“Surely, there is one supreme rule: that punctuation is best which best serves to make writing subtle, supple, delicate, nuanced and efficient. Of course you can write using only periods and commas for punctuation. You can cook using only salt and pepper for seasoning. But why do it when there are so many seasonings pleasing to a mature palate?” George Will
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The purpose of punctuation is to help make clear the meaning of printed or written language.
Correct punctuation is based, in varying degrees, on three things: (1) thought or meaning, (2) the structural patterns of the sentence, (3) the conventions of the age. The practice of writers may be codified into a number of rules or principles. These rules or principles govern a very large number of typical situations in writing. At times, certain marks are optional, depending on the decisions of publishers or on levels of usage; on the whole, however, a university students will succeed if he or she follows codified usage. When in doubt, one can always resort to common sense.
Using the Period
* Periods are used to mark the end of a declarative sentence, a mild command, or an indirect question:
1. I wish I owned a couple of acres of land now, in which case I would not be writing autobiographies for a living. – Mark Twain
2. Please do not smoke.
3. Junior asked Susanna whether she wanted any more pancakes.
* Periods are used to mark the end of some abbreviations
Titles: Mr., Capt., Hon., Ms.
Degrees: B.A., Ph.D., M.D., B.Sc.
States: Calif., N.Y., Tex. (But not in postal abbreviations – CA, NY, TX)
Names of political entities: U.K., U.S.A., C.I.S.
Months: Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.
Names: T.S. Eliot, John F. Kennedy
*Generally, you don’t need periods with acronyms (pronounceable word, such as UNESCO, WHO, formed from the initial letters of a multiword title), with capital-letter abbreviations of technical terms, or with abbreviated names of agencies and organizations:
CBS, TVA, IBM, NATO, ID, IQ, FM, CIA, VISTA
* Periods are used to mark letter or numerals used in vertical lists:
Woven into the history of the human race is the history of its four great religions:
1. Buddhism
2. Judaism
3. Christianity
4. Islam
* Periods are not used after another period or other end mark.
1. To please our customers, we have ordered scarce materials from Home Supplies Company, Inc. We don’t want customers saying, “Why don’t you have what I want?”
2. Please give me a wake up call at about 6:00 A.M.
Using the Question Mark
* A question mark is used to mark the end of a direct question.
Would you feel better as someone else? – Alice Walker
* A question mark is used to indicate uncertainly within a statement.
Socrates (470?-399 B.C.), the Greek philosopher and teacher, was condemned to death for his unpopular ideas.
Using the Exclamation Mark
* The exclamation point is used to mark an expression of strong feeling.
Poor Columbus! He is a minor character now, a walk-on in the middle of American history. – Frances Fitzgerald
* Because exclamation points make a special appeal to the reader, you should use them sparingly. If oh introduces an expression of strong feeling, put the exclamation point at the end of the expression. Never use more than one exclamation point after an exclamation.
1. Oh, that is unspeakable!
2. “Great guns!” he shouted in consternation.
Learning how to use punctuation correctly will help you express ideas in more effective ways and will also help you to see how punctuation can give you the freedom to write new kinds of sentences.
Linda Correli is a staff writer of
http://www.CustomResearchPapers.us/ and an author of the popular online tutorial for students "What Teachers Want: Master the Art of Essay Writing in 10 Days", available at
http://www.Go2Essay.com/ Visit Linda’s web log at
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