PUNCTUATION
Take a look at these beautiful symbols that English has.
How many of these are you acquainted with?
(Photo courtesy: Google)
Read the paragraphs given below to understand the importance of these symbols.
Long ago, there lived an old couple in an isolated village. The villagers were living simple life;
meeting the fundamental needs of fooding, clothing, and shelter. One morning the man decided
to go fishing. On reaching the riverside he realized that he forgot to bring the net along. “Oh!
How stupid I am to come fishing without the fishing net”, exclaimed the man. He hurried home
and started blaming his wife for not reminded him to carry the net. The wife said (smiling all the
while), “Had you not tied the net around your head?” The man touched his head and found that is
was right there. Ashamed, he apologized to his wife for being rude and headed towards river
again.
Now try to read the same paragraph ignoring all the symbols. What problem did you face? It was
certainly difficult for you to understand the meaning of the text without the symbols. The
symbols that gave clarity to the meaning of the paragraph are called punctuations.
Purpose of using punctuation: punctuations help us to convey the meaning of a written text
with clarity. They tell us where to pause, indicate when we write the dialogues of other speakers,
show surprise, excitement, list items, ask questions amongst all. It is easier to understand when
someone is talking because it involves facial expressions, intonation, pauses, rhythm, etc.,
however same thing in written can be ambiguous; this is where punctuation helps to bring clarity.
Now that we have discussed briefly about punctuations, write the definition of punctuation in
your own words in the given blank.
Definition:___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________.
A brief description of the usages of some common punctuation is given below.
1. Periods( . )- Also known as full stop, this is the most basic one. It is used when we want
to end declarative sentences.
Example:
His birthday party was fun.
I’ll come to your city tomorrow.
We all need peace.
2. Commas( , )- This is used to indicate a pause in a sentence, either between phrases,
clauses, or items in a list.
Example:
Not long ago, he used to be my best friend.
I got some mangoes, jackfruits, oranges and bananas.
You, my dear child, are going to shine.
3. Ellipses( ….. )- An ellipsis shows that something in between the quote has been omitted.
This is done by replacing the unnecessary words from the quotes. It is also used in
literary works like drama and poetry to create suspense to the reader.
Example:
The old black magic book holds secrets……
“I woke up and found myself in another world....there was only fear.”
4. Apostrophes ( ` )- thesec are used to show contractions and creates possessive nouns.
Example:
That is my dad’s car.
My brothers’ houses are tiny.
We’ll look into it.
I couldn’t come yesterday.
5. Question marks ( ? )- It is used when we are asking a direct question. However, we do
not use them in indirect questions because indirect questions are declarative sentences.
Example:
Are you happy to go there?
When are you coming home?
Do you like tea or coffee?
6. Quotation marks( “” )- These are little busy markers and are used at a variety of contexts:
They denote direct quotes.
Example: “I am the one who loves you the most.”
They state the title of a work.
Example: “The solitary reaper” is a lyric by Wordsworth.
They are used to specify a word in a sentence.
Example: That man is to be addressed as “My Lord”.
7. Hyphens( - )- Hyphens are used in compound words.
Example:
Tip-tap
Bottle-feed
Ice-skate
Mother-in-law
8. Parentheses( () )- they are used to mark the extra information given within a sentence
which is logically connected to the sentence but does not fairly fit in the flow of the
writing.
Example:
The mother screamed (out of nervousness) at the boy.
The concert (scheduled for Friday) was postponed.
Soie made it on time (as usual) for the presentation.
9. Exclamation mark( ! )- when we write something that expresses extreme emotion, or
something which has been spoken with stress and emphasis, we use exclamation mark.
Example:
Oh! I lost the game.
Hurrah! I found my lost kitty.
What! The girl is dead.
Wow! What an amazing day it is.
10. Semi colon( ; )- These are used to indicate a little longer pause than a comma. Also, it is
used to connect two independent clauses when we don’t join then with a conjunction,
e.g., instead of writing ‘I wanted to go with my mon, but it was raining’; we can write ‘I
wanted to go with my mom; however it was raining.’
Task1
Punctuate the following sentences using full stop, capital letter, exclamation mark and
question mark.
1. she is a wonderful dancer
2. what is your favourite colour
3. please fix my laptop
4. what day of the week is youyr favourite
5. how beautiful this flower is
6. how old are you
7. i am going for shopping tonight
8. wow it is a fantastic dress.
Task 2
Punctuate these sentences with semi colons wherever needed
1. I have four oranges right now I can make an orange juice
2. I want to go to the beach also I want to catch the waves there
3. I walked to the store it was filled with new merchandise
4. John went to play basketball the park was closed
5. I have a new pet it is a kitten named fluffy
Task 4.
Write two sentences for each punctuation you have learned in this lesson.