5th Class English Capitalization and Punctuation Punctuation

LEARNING OBJECTIVES            

This lesson will help you to:

• understand different marks of punctuation.
• learn the application of punctuation marks.  

QUICK CONCEPT REVIEW             

Those symbols which indicate the structure of written language are known as "Punctuation marks'. These symbols are often used to disambiguate the meaning of the sentence, separating or breaking sentences and showing the reader where sentences start and finish.   Some of the commonly used punctuation marks are mentioned follows:

(1) Period or full stop (.)

(2) Comma (,)

(3) Colon (:)

(4) Semicolon (;)

(5) Apostrophe (')

(6) Question mark (?)

(7) Exclamation mark (!)

(8) Quotation mark or Inverted comma ("")

(9)  Dash(-)

(10) Parentheses ( )  

FULL STOPS AND COMMAS

Full stops are used to mark the end of a sentence or a group of words.            

Example: The meeting lasted for three hours.             

A comma is used to separate a sentence or to give a pause before continuing the sentence. Comma is also used before certain conjunctions or to separate the elements in the list of three or more items.             

Example: His favourite puddings are apple pie. Ice cream, rhubarb crumble and jelly.  

COLONS AND SEMICOLONS             

Colon is generally used to introduce an idea that is an explanation or continuation of the one that comes before the colon. It is also used after a complete sentence to introduce a list of items when introductory words such as namely, for example, or that is, do not appear.             

Example: I want the following items: butter, sugar, and flour.             

A semicolon is used to connect to two closely related independent clauses. It is also used to join phrases and sentences without having to use a conjunction.             

Example: Meet me tomorrow; I will give you my answer then.  

APOSTROPHE             

The mark of apostrophe is used to indicate the omission of one or more letters in a word.             

Example: This is Rohan's car.  

QUESTION AND EXCLAMATION MARKS             

A question mark is used to turn a statement into a question. It is used at the end of the sentence to indicate a query.             

Example: What is your name?             

An exclamation mark is used to end the sentence to show feeling like anger, surprise or joy. A sentence with exclamation mark should be read with excitement.             

Example: He shouted at her, 'Go away! I am busy'.    

QUOTATION MARK OR INVERTED COMMA (" ")             

Quotation mark is used to show the beginning and the end of a word or phrase that are of higher importance or special.             

Example: My father always said, "Be careful what you wish for."  

DASH            

A dash is used to show a pause or break in the meaning or indicate sudden change in thought.         

Example: My brothers?Richard and John?are visiting London.  

PARENTHESIS          

Parenthesis is used to add further explanation or comment that is relevant with the main subject. In simple words, we can say that parenthesis is used to add extra information to a sentence.             

Example: I just had an accident with our new car. (My father doesn't know yet.)