Punctuation marks are part of a writer’s toolbox. They are meant to help readers understand what you’re trying to convey. But did you know that when people began putting their thoughts into writing, they were able to get by without punctuation as we know it for thousands of years? Only when literacy increased and writing became the main form of conveying information did the idea of punctuation really take hold.

Most people understand what punctuation marks mean, but many are in the dark about how to actually deploy them. Here are five of the most-used punctuation marks and some basic points to keep in mind.

 

The period, a.k.a. the full stop

You might think that these are easy to use, but you’d be surprised at how many people overcomplicate them, particularly when writing quotations or dialogue. Here are some key tips to remember:

• If the sentence ends with a question mark or exclamation point, you don’t need an additional period.

Correct: What a surprise!

Incorrect: What a surprise!.

• American English includes the period inside quotations marks.

Somerset Maugham once said, “The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.”

• British English places unquoted periods outside the quotation marks, unless the quote comprises a full sentence.

Somerset Maugham once said, that the ability to quote “is a serviceable substitute for wit”.

 

Commas

Many people dread commas because they have so many uses, and sometimes multiple rules of usage conflict and compete with one another. How do you know which rule to use?

A simple rule of thumb is to read your sentences out loud and use a comma whenever you take a breath or pause. Most people also know that commas should be used to separate items in a list. Unfortunately, though, commas are everywhere and these two rules just don’t cut it.

Honestly, we can’t do the comma justice in just part of a blog post. There are several conventions about the use of commas that are easy to forget, and there are also structural rules for commas that can get a little hairy. You’ll be better off bookmarking a great site like this one for future reference. (Of course, our great team of Stickler editors can also relieve you of your comma stress!)

 

Apostrophes

These subtle marks are often used incorrectly. They serve two main purposes:

• They show possession.

  Steve’s car, the dog’s bone, the bee’s knees

• They form contractions.

  You’re (meaning “you are,”) and I’m (for “I am.”)

Thinking about the above can be helpful for remembering the difference between your, which denotes possession, and you’re, which means “You are.”

One thing that apostrophes never do is create plurals. There is only one exception that you’ll need to know, and that’s in the case of “do’s”—as in, several things that you should or must do (such as “here’s a list of do’s and don’ts”). The reason for this is simple: without the apostrophe, “do’s” would look like “dos,” which would be very confusing.

 

Colons

More than a body part, colons are often either ignored or overused.

• They can denote the start of a list.

  I want you to pick up three things: bananas, chips, and Diet Coke.

• They’re often used when the second part of the sentence serves as an explanation of the first part.

Harold had three hobbies in his life: ballroom dance on the weekends, basketball with his colleagues during the week, and golf once or twice a month.

 

Semicolons

These punctuation marks are useful when neither a comma nor a period seem right. They’re often used to connect two sentences that have related ideas.

My mother works from home; however, she needs to make time to socialize and be less isolated.

You could use but or so in place of “; however”—or the sentence could be separated into two with a period.

Note that both colons and semicolons should be used sparingly. They can exhaust your reader and turn paragraphs into walls of text that are not enjoyable to read. Often, two separate sentences are preferable to a lengthy sentence with several parts.

 

Still confused?

Don’t worry. Using punctuation carefully and correctly takes serious study and years of practice. We here at Stickler can help. Unlike most people, we enjoy debating the validity of Oxford commas and the word tricolon doesn’t scare us. Contact us today, so we can make sure that your academic papers or business texts are punctuated correctly. It always helps to have a second set of eyes checking every period, comma, and semicolon.