1. COMMA
1.1. A comma (,) signifies a short pause in a sentence. It can also divide clauses (“parts of a sentence”) or items in a list. And, it is often used to create division or to improve the clarity of a sentence.
1.1.1. EXAMPLES: Maria, that girl over there, plays tennis.
1.1.2. Leo walked down the street, and then he turned the corner.
1.1.3. Martha bought milk, eggs, salt, sugar, and tomatoes.
2. PARENTHESES
2.1. Punctuation with parentheses is very similar to punctuation with quotation marks. If the information in the parentheses is a separate, complete sentence, the period at the end of the sentence goes inside the parentheses.
2.1.1. EXAMPLE: We spent two hours at the zoo. (Most of us could have spent two hours watching the otters.)
3. BRACKETS
3.1. Brackets can be used to add additional information to a sentence. The sentence has to make sense without the words inside the brackets, it's just a bit more interesting with the added detail
3.1.1. Use brackets inside parentheses to create a double enclosure in the text. Avoid parentheses within parentheses, or nested parentheses. Correct: (We also administered the Beck Depression Inventory [BDI; Beck, Steer, & Garbin, 1988], but those results are not reported here.)
4. DASH
4.1. A dash lets you interrupt a sentence to add information. The presence of the dash emphasizes the information that comes afterwards. It can be put in the middle or at the end of a sentence. Try not to use too many dashes as they interrupt the sentence’s flow. Do not put a space before or after the dash.
4.1.1. Three ways to use the dash 1. Define a term The foundations of English learning—reading, writing, speaking, and listening—must be practiced together to be most effective. Even professional gamers—players who most often train for years on a Massive Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG)—often do not make a large income.
4.1.2. 2. Provide more information about the noun ✓ The most popular cheese in the world—mozzarella—became famous due to the growth of pizza as a global cuisine.
4.1.3. 3. Establish contrast ✓ The greatest advantage—or disadvantage—of the Internet is that anyone can have a voice online
5. EXCLAMATORY MARK
5.1. An exclamatory sentence is one that expresses a strong or forceful emotion, such as anger, surprise, or joy. Exclamation points are also commonly found with sentence fragments or sudden interjections
5.1.1. Yes, I will marry you!
5.1.2. Oh! That is a gorgeous dress!
5.1.3. Wow! I can't believe I ran into you here.
5.1.4. Jessica told me that you're having a baby!
6. QUOTATION MARK
6.1. We use quotation marks with direct quotes, with titles of certain works, to imply alternate meanings, and to write words as words.
6.1.1. For example: She said, "I read the chapter 'The Tall Tree' yesterday."
6.1.2. For example, Dr. King said, "I have a dream."
7. HYPHEN
7.1. Used to join words to indicate that they have a combined meaning or that they are linked in the grammar of a sentence (as in pick-me-up, rock-forming ), to indicate the division of a word at the end of a line, or to indicate a missing or implied element (as in short- and long-term ).
7.1.1. To join the words of a compound adjective (e.g., "five-page" document)
7.1.2. To join the words of compound noun (e.g., "cooking-oil") To join a prefix to a word (e.g., "re-examine").
8. PERIOD/FULL STOP
8.1. The most common use of the period is to end a sentence. The period should be placed directly behind the last letter of the last word of the sentence.
8.2. Maria cooks at night.
8.3. Erika is doing her homework.
9. COLON
9.1. A colon is used to give emphasis, introduce lists or text, to join two sentences, to expres time, to introduce a quote. Capitalize the first word after the colon only if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence. (He had one love: Selena Gomez the singer.)
9.2. Here’s a list of groceries I need: a loaf of bread, a quart of milk, and a stick of butter.
9.3. Jenny had an idea: she would pick up a cake on her way to her friend’s house.
9.4. It is 11:30 pm, and I need to go sleep.
9.5. “Bob seemed to like that idea:‘Yeah, let’s do that!'”
10. APOSTROPHES
10.1. The apostrophe has two functions: it marks possession, and it is used in contractions to indicate the place where the letters have been omitted. Possession. In singular, possession is marked by 's, written immediately after the possessor.
10.1.1. Possession In singular, possession is marked by ’s, written immediately after the possessor. (1) John’s car (2) the boy’s toy
10.1.2. Contraction The apostrophe is used with contractions and is placed at the spot of the omitted letter(s). Words that often are written in contracted form are: I am = I’m you are = you’re he is = he’s she is = she’s it is = it’s we are = we’re they are = they’re does not = doesn’t cannot = can’t (cannot is written as one word) should not = shouldn’t could not = couldn’t
11. QUESTION MARK
11.1. It is to indicate that a sentence is a question. Direct questions often (but not always) begin with a wh- word (who, what, when, where, why). ... But in writing, you need a question mark to signal to readers that they should read the sentence as a question.
11.1.1. When do we use a question mark?
12. SEMICOLON
12.1. semicolon (;) is a punctuation mark that has two main functions:
12.2. Semicolons separate items in a complex list. For example, The Council is comprised of ten members: three from Sydney, Australia; four from Auckland, New Zealand; two from Suva, Fiji; and one from Honiara, Solomon Islands. Semicolons join two closely related independent clauses. For example, Taylor hates the Friday commute; platform 24 is always overcrowded.
13. ELLIPSES
13.1. An ellipsis consists of either three or four periods, or dots. A single dot is called an ellipsis point. ... An ellipsis can indicate the omission of words in the middle of a quoted sentence or the omission of sentences within a quoted paragraph.
13.1.1. “Call me Jonah. . . . They called me John.''
13.1.2. Andrew, can you, um . . . never mind, I forgot what I was saying.
14. SLASH
14.1. 1-A slash is often used to indicate "or": 2-Use a slash for fractions: ... 3-Use a slash to indicate "per" in measurements of speed, prices etc: ... 4-People often use a slash in certain abbreviations: ... 5-A slash is often used in dates to separate day, month and year
14.1.1. Dear Sir/Madam (Sir or Madam)
14.1.2. 2/3 (two thirds)
14.1.3. he speed limit is 100 km/h. (kilometres per hour)
14.1.4. n/a (not applicable, not available)
14.1.5. It was invented on 11/30/2007. (November 30th, 2007)