PUNCTUATION

Punctuation marks clarify the meaning of the sentence. Look at the following examples:

Ø I want to eat friends.

Ø I want to eat, friends.

They have different meanings. The first sentence without a comma means that I want to eat friends. Through the second sentence, I mean that I want to eat something with friends. Look at another example:

Ø Rohit said I’m happy.

Ø Rohit said, “I’m happy.”

The first sentence without punctuation means that I am happy. He simply pointed to me. He did not point to himself. In the second sentence, Rohit said that he was happy.

The punctuation marks in English are: full stop (.), question mark (?), exclamation mark (!), colon (:), semicolon (;), coma (,), apostrophe comma ('), underscore (__), quotation marks (“ “), parenthesis (), Brackets [], Asterisk (*), Ampersand (&), number sign (#), hyphen (-), Dash (--), forward slash (/), backward slash ( \), ellipsis (...), tilde ( ~), Grave accent (`)

We use punctuation marks such as full stop, exclamation, and a question mark at the end of our thought. But we also use punctuations in the middle of the sentence. Using these punctuation marks in the middle of the sentence is not so simple. We can use more than one punctuation mark in the same place. Example:

Ø Karim is a good student. He always makes good results.

Ø Karim is a good student; he always makes good results.

Ø Karim is a good student—he always makes good results.

Ø Karim is a good student: he always makes good results.

Ø Karim is a good student because he always makes good results.

Ø Ø TERMINAL PUNCTUATION:

We use terminal punctuation to end sentences. There are three end marks:

§ Period / full stop (.)

§ Exclamation mark (!)

§ Question mark (?)

v Period

This mark is known as a period in American English and full stop in British English.

1. Period is used to end three types of sentences:

o Assertive / Declarative sentences

Declarative sentence declares something to tell or inform.

ü I love to read and write.

ü We had our dinner at 8pm.

ü If you work hard, we will be able to achieve your goal.

o Imperative sentence (commands, request, propose)

ü Please don’t do this.

ü Let me finish the job.

ü Open the window.

o Optative Sentence

ü May God bless you.

ü May our president live long.

2. Period is also used to mark abbreviations

ü U.S.A., U.K., A.D., B.C. etc.

v Exclamation mark

1. Exclamation mark is used to release sudden emotion or feeling.

ü I’m really excited about my result. (no emotion)

ü I’m really excited about my result! (excitement)

Both of them carry the same meaning. The first sentence which ends in a period has no special feeling or emotion. That is why we use the exclamation mark. It tells the reader to read the sentence with emotion. In this sentence, the emotion is excitement.

ü If you come to the office late tomorrow, you’re fired! (anger)

Imagine what authority is saying to an employee. This expresses anger. In the same way, you can express many other feelings including surprise, joy, fear, sorrow using the exclamation mark. By the way, both of these sentences are declarative, but you can also use the exclamation in an imperative sentence like the following one:

ü Rohit, never play with fire! (strict command)

You can imagine a father saying that angrily to his son. So, it’s a strong or strict command.

2. Another place where we use the exclamation mark is after an interjection.

ü Wow! How beautiful the scenery is! (amazement)

ü Ouch! You just stepped on my foot! (Pain)

Interjections are words like ouch, wow which are used to express feeling. So, remember, if you want to convey strong emotion in a sentence, put an exclamation mark at the end of it. If there is no special feeling, terminate the sentence with a period.

v Question mark

It is used to mark the end of a question:

ü What does he want?

ü If he doesn’t come, Will, he receive any punishment?

ü Are you happy with your new job?

ü Whom do you like most?

Exercise

Add periods (full stops), exclamation marks, and question marks:

1. The sun rises in the east It sets in the west

2. I’m going to College Do you want to come along

3. We will get in touch with you when you have a job opening

4. Why are you still here I told you to go out

Answer

5. The sunrises in the east. It sets in the west.

6. I’m going to a Shopping mall. Do you want to come along?

7. We will get in touch with you when you have a job opening.

8. Why are you still here I told you to go out?

Spacing

Notice that there is no space between the last letter of the sentence and the terminal punctuation mark. If you put a space there, it’s wrong. But when you begin a new sentence, you should leave a space after the terminal mark and you should start the new sentence with a capital letter.

Capital letters are called upper case letters and small letters are called lowercase letter

Pauses

Pauses tell the reader to stop briefly and then continue reading. Three marks fall under that category:

§ Comma (,)

§ Semicolon (;)

§ Colon (:)

These are called pauses because they are used to tell the reader to stop briefly for a moment and then continue reading.

v Comma (,)

This mark has four main uses:

1. To separate items in a list

ü We need to buy milk, eggs, butter, and sugar for the cake.

There are four items in the list separated by the commas. Notice when we read the sentence, we naturally pause after each item in the list: milk, eggs, butter, and sugar. The task of a comma is to show these pauses. You may have learned from your teacher that it is wrong to put the last comma before the end. But it is absolutely your choice because there is no fixed rule about it. You can include that comma or you can leave it out if you wish. I like to always put it there to avoid confusion.

If there are only two items, we don’t use a comma.

ü We need to buy a pen and pencil for the cake.

If you have more than two, put a comma after every list item except the last. Notice that there is no space before the comas but there is a space after each one. This is the correct formatting. Please remember it.

1.b. To separate verb phrases:

ü Why don’t you go upstairs, take a shower, and get ready to leave?

In this example, the list items are not single words, they are verb phrases. This is the first use. The second use is to

2. Separate words that are not part of the sentence.

ü Unfortunately, he missed his flight.

Here the main sentence is “He missed his Flight.” “Unfortunately” is the writer’s opinion. It expresses the writer’s opinion about the sentence. This kind of word is called sentence adverb. Some of them are frankly, hopefully, thankfully, etc.

Another form of extra information is the form of address.

ü Emma, can you come here and help me with this?

Emma is a name. The word 'sir' or 'madam' is also a form of address.

ü Sir, please have a seat.

ü Ma’am, can I get you something to eat?

Notice the commas after the name and after sir or ma’am. This brings an important point about formal letters and emails.

3. In the salutation (greeting) we use 'dear'. We say:

Dear sir Dear Madam Dear sir or Madam Dear Sita

Should we put a comma at the end? There are different usages for American and British English. In British, we always put a comma at the end. In American English, We use a colon (:).

In closing the most common form of expressions are:

Yours faithfully, Yours sincerely, Yours truly, (less formal)

After all of these, we must always put a comma. This is true for both American and British English.

4. We use comma to separate linking words: however, therefore, for example, in fact, of course, etc.

These words connect one sentence with another sentence. Here are some examples.

ü Her parents wanted her to be a doctor. However, she had other plans.

ü This is a great book. In fact, it is one of the best I have ever read.

In these sentences, the linking words (however, in fact) at the beginning are followed by a comma. They also occur in the middle of the sentence and the meaning is the same.

ü This is a great book. It is, in fact, one of the best I have ever read.

Now, we see that we use two comas to clearly separate the linking words from the rest of the sentence.

Sometimes, linking words can also occur at the end. In that case, one comma is enough because the sentence then ends with a period.

5. To separate a dependent clause

A clause is just like a sentence.

ü We went to the beach last weekend.

ü When Rahul gets home from work

Notice that the first one is a complete sentence. So, this is called an independent clause. But the second one is not complete. The second one is not a complete sentence. So, it is called a dependent clause because we need to complete the sentence by adding an independent clause.

ü When Rahul gets home from work, he watches TV for an hour.

The first clause is called the dependent clause because it depends on the independent clause. A dependent clause is also called a subordinate clause. Remember an independent clause is a complete sentence.

6. When two independent clauses are connected by any coordinating conjunction (and, or, but, so, etc.), we put a comma before that coordinating conjunction.

ü I told him to buy me candy, and so he went to market.

In this sentence, I used the conjunction 'and. If you don’t use conjunction, it is wrong. It is a common error called a comma splice. A comma splice means connecting two independent clauses with only one comma. So, need to follow the following structure:

First independent clause + comma + coordinating conjunction + second independent clause

Dependent clause + Independent clause

ü If you study more, your grade might improve

ü I was so happy when I heard the news.

If the dependent or subordinate clause comes first, put a comma after it. In the next example, the first clause is independent and the second clause is dependent. In that case, the order is reversed. If the subordinate or dependent clause comes second, then you do not use a comma.

7. Clauses: relative / adjective clauses

Essential relative clause

ü That man is a litterateur who won the Nobel Prize in literature this year.

A relative clause or adjective clause gives information about nouns. A relative clause is introduced by a relative pronoun: who, which, whom, that. It is also introduced by a relative adverb: When, where, and what.

In above sentence “Who won the Noble Prize in Physics” gives more information about nouns. It tells us who that scientist is. Now, what happens when we remove this clause? “That lady is the scientist. That lady is what scientist I do not understand. So, this relative clause cannot be removed from the sentence and it is called the essential relative clause. The rule is that we don’t use commas with essential relative clauses.

Non-essential clause

ü People love to celebrate Pahela Baishakh which is the first day of the Bangla year.

This gives information about New Year. But, the meaning is clear. So, this clause is called a non-essential clause. This clause can be removed. It just gives extra information. We separate non-essential clauses with a comma.

Look at the following example

ü My friend Rohit whom you met at the party, just stood first in the exam.

So, let me ask you: is this essential or non-essential? It is non-essential because you can remove it as the sentence still make sense. We use two commas this time because the relative clause is in the middle of the sentence. So, these are all the rules for punctuating clauses correctly.

EXERCISE: ALL THE USES OF COMMA

ü Unless you finish your vegetables you cannot have any cake.

ü She was out looking for her dog all night but she couldn’t find him.

ü The top three websites in the world are google YouTube and Facebook.

ü Passengers must keep their seat belts fastened until the plane has landed.

ü People who live a sedentary lifestyle are at increased risk of heart disease.

ü The cheetah which can reach speeds up to 120 km / h is the fastest land animal in the world.

ü The popular movie star had a car accident last night. Thankfully he escaped with a few minor injuries.

Answers

ü Unless you finish your vegetables, you cannot have any cake.

ü She was out looking for her dog all night, but she couldn’t find him.

ü The top three websites in the world are Google, YouTube, and Facebook.

ü Passengers must keep their seat belts fastened until the plane has landed.

ü People who live a sedentary lifestyle are at increased risk of heart disease.

ü The cheetah, which can reach speeds up to 120 km / h, is the fastest land animal in the world.

ü The popular movie star had a car accident last night. Thankfully, he escaped with a few minor injuries.

v Semicolon (;)

1. It is used to combine closely related sentences:

ü I went to see a movie with my wife. I thought it was amazing. She thought it was terrible.

These two sentences are closely related. So, instead of ending a sentence and then starting a new one, we can do two things: we can either use the conjunction (I thought it was amazing, but she thought it was terrible); or, we may put a semicolon (I thought it was amazing; she thought it was terrible). So, we can combine two sentences into a single sentence without conjunction.

2. There are some linking words that we can use with a semicolon. These are called conjunctive adverbs. Words are like however, therefore, for example, in fact, etc.

ü Her parents wanted her to be a doctor. However, she had other plans.

ü Her parents wanted her to be a doctor; however, she had her plans.

ü This is a great book. In fact, it is one of the best I have ever read.

ü This is a great book; in fact, it is one of the best I have ever read.

3. Separating items in a list when the items themselves contain commas:

ü The team members include Jamal, the project manager; Rahim, the designer; and Karim, the developer.

4. Clarifying complex lists or series:

ü The store sells a variety of items: fruits, such as apples and oranges; vegetables, such as lettuce and carrots; and dairy products, such as milk and cheese.

5. Separating long or complicated items in a series:

ü The museum featured exhibits from various periods, including the Renaissance; the Baroque era; and the Romantic, Impressionist, and Modernist movements.

As with the other punctuation marks we have discussed so far, we leave no space before the semicolon but we leave a single space after it.

v Colon (:)

1. Colon is used to express the hidden meaning of a sentence.

Lists

ü I have three favorite football players: Messi, Ronaldo, and Zidan.

ü Whenever you drive, you must do the following: wear your seat belt, obey traffic laws, and keep your eyes on the road.

The information that comes after the colon can also be clause rather than list items. Let me make it very clear.

Clauses

ü Let me make this very clear: if you fail another test, I’m taking away all your video games. I’d love to move to Japan, but there is one big problem: I don’t speak any Japanese!

I want you to notice that before the colon there is an independent clause or a complete sentence. This is very important. Notice what happens when we rewrite the first sentence like this.

ü Danny’s seafood restaurant specializes in prawns, shrimp, crab, and lobster.

We cannot use a colon after in because after that word: “Danny’s seafood restaurant specializes in” is not a full complete sentence. It’s not an independent clause. So, remember that we only use a colon after a complete sentence, also known as an independent clause.

There is an exception though. And there are titles and headings where we want to save space. In those places, we see the usage of a colon after single words or phrases. But, in general, we use colon only after the independent clause. When you use a colon, don’t leave a space before it. do leave a space after it.

2. Colon is also used to provide an example.
ü He is a bad boy. For example: he smokes a cigarette.

3. Colon is also used to separate the speaker from his speech.
ü Karim: What are you doing, Rahim?
ü Rahim: I'm thinking about my final exam.

4. Colon is used to separate the ratio. For example:

üThe raion of girls to boys in this class is 3:2.

5. Colon is used to separate the main title from the subtitle.

ü"Pirates of the Caribean: Dead Man's Chest"

6. Colon is used to separate hours and minutes.

Our class will be held at 9:30.

Exercise

Add commas, semicolons, and colons where necessary.

ü Mr. and Mrs. Jones are very wealthy however they still live a simple life.

ü two major issues are facing our city today are worsening poverty and increasing violent crime.

ü You don’t have to eat the pudding if you don’t like it.

ü The most important principal in business is this respect your customers.

ü Each student learns in a different way. The teacher therefore must include activities that cater to various learning style.

Answers

ü Mr. and Mrs. Jones are very wealthy; however, they still live a simple life.

ü There are two major issues facing our city today: worsening poverty and increasing violent crime.

ü You don’t have to eat the pudding if you don’t like it.

ü The most important principal in business is this: respect your customers.

ü Each student learns in a different way. The teacher, therefore, must include activities that cater to various learning style.

v Dash (--)

The Dash is used for several reasons:

1. We use dash to give a break or sudden turn in a sentence.

ü If you worked hard—but why should I cry for the past?

2. We use dash to repeat the idea.

ü He is a good reader—probably the finest.

3. To create an important break.

ü Mr. Jamal is an intelligent, rich, literate, humble, and dashing but— a miser.

4. To provide extra information.

ü Even the fundamental rights—food, education, shelter—were denied

5. Dash is also used to break up dialogue.

ü Rohan began to explain, saying, “The wicket did”—“The wicket did not behave the way you expected,” a reporter interrupted.

v Hyphen (-)

The hyphen looks like dash but shorter than dash.

1. We use hyphen to make compound word.

ü I saw a one-eyed man.

ü I gave him a one-taka note.

ü She is Karim’s sister-in-law.

2. To join the parts of a word separated at the end of a line.

Note: Hyphen actually does not function like punctuation make. I behaves just like opposite.

v Asterisk

1. We use one asterisk to call attention, generally to footnotes.

2. We use more asterisks or dots to mean that some words, phrases or clauses have been deliberately omitted.

v Apostrophe (‘)

It is used for two purposes:
. 1. To mark contraction

Contraction is when we combine two words into a single word.

ü I’m a teacher. (I am…)

ü She’s waiting at the bus stop. (She is…)

ü He’d never take a bribe. (He would)

There are many other contractions in English. The apostrophe is used to indicate that a certain letter has been omitted or removed to make the contraction. We should always make sure that you put an apostrophe in the correct place. For example:

ü Pedro does not like the idea. (does’nt / doesn’t)

Another important thing with contractions is that you can always shorten or combine two words at a time, not more than that.

ü They are not coming to the party. They’re not coming to the party. (we cannot write they’re’nt coming to the party. In fact, it is wrong in speech also. So, we only contract two words at a time.

2. To mark possession

Possession refers to ownership or relationship.

ü Have you seen Rohan’s new car?

ü It is my brother’s birthday today.

ü Fobes Magazine publishes a list of the world’s most powerful people.

What do we do when words end with s already?

ü Thomas’ parents are coming to visit next week. Thomas’s parents are coming to visit next week.

ü He said he quit and walked out of the boss’ office. He said he quit and walked out of the boss’s office

ü The girls’ new gymnastics coach is an Olympic gold medalist! The girls’ new gymnastic coach is an Olympic gold medalist!

ü I have seven years' experience as an English teacher. I have seven years of experience as an English teacher.

In the last two sentences, we see the usage of -s with a plural noun that ends in -s. Only put an apostrophe. But, in the first two sentences, both options are correct. There is no strict rule. But make sure you pick one method and use the same thing throughout your writing. With apostrophe, we don’t leave a space before or after it but if it comes at the end of a word, we leave a space and then begin the next word.

3. To indicate plurals of numbers, letters, and symbols

There are 5 t's and 3 q's in this sentence.

v The inverted commas or Quotation marks (“ ”)

a. Quotation marks are used to express the exact words uttered by another speaker.

ü Rohan said to Rohit, “Are you happy?”

Note: We use single quotation marks if there is a quotation within a quotation.

ü “You may say”, said the teacher, “that ‘I couldn’t come to college because I was sick.”

b. The comma, the period, the exclamation, and question marks come within the Quotation Mark. Semicolon, colon, and dash always go outside the quotation marks.

v Bracket

1. Brackets behave like dash and colon.

ü I know what you are doing now (writing poem).

2. We use parenthesis like a pair of commas or dashes to enclose separated items of a sentence.

ü He went to market.

[Or] He went to college.

Note: We could use the first bracket as well as the third bracket to enclose the word ‘Or’.

SENTENCE CONNECTORS

Various Types of Sentence

Pronoun Reference

NARRATION

Sentence Structure