Punctuation Marks Flashcards
period (.)
end of a sentence
abbreviations
question mark (?)
end of a question
exclamation point (!)
sudden outcry
emphasis
comma (,)
separation of ideas or elements within the structure of a sentence. Additionally, it is used in numbers, dates, and letter writing after the salutation and closing.
semicolon (;)
used to connect independent clauses
colon (:)
after a word introducing a quotation, an explanation, an example, or a series
between independent clauses when the second explains the first, similar to a semicolon
emphasis
non-grammatical uses in time, ratio, business correspondence and references
En Dash (–)
used in writing or printing to indicate a range, connections or differentiations
Em Dash (—)
can be used in place of a comma, parenthesis, or colon to enhance readability or emphasize the conclusion of a sentence
Hyphen (-)
join two or more words together into a compound term and is not separated by spaces
Brackets ([ ])
used for technical explanations or to clarify meaning
Braces ( { } )
contain two or more lines of text or listed items to show that they are considered as a unit
not commonplace in most writing but can be seen in computer programming to show what should be contained within the same lines
can also be used in mathematical expressions
Parentheses ( () )
contain further thoughts or qualifying remarks
Apostrophe (‘)
indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of lowercase letters
Quotation marks (“”)
pair of punctuation marks used primarily to mark the beginning and end of a passage attributed to another and repeated word for wordused to indicate meanings and to indicate the unusual or dubious status of a word
Ellipsis (…)
used in writing or printing to indicate an omission, especially of letters or words
frequently used within quotations to jump from one phrase to another, omitting unnecessary words that do not interfere with the meaning
to avoid copying lengthy text that is not needed
