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Punctuation marks are the lifeblood of a composition. Like traffic lights at a busy intersection, they make us pause, move a bit, grind to a full stop, and do other things to bring us safely to our destination. AHEAD Interactive gives a simple guide to punctuation marks.


Period

  • A period stands for a full stop in a sentence.

Example:  John is happy today.

  • It is also used for abbreviations of words.

Example: corp. (corporation), tel. no. (telephone number), etc. (etcetera), and others.


Comma

  • A comma breaks separate ideas or parts of the sentence, so that thoughts may be better understood. Use a comma in between items in a series or list.

Example: reading, writing, and arithmetic

  • Use a comma between three or more adjectives or adverbs.

Example: Her hair is long, shiny, and black.

  • Commas take the place of the word “and” in between two adjectives.  Example: A short, simple thank you is enough.
  • Commas are used for numbers over 999.

Example: 2,000

  • Use a comma for addresses, dates, and titles after a name.

Examples:

22 Xavierville St., White Plains, Quezon  City, Philippines

November 9, 1990

Fred Cruz, English professor

  • Use a comma before or after a direct quote.

Example: He said, “I shall return.”

  • Commas are used before a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) to join two independent clauses.

Example: She wanted to join the fun run, but it was too hot.

  • Use commas for parenthetical elements, or parts of a sentence that can be deleted without changing its meaning.

Example: Mike, her former boyfriend, is now in the States.

  • Use a comma after an introductory element.  It is optional if the introductory element is short and simple.

Example: As the exam date drew near, he realized that he still had a lot of lessons to review.

  • An adverbial clause at the beginning of a sentence needs a comma

Example: If she finishes college, her dad will give her a new car.


Hyphen

  • Not to be confused with a dash, the hyphen is a very short horizontal line placed in between words. It is used in compound adjectives before nouns.

Example: a well-bred girl.

  • Hyphens are used with certain prefixes.

Example: pro- (pro-life), anti- (anti-littering), all- (all-encompassing), ex- (ex-president)

  • A prefix that comes before a capitalized word needs hyphen.

Example: pro-Aquino

  • Use a hyphen for writing fractions.

Example: one-third

  • A hyphen shows that a word has been broken at the end of a line.
  • Use a hyphen for “suspended compounds.” When there are similar compounds put together, repeating the last part of the compound is not necessary.

Example: There are many first- and second-grade pupils in the playground.


Dash

  • A dash is a horizontal line that shows a pause or break in meaning. A dash is often used informally instead of a comma, a colon, or brackets. A dash  (-) is longer than a hyphen (-).
  • Use a dash to show a pause or break in meaning in the middle of a sentence.

Example: Her friends-Tanya and Carmela- instantly forgave her.

  • Use a dash to show an afterthought.

Example: Those words were supposed to be his parting shot-or so he thought.

  • A dash can introduce a list.

Example: There were many good finds at the garage sale-toys, chairs, clothes, and linens.

  • Use a dash to show missing letters or words:

Example: The actress who fumbled her lines is C —-a .


Question Mark

  • The main function of a question mark is to indicate a query.

Example: What did you have for breakfast?