VIDYAPEETH

SUBJECT : Interactive ENGLISH

PUNCTUATION

By-RAGHUVEER. G
❖Punctuations are an important part of
written communication, and learning
about them will help you understand how
to use them correctly in sentences.
❖These symbols indicate the structure &
organization of written communication.
❖In written communication, Punctuation
plays a vital role to avoid ambiguity in
the meaning of the sentences.
 The Power of Punctuation
Woman without her man is nothing.
Woman, without her man, is nothing.
(Woman is nothing unless there is a man.)

Woman! Without her, man is nothing.

Punctuation marks, like traffic signals, are visual

End Punctuation
Full Stop/Period (.) Question Mark (?) Exclamation Mark (!)
Internal Punctuation
Semicolon (;) Colon (:) Quotation Marks (“ “)
Ellipses (…) Comma (,)
Word Punctuation
Apostrophe (!) Hyphen (-) Capital Letters (A)
Full stop (.)
• At the end of declarative and imperative sentences.
EX: Naveen is a university student.
Come here.
• After most abbreviations and initials.
Ex: M.A. (Master of Arts) A.M. (Ante Meridian)
[Link]. (Bachelor of Science)
• To separate hour from minute and date from month and
year.
Ex: The class begins at 7.45 a.m. daily.
Vanitha was born on 15.12.2010.
Full stops are omitted (NOT used)
❖ in Acronyms
Ex: NASA, ISRO, VAT
❖ When the capital letter in the abbreviation doesn’t
stand for a complete word.
Ex: TV (Television), TB (Tuberculosis)
❖ In newspaper headlines.
Ex: Art is more than unbroken lines
Heat wave condition persists until May
Question mark (?)
➢ At the end of an interrogative sentence.
Ex: Do you like sweets?
Where do you hail from?
➢ After question tags or similar words.
Ex: He likes music, doesn’t he?
This is your car, right?
➢ After elliptical questions.
Ex: Doing well?
In trouble?
Question mark (?)
➢ At the end of an interrogative sentence.
Ex: Do you like sweets?
Where do you hail from?
➢ After question tags or similar words.
Ex: He likes music, doesn’t he?
This is your car, right?
➢ After elliptical questions.
Ex: Doing well?
In trouble?
Exclamation mark (!)
➢ After an emotional expression of joy/ sorrow/ surprise/
shock/ anger, etc.
Ex: How fabulous the movie is!
What an awful experience it was!
➢ After an interjection or one-word exclamation.
Ex: Pity! She lost her father.
Hurrah! We won the match.
➢ After an imperative sentence, when charged with feeling (a
strong : command).
Ex: Shut up! Go and bring your notebook.
Get lost! I need no explanation.
Apostrophe (’)
➢ Indicate Possession
Ex: Raju’s bike Nitya’s Dress (Singular)
Neighbours’ Pet Clouds’ Movement (Plural)
➢ Indicate contraction
Ex: I’m (I am) Don’t (Do not) Aren’t (Are not)
Hyphen (-)
➢ Compound words
Ex: Father-in-law Co-Education Semi-skilled
➢ Compound words formed fractions
Ex: One-third Three-fourth
➢ Between two numbers to indicate rang/inclusion
Ex: See the rules1-10
This book is the history of India, 1857-1947.
➢ After a single letter joined to a noun.
Ex: X-road Y-junction U-turn
Capital Letters (A)
➢ At the beginning of a sentence & sentence beginning
in quotations
Ex: She is preparing for the exam.
She said, “They will leave tomorrow.”
➢ Every line of a poem
Ex: The woods are lovely, dark & deep
But I’ve promises to keep
➢ Personal names,/Proper Nouns/Personal Pronoun “I”
Ex: Red Fort Osmania University
Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam They were playing I was sleeping
➢ Adjectives derived from proper nouns
Ex: Indian culture Japanese gadgets
➢ Historical events
Ex: The First World War The French Revolution
➢ Names of political parties, institutions, abbreviations
Ex: The Communist Party, Osmania University, UNESCO
➢ With high-ranking officials, heads of state & religion
Ex: The Prime Minister, The Pope, The Queen of England
➢ First letter of God/Almighty/Lord & pronoun that refer them.
Ex: Do you believe in God?
Pray to the Almighty since He alone saves you
➢ The first letter of a day/month/festival/special occasssion/holy
books/literary works/religion
Ex: Sunday July Diwali Buddhism
The Ramayana The Ignited Minds
Semi Colon (;)
➢ Separate main clause which isn’t joined by a conjunction.
Ex: Behave yourself; there, all the honour lies
➢ Separate parts of a sentence which has many commas.
Ex: The guests for the event are Dr. Joshua, Vice-
Chancellor, JNT University; Prof. Sree Raj, Registar,
Osmania University; Prof. Sailaja, Dean, Dept of
Computers, HCU.
➢ Between main clauses joined by connectives like besides,
however…
Ex: It is a big mistake; however, he didn’t do it willingly
Colon (:)
➢ Introduce a list of items.
Ex: A dictionary consists all the information of a word:
meanings, origin, word history, usage, synonyms &
antonyms.
Please send me the following: Papers, pens, pencils,
erasers, clips.
➢ Anticipate an explanation of a general statement.
Ex: Smoking is dangerous : it causes cancer.
This bike is costly : it gives hardly 30 KM a litre.
Quotation Marks (“ ”)
➢ With direct speech
Ex: He said, “I am busy now.”
➢ Enclose titles of stories, plays, poems, essays.
Ex: Have you read the article on “New Education Policy.”
➢ To mark quotes
Ex: Abraham Lincoln “Writing is a great invention of the
world.”
Ellipses (…)
➢ After a break in speech
Ex: He shouted, ‘The house caught fire…’
➢ Alternative for etcetera
Ex: He purchased fruits, sweets, dry fruits, bread …
➢ To mark a longer pause in a dialogue
Ex: Come here … try to understand
Comma (,)
➢ To separate more than two of same category
Ex: Raj is smart, intelligent, courageous, industrious &
honest.
➢ In letter writing for saluation, complimentary close.
Ex: Dear Sir, Yours faithfully,
➢ With direct speech & before question tags
Ex: Jane said, “ I joined a new job.”
Does he drive a car, doesn’t he?
➢ After sentence adverbs
Ex: Fortunately, he was saved.
Suddenly, she left the meeting.
➢ To separate date/month from year
Ex: August 15, 1947 January 01, 2025
➢ In writing a postal address.
Ex: # 306, B-Block,
Miyapur, Hyderabad.
➢ Introductory words & some expressions
Ex: finally, accordingly, therefore, meanwhile, besides,
in fact, obviously, for example,
➢ Separate name from degree/designation.
Ex: He is Raj, IAS.
Meet Mrs. Murthy, The CEO