PunctuationBeginner

Punctuation Essentials

The full stop, comma, semicolon, colon, apostrophe, question mark and inverted commas — what each one does, with the comma and apostrophe errors examiners look for.

Punctuation marks make writing clear. A misplaced comma or apostrophe can change the meaning — and in precis and essays, it costs marks.

Full stop (.)

Ends a statement or a polite command: The meeting is at ten. Also used in some abbreviations: Dr., etc.

Question mark (?) and exclamation mark (!)

A direct question ends with a question mark: Where are you going? An indirect question does not: He asked where I was going. Use the exclamation mark for strong feeling, and use it sparingly in formal writing.

Comma (,)

To separate items in a list: tea, coffee, juice and water.
After an introductory word or clause: However, the plan failed. When the bell rang, the students left.
Around extra information: Lahore, the capital of Punjab, is famous for its food.
Before and, but, or, so joining two complete sentences: I called him, but he didn't answer.
Not between a subject and its verb: ✗ The students in the class, were noisy.

Comma splice — a common error

Two complete sentences cannot be joined with only a comma.

Semicolon (;)

Joins two closely related complete sentences, and separates list items that already contain commas.

Colon (:)

Introduces a list, an explanation or a quotation, after a complete sentence.

Apostrophe (')

Possession: the boy's book (one boy), the boys' books (more than one boy), the children's toys (irregular plural).
Contractions: don't, it's, they're.
Never for ordinary plurals: ✗ apple's for sale → ✓ apples for sale.

Inverted commas (" ")

Enclose the exact words of a speaker. The comma or full stop goes inside the closing mark.