JUNIOR SCIENCE TEACHER (JST BPS-14) PREPARATION 2026 (Batch-2)

PUNCTUATION
Punctuation (derived from the Latin punctum, a point) means the right use of putting in Points or Stops in
writing. The following are the principal stops:-
1) Full Stop or Period (.) 6) Exclamation Mark (!) 10) Apostrophe (‘)
2) Comma (,) 7) Inverted Commas / 11) Capital Letters
3) Semicolon (;) Quotation Marks (“ ”) (A,B,C,D…)
4) Colon (:) 8) Dash (–) 12) Parentheses ( )
5) Question Mark (?) 9) Hyphen (-)
1. Full stop or Period
(1) The Full Stop represents the greatest pause and separation. It is used to mark the end of a
declarative or an imperative sentence; as,
Dear, patient, gentle, noble Nell was dead.
(2)The Full stop can be used in abbreviations, but it is often omitted in modern style.
M.A or MA M.P.A or MPA U.N.O or UNO
Note that in current English Mr and Mrs occur without a full stop, as these have come to be regarded as
the full spellings.
2. Comma (,)
The Comma represents the shortest pause, and is used:-
(1) To separate a series of words in the same construction; as,
England, France and Italy formed an alliance. He wrote his exercise neatly, quickly and
He lost lands, money, reputation and friends. correctly.
It was a long, dull and wearisome journey.
Note: - A comma is generally not placed before the word preceded by and.
(2) To separate each pair of words connected by and; as,
We should be devout and humble, cheerful and serene.
High and low, rich and poor, wise and foolish, must all die.
(3) To mark off a Noun or Phrase in Apposition; as,
Paul, the apostle, was beheaded in the reign of Nero.
Milton, the great English poet, was blind.
Pandit Nehru, the first prime Minister of India, died in 1964.
(4) To mark off words used in addressing people;
Come into the garden, Ahmed. How are you, Mohan?
Lord of the universe, shield us and guide us.
(5) Before and after words, phrases, or clauses, let into the body of a sentence; as,
He did not, however, gain his object. Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between thee
It is mind, after all, which does the work of the and me.
world. The people of Orleans, when they first saw her in
His behaviour, to say the least, was very rude. their city, thought she was an angel.
His story was, in several ways, improbable.
3. Semicolon (;)
The Semicolon represents a pause of greater importance than that shown by the comma. It is used:-
(1) To separate the clauses of Compound sentence, when they contain a comma; as,
He was a brave, large-hearted man; and we all honoured him.
(2) To separate a series of loosely related clauses; as,
Her court was pure; her life serene; God gave her peace; her land reposed.
Today we love what tomorrow we hate; today we seek what tomorrow we shun; today we desire
what tomorrow we fear.
4. Colon (:)
The Colon marks a still more complete pause than that expressed by the Semicolon.

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 JUNIOR SCIENCE TEACHER (JST BPS-14) PREPARATION 2026 (Batch-2)
It is used (sometimes with a dash after it): -
(1) To introduce a quotation; as,
Bacon says: - “Reading makes a full man, writing an exact man, speaking a ready man.”
(2) Before enumeration, examples, etc; as,
The principal parts of a verb in English are: the present tense, the past tense and the past participle.
5. Question Mark (?)
The Question Mark is used, instead of the Full Stop, after a direct question; as,
Have you written your exercise?
If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you trickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if
you wrong us, shall we not have revenge?
But the Question Mark is not used after an indirect question; as,
He asked me whether I had written my exercise.
6. Exclamation Mark (!)
The Exclamation Mark is used after Interjections and after Phrases and Sentences expressing sudden
emotion or wish; as,
Alas! Oh dear! Hurrah! What a terrible fire this is!
O, what a fall was there, my countrymen! Long live the King!
7. Inverted commas / Quotation Marks (“ ”)
Inverted Commas are used to enclose the exact words of a speaker, or a quotation; as,
"I would rather die," he exclaimed, "than join the oppressors of my country."
Babar is said by Elphinstone to have been "the most admirable prince that ever reigned in Asia.”
8. Dash (–)
The Dash is used:-
(1) To indicate an abrupt stop or change of thought; as,
If my husband were alive – but why lament the past?
(2) To resume a scattered subject; as,
Friends, companions, relatives – all deserted him.
9. The Hyphen (-)
The Hyphen - a shorter line than the Dash – is used to connect the parts of a compound word; as,
Passer-by Man-of-war Jack-of-all-trades
It is also used to connect parts of a word divided at the end of a line.
10. Apostrophe (‘)
The Apostrophe is used:-
(1) To show the omission of a letter or letters; as,
Don’t E’er I’ve I’ll Can’t Won’t I’m
(2) In the Genitive Case of Nouns.
Jamil’s book Dog’s tail Girls’ school Boys’ school
(3) To form the plural of letters and figures.
Dot your i's and cross your t's. Add two 5's and four 2's.
11. CAPITAL LETTERS
Capitals are used:-
(1) To begin a sentence. (2) To begin each fresh line of poetry.
(3) To begin all Proper Nouns and Adjectives derived from them: as,
Delhi, Rama, Africa, African, Shakespeare, Shakespearian.
(4) For all nouns and pronouns which indicate the Deity; as, The Lord, He is the God.
(5) To write the pronoun I and the interjection O.
12. PARENTHESES
Use parentheses to enclose information that clarifies or is used as an aside.
He finally answered (after taking five minutes to think) that he did not understand the question.

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