Types of Punctuation Marks and Their Functions
1) The Full Stop (.) : This is the most common punctuation mark, and it is used to mark the end of a declarative sentence.
Example. Mrs. Abby always drinks coffee before bedtime.
The full stop shows that a complete thought has been expressed.
2) The question mark (?): It is used at the end of a direct question. In writing, if this is left out, the sentence becomes grammatically incorrect, while in speech, the intonation will make the difference from a declarative sentence.
Example: Is hiking advisable during winter ?
3) The Comma (): It is the most important one to master because it has many uses.
- a) It is used to separate clauses. E.g Although it rained today, we still went shopping.
- b) To separate items in a list. E.g The aging man asked for some fruits, drugs, water, and medications to be supplied in his home at Stone Side.
- c) It is also used after an introductory expression or phrase
E.g After the examination, we were sure to pass.
- d) To indicate a direct address E.g Rose, where is your father?
- e) To seperate day from year when writing dates E.g December 24th, 2021 remains a remarkable day for my family.
N.B: This usage varies as American and British English rules use it differently. Thus is is American.
- f) To seperate cities from countries E.g The certificate was issued in Lagos, Nigeria.
4) Apostrophe (‘) : This symbole is used to show possession, and contraction.
Possession: It means that something belongs to someone or something.
E.g Ethan’s mother is our spiritual leader.
The students’ phones were confiscated by the administration. ( Take not of the plural noun)
Yannis’s gift has been given already ( singular nouns take another s after the apostrophe to show possession )
Contraction: It is the shortened form of a word or group of words, often formed by combining an auxiliary verb with (not).
E.g do not= don’t : “Don’t interact with bullies,” my mother warned.
It is= it’s. This is different from its which is possessive.
E.g It’s 2 p.m.; let’s go out for lunch.
The dog is wagging its tail.
5) Quotation Marks ( ” “): This is used in writing to indicate a direct speech that is, the exact words spoken by someone.
E.g ” Bush fire causes global warming,” The expert declared
The expert declared, ” Bush fire causes global warming “.
N.B: Take note of how the comma is placed with regards to the position of the reporting clause which is underlined. When the reporting clause comes before the direct speech, the comma is used before the opening quotation mark, and when it comes after the direct speech, the comma is used before the closing quotation mark.
6) Exclamation Mark(!): To express strong emotions like fear, anger, suprise, excitement, this punctuation mark is used. It also be used to express a strong command or warning.
E.g What a suprise to see to here today! ( surprise)
Oh! It was a fantastic game. ( excitement)
Be careful! the situation might get out of hand!
7) Colon ( 🙂 : It is used to explain or introduces a list.
E.g a) The king is in his chambers: a private room in the palace.
The colon here conveys the meaning of chambers asexplained that it is a private…
- b) The woman bought the following items: tomatoes, avocado and banana at the grocery this morning.
8) Semi- Colon ( ;): It is used to separate two independent clauses that are closely related. The ideas cohere into one another.
E.g The man was angry. He spoke loudly.
The man was angry; he spoke loudly.
9) Hypen ( -) : This is a dash that is used to link words together. Some compound words and compound adjectives are formed with the use of a Hypen.
E.g: Mother – in-law, well – educated ( when it appears befor the noun)e.t.c
To write numbers from 21 to 99 e.g thirty- three
After some prefixes like ex, self e.tc His ex- wife is now a billionaire.
My father is self- employed.
N.B: The hyphen should not be confused with an En Dash (–) and an Em Dash (—). They have different functions.
10) Parentheses ( ): It’s used to give an additional information, explainationor clarification to sentence. Note that the information in the sentence does not change the basic grammatical structure of the sentence.
E.g My cousin ( who lives abroad) will spend Christmas with us.
My cousin will spend Christmas with us
Removing the information in parantheses does not change the fact that his cousin will spend Christmas with them.
11) Dash (–/—): There are two types of dashes. The En dash and Em dash. These are longer than the Hyphen and play a completely different role.
- a) En Dash (–) : It connects a range of numbers e.g The toddler can count 1– 100
– It can also be used to show a score or the relationship between two scores e.g The WAFCON finals ended 3–0 in favour of Cameroon.
- b) Em Dash (—) : This is the longest, and it shows a long pause to pull attention to a specific part of a sentence . It can replace commas, parenthesis or colon.
E.g The player had one mission left—to win the trophy.
We visited Paris—the city of love.
The car hit him badly, so he— ( here it indicates a break or an interruption)
12) Capital Letters : Also known as uppercase is used:
- a) On the first word of a sentence. E.g Rats are a nuisance
- b) Proper Nouns : E.g
Names of people: Rose, Abel, Dupont, Malika etc
Titles and forms of adress: Dr., Mr., Mrs., Prof. Et.c
Names of places: Seychelles, Yaounde, New York, Angola etc
N.B: Capital letters should also be used for daysofthe week, months of the year, names of languages, nationalities and brand.
E.g Nigerian, Google, Monday, November etc.