set of commas in the middle of the sentence to distinguish these words. The first comma indicates the beginning of the break and the second one indicates the end of the break.
The candy shop, in preparation for its Valentine’s Day party, hired four extra part-timers.
2. Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or parts of a sentence written in a series.
She wanted to buy bananas, apples, and cherries.
3. Commas can be used to separate independent clauses, or parts of sentence, when they are joined by a coordinating conjunction, namely, and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet.
Thinking of what her parents might say, Grace wanted to go home, yet she stayed with the group because Sean was there.
4. When writing about geographic locations, including a city and state (or province) or a city and country, use a comma after each location.
The Parthenon in Athens, Greece, is an ancient citadel.
5. Commas can be used to separate two or more adjectives describing the same noun. Never add an extra comma between the final adjective and the noun itself.
It was a cold, dark night.
6. Use commas after introductory clauses, phrases, or words that go before the main clause.
Having slept only two hours, she went to school and fell asleep in class.
7. Use a comma to set off a free modifier.
Kate spent the whole day cooking, loving every minute of it.
8. Use a comma right before a quotation begins.
She said to him happily, “Are we leaving right now?”
1. When a part of your sentence is not essential to the meaning of the sentence, use a set of commas in the middle of the sentence to distinguish these words. The first comma indicates the beginning of the break and the second one indicates the end of the break.
The candy shop, in preparation for its Valentine’s Day party, hired four extra part-timers.
2. Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or parts of a sentence written in a series.
She wanted to buy bananas, apples, and cherries.
3. Commas can be used to separate independent clauses, or parts of sentence, when they are joined by a coordinating conjunction, namely, and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet.
Thinking of what her parents might say, Grace wanted to go home, yet she stayed with the group because Sean was there.
4. When writing about geographic locations, including a city and state (or province) or a city and country, use a comma after each location.
The Parthenon in Athens, Greece, is an ancient citadel.
5. Commas can be used to separate two or more adjectives describing the same noun. Never add an extra comma between the final adjective and the noun itself.
It was a cold, dark night.
6. Use commas after introductory clauses, phrases, or words that go before the main clause.
Having slept only two hours, she went to school and fell asleep in class.
7. Use a comma to set off a free modifier.
Kate spent the whole day cooking, loving every minute of it.
8. Use a comma right before a quotation begins.
She said to him happily, “Are we leaving right now?”
Dashes
There are three types of dashes. What makes them different from each other is their length.
Remember: When using the hyphen, the en dash, or the em dash, leave no spaces before or after each one.
Remember: When using the hyphen, the en dash, or the em dash, leave no spaces before or after each one.
HyphenA hyphen (-) connects two words to form a compound word, such as award-winning.
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En DashThe en dash (–), means “through”(e.g., 1–9 = 1 through 9) and connects information in a range, such as page numbers, or related to each other by (metaphorical) distance.
Please find last year’s February–June receipts. pp. 45-93. |
Em DashThe em dash (—) can be used in a sentence to separate a part of a sentence, just like parentheses are used or alone to break up a sentence into two parts.
Everyone—even the family dog—had a slice of the delicious pumpkin pie. Kyle thought they might win the talent contest—the crowd loved them. |
Parentheses
In American English, when people refer to parentheses, they usually mean these round brackets ( ). Parentheses (pl.) contain information that is related to the sentence but isn’t essential to it.
This information could:
Provide information on a passage somewhere else in the book:
This is one of the cases where you would use a hyphen. (see, Hyphens and Dashes, p. 222)
Provide a useful fact:
Minnie (Mickey Mouse’s friend) was wearing a red bow.
Ask a question:
June McAffey (did she still live in town?) made the best sandwiches in the deli.
Give an opinion:
The Magic Masters (and that is what they are) amazed everyone last night with their magic tricks.
This information could:
Provide information on a passage somewhere else in the book:
This is one of the cases where you would use a hyphen. (see, Hyphens and Dashes, p. 222)
Provide a useful fact:
Minnie (Mickey Mouse’s friend) was wearing a red bow.
Ask a question:
June McAffey (did she still live in town?) made the best sandwiches in the deli.
Give an opinion:
The Magic Masters (and that is what they are) amazed everyone last night with their magic tricks.
Period (Full Stop)
The period (or full stop in British English) is used:
To end a sentence – Only in the case that a question mark or exclamation mark is not used as well.
She happily left work and sang in the car the whole way home.
At the end of most abbreviations, such as etc.
Mrs. Smith was going shopping.
BUT in British English there is no period after titles: e.g., Mr, Mrs, Ms, etc.
Three periods are used to show a break in quoted material.
In one of her emails she says “My dear daughter… has been accepted to college.”
Four if breaks continues until the end of the sentence.
And then, “I am going out shopping….”
Place a period at the end of an abbreviation that consists of the first part of a word only:
Tues. (Tuesday) OR Nov. (November)
Do not use periods if initial letters are used to represent words. This works for both American and British English:
NBA, FBI
To end a sentence – Only in the case that a question mark or exclamation mark is not used as well.
She happily left work and sang in the car the whole way home.
At the end of most abbreviations, such as etc.
Mrs. Smith was going shopping.
BUT in British English there is no period after titles: e.g., Mr, Mrs, Ms, etc.
Three periods are used to show a break in quoted material.
In one of her emails she says “My dear daughter… has been accepted to college.”
Four if breaks continues until the end of the sentence.
And then, “I am going out shopping….”
Place a period at the end of an abbreviation that consists of the first part of a word only:
Tues. (Tuesday) OR Nov. (November)
Do not use periods if initial letters are used to represent words. This works for both American and British English:
NBA, FBI
Question Mark
Question marks are used at the end of direct questions.
“When is your birthday?”
At the end of a statement which registers surprise or requests confirmation:
She was at the club last night?
They’ll be here? (Won’t they?)
Inside parentheses to demonstrate uncertainty.
Kate Bishop (1848? – 1923) was a British actress and star of Our Boys.
“When is your birthday?”
At the end of a statement which registers surprise or requests confirmation:
She was at the club last night?
They’ll be here? (Won’t they?)
Inside parentheses to demonstrate uncertainty.
Kate Bishop (1848? – 1923) was a British actress and star of Our Boys.
Quotation Marks
Here you’ll find rules for quotation marks that apply to American English.
The British call quotation marks inverted commas (‘ ‘) and use single quotes where the Americans use double quotes, and the opposite.
Full quotation marks (“ “) are used:
To indicate speech (phrase or part of a text) spoken or written by someone else (not the writer):
He looked in the eyes and exclaimed “I cannot believe you are going away for one year!”
When referring to a work of art or a published text—an article or short story—included in another work:
One of my favorite paintings is Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.”
I enjoyed reading Frost’s famous poem, “The Road Not Taken.”
Remember: Book titles, and the names of plays, musicals, movies, and operas are placed in italics.
When referring to a specific word or saying:
In the UK, pacifiers are called “dummies.”
It is unknown who first said “Work hard, dream big.”
To indicate sarcasm or non-acceptance of the traditional meaning.
These “friends” of his always leave him with all the chores to do.
Single quotation marks (‘ ‘) are used to exhibit a quotation within a quotation.
Jean ran to Margarita and exclaimed, “Margarita, come quick! Johnny is doing the ‘chicken dance’ on the table!”
RULES FOR PUNCTUATION MARKS IN QUOTES
Periods and commas at the end of the material you are quoting go inside the quotation marks:
“The next time I go to Paris,” said Nelly, “I’ll stay with aunt Marie.”
Colons and semi-colons go outside of quotation marks:
Bonnie thought about the lyrics to One Direction’s song “Best Song Ever”: was it really the best song ever?
If they are part of the quotation, questions marks and quotation marks are placed INSIDE the quotations.
“Was that you, Bailey?” whispered Ken, as he patted the floor, looking for his flashlight.
Terry exclaimed, “The kids guessed the answer to the riddle in less than a minute“!
The British call quotation marks inverted commas (‘ ‘) and use single quotes where the Americans use double quotes, and the opposite.
Full quotation marks (“ “) are used:
To indicate speech (phrase or part of a text) spoken or written by someone else (not the writer):
He looked in the eyes and exclaimed “I cannot believe you are going away for one year!”
When referring to a work of art or a published text—an article or short story—included in another work:
One of my favorite paintings is Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.”
I enjoyed reading Frost’s famous poem, “The Road Not Taken.”
Remember: Book titles, and the names of plays, musicals, movies, and operas are placed in italics.
When referring to a specific word or saying:
In the UK, pacifiers are called “dummies.”
It is unknown who first said “Work hard, dream big.”
To indicate sarcasm or non-acceptance of the traditional meaning.
These “friends” of his always leave him with all the chores to do.
Single quotation marks (‘ ‘) are used to exhibit a quotation within a quotation.
Jean ran to Margarita and exclaimed, “Margarita, come quick! Johnny is doing the ‘chicken dance’ on the table!”
RULES FOR PUNCTUATION MARKS IN QUOTES
Periods and commas at the end of the material you are quoting go inside the quotation marks:
“The next time I go to Paris,” said Nelly, “I’ll stay with aunt Marie.”
Colons and semi-colons go outside of quotation marks:
Bonnie thought about the lyrics to One Direction’s song “Best Song Ever”: was it really the best song ever?
If they are part of the quotation, questions marks and quotation marks are placed INSIDE the quotations.
“Was that you, Bailey?” whispered Ken, as he patted the floor, looking for his flashlight.
Terry exclaimed, “The kids guessed the answer to the riddle in less than a minute“!
Semi-Colon
The semi-colon provides a pause, longer than that given by a comma. It also highlights the relationship between the parts of the sentence that it separates.
Denny and Jim painted the doors; May and Katie painted the windows.
They drove in the car all day; by nightfall they arrived at the hotel.
It can also be placed before transition words like besides, consequently, in fact, nevertheless, therefore, etc.
When Val saw the train coming, she began to get nervous; nevertheless, she put on her jacket, picked up her suitcase, and prepared to board.
The semi-colon is also used a separator for long and complex lists.
Their order, so far, included one chocolate ice cream with sprinkles; one banana split; two strawberry shakes; three hamburgers and fries.
More resources on punctuation:
The Elements of Style
Understanding and Using English Grammar
Denny and Jim painted the doors; May and Katie painted the windows.
They drove in the car all day; by nightfall they arrived at the hotel.
It can also be placed before transition words like besides, consequently, in fact, nevertheless, therefore, etc.
When Val saw the train coming, she began to get nervous; nevertheless, she put on her jacket, picked up her suitcase, and prepared to board.
The semi-colon is also used a separator for long and complex lists.
Their order, so far, included one chocolate ice cream with sprinkles; one banana split; two strawberry shakes; three hamburgers and fries.
More resources on punctuation:
The Elements of Style
Understanding and Using English Grammar