Punctuation in English: an introduction

1. PUNCTUATION
IN
ENGLISH
-------
What, Why, How?
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Khan,
Department of Education,
Hazara University Mansehra
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Khan
drmuhammadilyaskhan7@gmail.com

2. Punctuation: What?
• Punctuation is the process of arranging, and structuring
words in texts in order to make them clearer and
meaningful. Involves use of signs and spacing in texts.
• Text without punctuation.
• the other day i went to a market to buy some shoes the
shopkeeper showed me several pairs of shoes and asked
would you like to have cheap ones or expensive ones i
said price doesnt matter really he said i said yes he
replied all right
• Text with punctuation.
• The other day I went to a market to buy some shoes.
The shopkeeper showed me several pairs of shoes. He
asked, “Would you like to have cheap ones or expensive
ones?” I said, “Price doesn’t matter”. “Really?”, he said.
I said, “Yes!” He replied, “All right!”
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Khan
drmuhammadilyaskhan7@gmail.com

3. Common Punctuation Marks
Punctuation Mark General Use
Full stop or Period (.) 1. Marks the end of a sentence.
He is my friend.
2. Abbreviation
B.Ed. M.Ed.
Question Mark (?) Used at the end of an interrogative
sentence or question.
Is he your friend?
Did you complete your homework?
Exclamation Mark (!) Added at the end of a sentence that
expresses a strong feeling or
emotion (Happiness, anger, sadness
etc.)
Oh unbelievable sight!
Get out of here!
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Khan
drmuhammadilyaskhan7@gmail.com

4. Common Punctuation Marks
Punctuation
Mark
General Use
Comma (,) Generally used to break a sentence into
different ideas or thoughts expressed in words
(nouns, verbs, adjectives), phrases or clauses in
a sentence.
Ali, Kamran, and Salman are my friends.
He came, stood, grumbled, and went away.
My friend was tall, dark, lean, and handsome.
The teacher came in, wrote something on the
board, moved around, and went away.
I saw my teacher on the way, we exchanged
greetings, and I gave him a book.
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Khan
drmuhammadilyaskhan7@gmail.com

5. Common Punctuation Marks
Punctuation
Mark
General Use
Semicolon (;) Marks a pause that is longer than the one
represented by a comma. Generally used to
separate two independent clauses in a
sentence instead of using a conjunction.
Ali is my favourite teacher; he is dutiful.
May be used instead of commas to separate
list items, when the items contain commas
themselves.
Yesterday I met my friends, Ali, who is a
teacher; Kamran, who is a doctor; Jamal,
who is a player; and Farid, who is a writer,
after a long time.
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Khan
drmuhammadilyaskhan7@gmail.com

6. Common Punctuation Marks
Punctuation
Mark
General Use
Colon (:) Several Uses:
Precedes a list.
A good writer should have several qualities:
critical thinking, creativity, strong imagination,
and language command.
Gives an example.
You can improve your writing in two ways: Read
a lot and practice writing.
Elaborates/emphasises
He has one big talent: Persistence
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Khan
drmuhammadilyaskhan7@gmail.com

7. Common Punctuation Marks
Punctuation Mark General Use
Apostrophe ( ′ ) Used to show possession.
Ali’s house is big.
Salman’s book is on the table.
Used for contractions.
He’s going. (He is going)
They’re my friends. They are my friends.
Quotation Marks (“ ”) Used in citing direct quotes/reported speech
from someone.
Ali said, “ I am teaching mathematics.”
Hyphen (-) Generally used in compound words.
Self-evident.
Up-to-date.
20-minutes break
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Khan
drmuhammadilyaskhan7@gmail.com

8. Common Punctuation Marks
Punctuation Mark General Use
Dash (– or —) The shorter en dash (–) is generally used
for connecting two things, as well as a
range of numbers, years, pages, etc.
The Lahore–Islamabad motorway is a new
road.
Also shows range of numbers such range of
pages in a book.
Read Pages 85–95.
The longer em dash (— ) may be used to
replace a colon, or parenthesis or to put
emphasis on the ending of a sentence.
Ali mentioned important world capitals —
Washington, Beijing, London, and Paris.
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Khan
drmuhammadilyaskhan7@gmail.com

9. Common Punctuation Marks
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Khan
drmuhammadilyaskhan7@gmail.com
• Parentheses ( )
• Used to give additional information for clarification or
context.
• Ali (who had good experience of cooking) came up with
an amazing idea for the lunch party.
• He didn’t want to appear in the test (he was not ready).
• He was your friend (wasn’t he?).
• Brackets [ ]
• Generally used in academic writing to add material for
clarifications of quoted material; make corrections or
identify mistakes in quoted material.
• After being away from home for a significant period
[five years] my friend came back.
• Ali said, “I will always helps [sic] you.”

10. Common Punctuation Marks
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Khan
drmuhammadilyaskhan7@gmail.com
• Ellipsis (…)
• Generally used to reduce the length of direct quotes inside a
text. This is done to report the most relevant part of a text
or to create suspense or pause.
• Quote: “Ali thought that his friend Samir, who was a
security officer, was in danger.”
• Reduced quote using ellipsis:
• “Ali thought that his friend … was in danger.”
• Ali discovered that his friend… Samir… was actually not a
friend.
• Slash ( / )
• Indicates an alternative (or), abbreviations or dates and
fractions.
• Every student should bring his/her book.
• C/O (Care Of).
• Fraction- ½ and Date- 13/11/2021