How to Use English Punctuation Correctly

English punctuation is becoming increasingly poorly used with the advance of the typed word and shorthand messaging. Should you require an all-inclusive source for the correct use of English punctuation, perhaps to ensure the perfect presentation of a paper which you hope to submit, then this article should be of great help.

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Steps

1- Using the double quotation marks.The double quotation (“) suggests a direct quotation from an outside source or from speech. They should enclose the quotation. 

The Economist magazine suggested that “the Euro is beginning to weaken”.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve got this right” said William.

2- The single quotation marks/ apostrophe. The single quotation mark or apostrophe (‘) has many uses.

The single quotation mark can be used within a quotation to specify a quotation within a quotation, or when ironically referring to, or colloquially phrasing, a word or group of words within a specific context. 

John said, “Chris ensured me that, ‘he was the best player by far'”

Janine had been crying for hours, her ‘strong’ will had become irritating

Use the apostrophe to indicate possession. There is a difference between using an apostrophe with singular or plural nouns. A singular noun will use ‘s, whereas the plural version of that singular noun will use s’. 

The rat’s face was fat.

In the cages, the rats’ food needed replacing.

Be aware of nouns that are already plural, such as women. In this case, should the object or objects belong to the women, it would be women’s. Note that some pronouns already indicate possession such as his or hers. Their, as a predicate adjective, become theirs. 

Apostrophes should not be used to plural a singular i.e. the plural of ball would be balls, not ball’s.

Apostrophes are also used to contract two words together, for example you are, becomes you’re 

3-Properly end sentences. Sentences should end with either a full stop/period (.), a question mark (?), or an exclamation mark (!).

Full stops should be used to simply indicate the end of a normal sentence, whereas a question mark should be used when asking a question or making an enquiry.

Are you finding this article useful?

The exclamation mark should be used to place emphasis on a statement or to indicate excitement.

There’s only two more days left until the end of the school year!

4- Using the comma. Commas (,) are the one type of punctuation that allows room for personal preference. It is used to indicate a pause, to group relevant words in a list, or to allow easier reading of a sentence. 

A comma should be used when directly addressing another person. 

Charlotte, get your knickers on and go make us a cup of tea.

Pay attention when using commas to separate direct quotations. You should place a comma following the last word before a quotation, however commas are not necessary when only quoting in part.

When discussing after dinner activities, Shelley asked, “Are you still hungry?”

Shelley and I later discussed how “quite fantastic” I was.

Commas should be used to denote an appositive or a break in the sentence, making room for additional information.

The footwear store, specialising in running shoes, has changed location.  

Commas should also be used in series when there are three or more items within a list.

The footwear store stocks Nike, Adidas, and DC trainers.

A comma should be used when the subject has two or more adjectives being used to describe it. A comma should not be used following the final adjective.

The fresh, ripe, juicy melons.

Commas should be used when referring to specifics of a location.

I went to visit Nelson’s Column in London, England.

A comma should be used to separate two independent clauses within a sentence that are connected by a conjunction (such as however, yet, but, nor). The commas should be placed before the conjunction. 

Sammy was very much flustered whilst at the shopping centre, yet she was out in public so had no means of relief.

A comma should be used after a prefix, or an introductory phrase, to a sentence. 

Once it became dark, Sarah and Andrew returned to the party.

5- Appreciate the difference between the colon and the semicolon

The colon (: ) can be used to introduce a list, however it should only be used following a full, stand-alone sentence. 

I had a great night out and needed to choose between three women: a blonde, a brunette, and a midget.

The semicolon (;) can be used to separate two separate but independent clauses.

It’s been hard to sleep recently; Jenny has become particularly active at night.

A semicolon can also be used to separate between related items in a series where commas alone may be confusing. 

I had an encounter with a young lady named Anna, an old acquaintance; her step-sister, Judy; and her friend, Chloe. 

6- Know when to use a hyphen or the dash. The hyphen was most commonly used in the days of typewriters where words would be connected over different lines, however it is still used today when adding a prefix to certain words that would be hard to pronounce or read without its use, when creating compound words from several words, or to separate written numbers (for numbers greater than 100, hyphen only the latter written two numbers). 

I went back to the clinic for my condition to be re-assessed.

Visits from my girlfriend’s step-sister were always much anticipated. 

At thirty-two I shouldn’t be transfixed by women in their early twenties. I wonder whether I’ll still be doing the same when one hundred thirty-two.

The dash ( –/—) is useful for briefly interrupting a statement, to add additional comment, or to dramatically qualify a statement. It is preferable to not use dashes should the sentence still make sense without it. 

She was incredibly beautiful — you know me by now —there was no way that I could turn her down.

7- Learn about brackets, braces and parentheses. Use parentheses (()) to add a personal comment, to clarify meaning, or to make an after-thought comment. Be sure to include the period after the closing parenthesis, except in the case where the entire sentence is within parentheses.

Anna (the chick we met last night), texted me this morning.

Use brackets ([]) when surmising, or clarifying a direct quote, or to align the spirit of the quote with the manner in which you choose to write your sentence. 

“It hurt so much, it was huge [the needle]”, said Amy, referring to her last trip to the clinic. 

Braces ({}) are very rarely used in traditional writing. They are more common in mathematics. They can be used to indicate a set of related choices.

Pick your preferred tool for the job { spanner, monkey wrench, pliers } and get to work.

8- Be consistent with your use of the slash. The slash (/) has a few different uses. It can be used when quoting lyrics.

How many roads must a man walk down / before you can call him a man / how many seas must the White Dove sail / Before she sleeps in the sand.

The slash can also be used to separate and/or, or when not wishing to specify between the sex of the subject of the sentence.

It is important that he/she, takes his/her seat, as soon as they enter the building. 

Similarly, the slash can also be used when uncertainty between the title of the subject of the sentence. 

The maid/housekeeper was polishing his trophy. 

Tips

If you are a professional writer, your employer will most likely have specific guideline as to how they like their articles/pages punctuated. 

Parentheses indicate a more profound “side notion” than commas or dashes.

U.K. English has preferences in placing closing sentence punctuation outside of quotation marks.