Last time I explained the importance of punctuations. Today, I will continue by elaborating the meaning of the main punctuations and how they are expected to be used.

What Is A Punctuation

→ A punctuation is simply a sign or mark used in a written sentence to make it easy to read and understand
→ It is a way of conveying the exact intended meaning of spoken language

How A Comma Or Two Can Change The Meaning Of A Sentence

Consider the illustration of the famous story of Mrs Abington, the actress who played in the first performance of Sheridan’s School for Scandal. After the show she found a note, in her dressing room, left by her rival actress Mary Robinson. The piece of note had the following simple sentence:

“Mary Robinson says Mrs Abington is the greatest actress”

Mrs Abington, who was equally kind-hearted, added two commas and sent the note back. The simple sentence was majestically changed to:

“Mary Robinson, says Mrs Abington, is the greatest actress”

You see, now the meaning completely changed.

No Exact Rules To Guide The Usage Of Punctuations

No two writers will ever punctuate a passage or piece of writing in the same manner. Just like an artist, punctuation varies with the author’s taste and style (or creativity). But they will all conform to general principles to convey the same meaning.

The General Principles Of Punctuation

1) Full stop
→ Used to denote the end of a sentence
→ Indicates the longest and strongest pause between groups of words.
→ Also used as part of Abbreviations

E.g:
M.P. (Member of Parliament)
M.A. (Master of Arts)

But if the contraction includes the final letter of the word, the full stop should be omitted
E.g: Dr, Mr, Ltd, .. etc.
So do not confuse Abbreviations with contractions

2) Comma
→ Used to denote the shortest natural pause between groups of words
→ But it is used in several different circumstances to give different meaning to a sentence. (I will elaborate on this in a later session)
→ The use of commas is often intuitive, try to find out where a pause is needed in spoken language

3) Semicolon
→ Used to separate sentences of equal importance (co-ordinate sentences). In such a case, a semicolon is more appropriate than a conjunction.
E.g: Your presentation pleased my boss; I was so delighted.

→ Used to mark or indicate an important pause.
E.g:
You played a fabulous match today; I have observed how you bore your fatigue; this was a real test for you; and you received it as a challenge.

→ Used with words like therefore, however, nevertheless, besides, also, otherwise,.. etc. Joining these sentences with a semicolon has a stronger effect than just using conjunctions like ‘and’

E.g:
- Ali has done a remarkable job with my car; therefore I will pay him well.
- Bloggers must take more exercise; otherwise they will get fat.

4) Colon
→ Next longest pause to full stop
→ To introduce a quotation or a speech not depending on a verb
→ often followed by a dash, like :-
E.g:
- Rocky is not going to join our mutual deal: we could not offer him a big enough salary.

→ To introduce a number of items in a list or enumerations
E.g:
Having a credible website online involves: buying a hosting space, buying an address or domain and having a package or framework to display contents in the way we desire.

5) Interrogation note (note of interrogation) or question mark
→ Used when you are asking a direct question, but not after an indirect one.

E.g:
Direct: I said to him, “When are you going back?”
Indirect: I asked him when he was going back.

6) Exclamation note or note of exclamation
→ Used after interjections
→ Used after groups of words or sentences expressing emotion or a wish
→ Used after an exclamatory sentence

E.g:
What a wonderful blog!
I love you Alisha!
I wish my blog gets more readers!

7) Apostrophe
→ Used to show the omission of a letter or letters.
E.g:
I’ve ==> I have
don’t ==> I do not
it’s ==> it is
O’Clock ==> of the clock

→ Used to denote the possessive case of nouns
E.g:
Wakish’s blog
My brother’s car

Quotation mark or inverted commas
→ Used to enclose direct speech
→ Used at the beginning and end of a quotation

9) Dash (single dash)
→ Used to indicate an amendation or an unexpected turn in a sentence
→ Used to define items following a general description
E.g:
I invest all I have in this blog - money, time, energy, knowledge and skills.

All those general principles and definition of punctuation might vary slightly from author to author, writer to writer or blogger to blogger; but the basics nevertheless remains the same!

1) Initiated ==> started

My interest for stamp collection was initiated by my dad.

2) Encouraged ==> prompted

My dad used to show me his stamp collection. He also encouraged me to take up this hobby.

3) Leisure ==> free time

I enjoy blogging very much. It is an enjoyable and educational way of spending my leisure hours.

4) Seldom ==> rarely

My brother is seldom at home. He works night hours too.

5) Untidy ==> disorderly

The Simpson family has one of the most untidy houses in the row.

Read The Previous Editions:
=> Enrich English Language

Continuing with my aim to helping you write clearly, concisely, effectively and pertinently, today we will see exactly about what are punctuations and their importance. In a later session, I will also give you a detailed definition of each of those punctuations and where they are expected to be used.

The Main Punctuation Marks

Purpose Of Punctuation In Writing

=> To give written words the intended meaning and expression of the spoken words.

Converting spoken words into a written form is a critical process. If you fail to convey the exact intended meaning of what Mr X said, you are essentially conveying the message in a different form which may entail consequences. Let’s take an example.
Consider the following 3 phrases:
1) Jonas beats James in the running competition.
2) Jonas beats James to run in the competition.
3) James beats Jonas while running.

Do these three sentences have the same meaning? Of course not!

Spoken Words Can Be Conveyed Appropriately In Written Words

Just as the meaning of spoken words are varied by pauses or by changing the tone of the voice (voice inflexion), the meaning of written words may also be varied by the use of punctuation.
Therefore, a sound knowledge of the principles of punctuation is essential to convey clear expression.

Definition Of Punctuation Marks

In speaking, it is customary to make pauses or change the inflexion of the voice where the sense requires it. In writing, to indicate the reader the effect or feeling of those pauses and inflexion, we make use of certain signs or marks. Those signs or marks are named as ‘punctuation marks‘.

Important Points To Be Noted With Punctuation

1) In the same way as a change in the order of words in a sentence may bring about a change in the meaning, an alteration in the punctuation may involve an alteration in the meaning too.

Example:
A1) “Your hand, Samantha, ”
B2) “Your hand, Samantha?”

These two phrases have different meaning which are indicated by the punctuation marks.
In spoken language, phrase A1 would indicate a statement while phrase B2 is an enquiry. Now in written language, if you don’t convey meaning correctly by using the appropriate punctuations and at the right positions in the sentence, you will undoubtedly convey a different idea.

2) Good punctuation shows that a student or a writer has a good knowledge of grammatical structure. And to understand the latter, you should obviously grasp what is a simple sentence, a complex sentence and the meaning of each punctuation marks and where to use them. Hopefully, I will discuss all these in future sessions as we go gradually and grow our “Good Writing Skills By Learning The Basics Of The English Language”

Updated:
=> The next Session is here: ‘General Principles Of Punctuation - What Are Punctuations And How To Use Them‘

Previously in the English Language Basics series, I explained about:

• The Eight Classes Grouping All Words In The English Language
• How To Classify Words Into Parts Of Speech
• Anatomy Of A Simple Sentence In English Language

A Quick Recap

1) Parts of speech are classes or groups into which words are divided or classified according to their use in speech of writing. There are eight classes or parts of speech: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, proposition, conjunction, interjection.

2) We have also seen that a word can be used as various parts of speech, that is, it is polymorphic.
Example:

• This is a light room
• Sarah will light the gas
• The light is dim right now

As you can observe, the word ‘light‘ is being used under the same form, but conveying different meaning in each sentence. With simple sentences, such as above, it might be easy to guess their form, but what about when sentences get complex? This is why I have brought forward the ‘Test For Parts Of Speech‘.

How To Find Out The Parts Of Speech Of Words?

The following questions should be asked:
1) Find out which words in the sentence is saying something about an object?
=> Those words are verbs

2) Which words are names?
=> These are nouns

3) Which words stand in the place of nouns?
=> These are pronouns

4) Which words describe or qualify a noun or pronoun?
=> These are adjectives

5) Which words modify other groups of words (aka parts of speech)?
=> These are adverbs

6) Which parts of speech show the relation of an object to something else?
=> These are prepositions

7) Which are merely exclamatory?
=> These are interjections

The Test At Work - The Example

Consider the sentence:
‘The CEO of the firm immediately asked problogger whether he would accept this small gift’.

The analysis:

1) Words like ‘asked‘, ‘would accept‘, make statements; they show an action - hence these are verbs.

2) ‘CEO‘, ‘firm‘, ‘problogger‘, ‘gift‘ are names. They are thus nouns.

3) ‘he‘ stands for ‘problogger‘, so it is a pronoun.

4) ‘the‘, ‘motivated‘, ‘this‘, ‘small‘ describe ‘CEO‘, ‘problogger‘, ‘gift‘ respectively - they are adjectives.

5) ‘immediately‘ tells us something about the ‘asking‘, it tells us when that action took place - It’s an adverb.

6) ‘whether‘ joins the two sentences: ‘The CEO.. problogger‘ and ‘he… gift.‘
Therefore, it is a conjunction.

7) The word ‘of‘ connects the nouns ‘firm‘ and ‘CEO‘, it is obviously a preposition.

Daily Short Exercise For You - The Reader!

=> Break the sentence of the example above into: subjects, predicates, verbs and objects..etc.
Hint: Read Anatomy Of A Simple Sentence