1. Grammar 101
Punctuation Marks -
Commas, Exclamation Marks
and Quotation Marks

2. Learning Objectives

To understand how punctuation marks help in
making a sentence easier to read.

To learn the applications of commas,
exclamation marks and quotation marks when
constructing sentences.

3. Introduction

Read the following sentence:
a tall man ushered me to the lounge where alex
was waiting behind him completely covering
one wall were drawings and paintings of the
movie star himself
• Is this sentence easily understood?
• Actually, this long sentence should be two
sentences, not one! You cannot tell this without
punctuation marks.

4. The Importance of Punctuation

Now read the same sentences, with punctuation
marks (underlined) this time:
A tall man ushered me to the lounge where Alex
was waiting . Behind him were drawings ,
paintings and posters of the movie star himself .
How many punctuation marks can you count are
missing? No wonder it was difficult to
understand!
Three types of punctuation marks will be
introduced today - Commas, Exclamation
Marks and Quotation Marks.

5. Punctuation Joke
A panda enters a restaurant and hungry as usual,
he orders a hearty meal. Seeing that he's about
to finish his meal, the boss passed him the
receipt.
Without hesitation, he pulls out his gun and starts
shooting at the ceiling.
“Why did you do that!?” shouted the boss.
“Check the dictionary.” came the curt reply.
Upon checking, the panda's definition was found.
It read, 'Panda – Eats, shoots and leaves.”

6. Comma
We use a comma to separate a list of things and
coordinate adjectives.
Separating a list of things:
1) The trolley was filled with meat, sausages, a bag
of sugar and a loaf of bread.
2) We bought oranges, apples and papayas.
Separating adjectives:
1) May Lin is a helpful, courteous and sensitive girl.
2) Mr Lee is a smart, kind and helpful teacher.

7. Exclamation Marks
We use an exclamation mark to express a strong
emotion.
1) What a bad day !
2) Keep still !
3) Sit down !
Since exclamation marks exclaim, use them
sparingly as strong emotions should not happen
very often in your sentences.

8. Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are also speech marks. The
opening quotation mark is placed before the first
letter and the closing one, after a comma, a full-
stop, an exclamation mark or a question mark.
1) “Please be careful,” said the concerned mother.
2) Michael cried out, “I have finally aced my
English paper!”
3) “Say something nice when you see Uncle Tom,”
reminded David’s mother.

9. Punctuate when necessary
Wrong punctuation creates jokes for the reader.
1) Eat, shoots and leaves.
2) Eat shoots and leaves.
1) Dead Slow Children Crossing
2) Dead Slow, Children Crossing
Which is correct?

10. Learning Activity
• With the following sentences, insert the
proper punctuation mark – comma, question
and exclamation marks – in the brackets.
“The match has started (1)” blared the radio.
Back when television was still in its infancy (2)
the whole Lee family was huddled in front of
the radio (3) listening to the match between
Singapore and Malaysia.
“Who do you think will win ? (4) asked Mrs Lee.

11. Learning Activity Answers
• The answers are provided below.
“The match has started !” blared the radio.
Back when television was still in its infancy , the
whole Lee family was huddled in front of the
radio , listening to the match between
Singapore and Malaysia.
“Who do you think will win ? ” asked Mrs Lee.

12. Discussion
• What is the purpose of punctuation marks?
• What are the three punctuation marks we have
discussed today?
• What is the function of each? Briefly describe
them.

13. In summary
• Punctuation marks help you to make the
meaning in your sentences clearer.
• We have discussed comma, exclamation and
speech marks.
• Comma is for separating things, exclamation
marks express strong emotions and speech
marks denote speeches.