Punctuation rules

a full stop [.]

i) to indicate the end of a sentence

ii) in direct speech, to indicate the end of a spoken sentence,

iii) in certain abbreviations, such as M.A.,

a question mark [?]

i) at the end of a direct question,

ii) at the end of a question in direct speech,

iii) at the end of question tags,

an exclamation mark [!]

i) at the end of an exclamatory sentence,

ii) at the end of an exclamation in direct speech,

a comma [,]

i) to separate items in a list of nouns, adjectives, adverbs or clauses,

ii) to separate main clauses that describe consecutive actions,

iii) after a subordinate clause which precedes the main clause,

iv) before and after a non-defining relative clause,

v) to separate an introductory word or phrase from the main part of the sentence,

vi) after "Yes" or "No" at the beginning of a sentence,

vii) in direct speech,

a colon [:]

i) before words or phrases which refer back to the statement preceding the colon and give a fuller explanation of the statement (which makes complete sense on its own),

ii) to introduce examples (which might be complete sentences in themselves),

iii) to introduce a quotation,

a semi-colon [;]

i) to divide parts of a sentence each of which is a complete sentence on its own, but whose meanings are closely connected. It shows a pause which is longer than a comma but shorter than a full stop,

a dash [– ]

i) to separate a word or phrase which is independent of the rest of the sentence. It may precede a comment or definition, or serve to emphasize the words which follow,

ii) to show an interruption in speech,

a hypen [-]

i) in some compound nouns,

ii) in some compound adjectives,

iii) to link a prefix with a proper or abstract noun,

iv) to separate a prefix from a word whose first letter is the same as the last letter of the prefix,

v) in numbers between tens and units,

vi) when expressions of measurement, amount or quantity are used as adjectives before a noun,

parentheses or brackets [()] are used

to separate additional information or a comment from the rest of the sentence

an apostrophe [‘] is used

where letters are omitted in contracted forms,

ii) to denote possession,

➢ in singular nouns, before the possessive “s”,

➢ in plural nouns, after the possessive “s”,

➢ in irregular plurals, before the “s”, e.g. men’s clothing, women’s voices, children’s

interests.

iii) with certain words showing time duration

➢ in the singular,

➢ in the plural