Punctuation Guide
1. Capital Letters (A, B, C...)
Use capital letters:
• At the start of every sentence.
Example: The sun is bright today.
• For names of people, places, days, and months.
Example: Adam, Cairo, Monday, September.
• For the word “I.”
Example: My brother and I went shopping.
• For titles of books, movies, or stories.
Example: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
2. Full Stops ( . )
Use full stops to:
• End a sentence that makes a statement.
Example: I like to play football.
• Write abbreviations.
Example: Dr. Smith, U.S.A.
3. Question Marks ( ? )
Use question marks to:
• End any sentence that asks something.
Example: Where are you going?
4. Exclamation Marks ( ! )
Use exclamation marks to:
• Show surprise, excitement, or strong feeling.
Example: Watch out! That car is fast!
5. Commas ( , )
Use commas to:
• Separate items in a list.
Example: I bought apples, oranges, bananas, and grapes.
• After introductory words.
Example: Yes, I will join you.
• Before “but,” “so,” “and,” when joining sentences.
Example: I was tired, but I finished my homework.
• To make ideas clear.
Example: After dinner, we watched a movie.
6. Apostrophes ( ’ )
Use apostrophes to:
• Show possession (something belongs to someone).
Example: This is Adam’s book.
• Make contractions (shortened words).
Example: don’t (do not), it’s (it is), they’re (they are)
7. Quotation Marks ( “ ” )
Use quotation marks to:
• Show what someone is saying.
Example: “I’m so happy!” said Sarah.
• Show titles of short stories, poems, or songs.
Example: I love “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”
8. Colons ( : )
Use colons to:
• Introduce a list.
Example: You need these items: pen, notebook, and ruler.
• Show that something important follows.
Example: The rule is simple: always be kind.
9. Semicolons ( ; )
Use semicolons to:
• Join two closely related ideas.
Example: I like pizza; my brother likes pasta.
• Separate complicated lists.
Example: I visited Paris, France; Rome, Italy; and Cairo, Egypt.
10. Parentheses ( ( ) )
Use parentheses to:
• Add extra information.
Example: We went to the park (even though it was raining).
11. Hyphens ( - )
Use hyphens to:
• Join words together.
Example: a well-known writer, twenty-one.
12. Ellipses ( ... )
Use ellipses to:
• Show that something is missing or trailing off.
Example: I was thinking... maybe we should go.
Practice Section for Students
A. Add the missing punctuation:
1. where is my bag
2. wow that’s amazing
3. my friends are adam sara and john
4. its raining outside
5. she said i am ready to go
B. Correct these sentences:
1. i like dogs cats and birds
2. toms bike is red
3. are you coming to the party
4. look out the ball is coming
5. we went to alexandria egypt rome italy and paris france
C. Write your own sentences using:
• A question mark
• An exclamation mark
• Quotation marks