. Full stop (BrE)
period (NAmE)
- 1.
at the end of a sentence that is not a question
of exclamation
Ø
I knocked at the door. There was no reply.
Ø
I knocked again.
- 2.
sometimes in an abbreviations
Ø
Jan.
Ø
e.g.
Ø
a.m.
Ø
etc.
- 3.
in internet and email addresses (said ‘dot’)
Ø
http://www.oup.com
, comma
- 1.
to separate words in a list, though they are
often omitted before ‘and’:
Ø
a bouquet of red, pink and white roses
Ø
tea, coffee, milk, or hot chocolate
- 2.
to separate phrases or clauses:
Ø
If you keep calm, take your time, concentrate
and think ahead, then you’re likely to pass your test
Ø
Worn out after all the excitement of the party,
the children soon fell asleep.
3.
before and after a clause of phrase that gives
additional, but not essential information about the noun it follows:
Ø
The Pennine Hills, which are very popular with
walkers, are situated between Lancashire and Yorkshire
(Do not use commas before and
after a clause that defines the noun it follows)
Ø
The hills that separates Lancashire from
Yorkshire are called the Pennines.
- 3.
to separate main clauses, especially long ones,
linked by a conjunction such as and, as, but, for, or:
Ø
We had been looking forward to our holiday all
year, but unfortunately it rained every day.
- 4.
to separate an introductory word of phrase
Ø
Oh, so that’s where it was.
Ø
As it happens, however, I never saw her again.
Ø
By the way, did you hear about Sue’s car?
- 5.
to separate a tag question from the rest of the
sentence:
Ø
It’s quite expensive, isn’t it?
Ø
You live in Bristol, right?
- 6.
Before or after ‘he said’, etc. when writing
down conversation:
Ø
‘Come back soon’, she said.
- 7.
Before a short quotation:
Ø
Disraelli said, ‘Little things affect little minds’.
: colon
- 1.
To introduce a list of items:
Ø
These are our option: we go by train and leave
before the end of the show; or we take the car and see it all.
2.
In formal writing, before a clause or phrase
that gives more information about the main clause. (You can use a semicolon or
a full stop, but not a comma, instead of a colon here.)
Ø
The garden had been neglected for a long time:
it was overgrown and full of weeds.
- 2.
To introduce a quotation, which may be intended:
Ø
As Kenneth Morgan writes:
The truth was, perhaps, that Britain in the years from 1914 to 1983 had
not changed all that fundamentally.
Others,
however, have challenged this view…
; semicolon
- 1.
Instead of a comma to separate parts of a
sentence that already contain commas:
Ø
She was determined to succeed whatever the cost;
she would achieve her aim, whoever might suffer on the way.
- 2.
In formal writing, to separate two main clauses,
especially those not joined by a conjunction:
Ø
The sun was already low in the sky; it would
soon be dark.
? question mark
- 1.
At the end of a direct question:
Ø
Where’s the car?
Ø
You’re leaving already?
Do not use a question mark at the
end of an indirect question:
Ø
He asked if I was leaving.
- 2.
Especially with a date, to express doubt
Ø
John Marston (?1575-1634)
! exclamation mark
(BrE) exclamation point (NAmE)
- 1.
At the end of a sentence expressing surprise,
joy, anger, shock or another strong emotion:
Ø
That’s marvelous!
Ø
‘Never!’ she cried.
- 2.
An informal written English, you can use more
than one exclamation mark, or an exclamation mark and a question mark:
Ø
‘Your wife’s just given birth to triplets.’
‘Triplets!?’
‘ apostrophe
- 1.
With s to indicate that a thing or a person
belongs to somebody:
Ø
My friend’s brother
Ø
King James’ s crown/King James’ crown
Ø
The students’ books
Ø
The women’s coats
- 2.
In short forms, to indicate that letters or
figures have been omitted:
Ø
I’m (I am)
Ø
They’d (They had/they would)
Ø
The summer of ’89 (1989)
- 3.
Sometimes, with s to form the plural of a
letter, a figure or an abbreviation:
Ø
Roll your r’s
Ø
During the 1990’s
-
hyphen
- 1.
to form a compound from two or more other words:
Ø
hard-hearted
Ø
fork-lift truck
Ø
mother-to-be
- 2.
to form a compound from a prefix and a proper
name:
Ø
pre-European
- 3.
when writing compound numbers between 21 and 99
in words:
Ø
seventy-three
Ø
thirty-one
4.
sometimes, in British English, to separate a
prefix ending in a vowel from a word beginning with the same vowel:
Ø
co-operate
Ø
pre-eminent
- 5.
after the first section of a word that is
divided between one line and the next:
Ø
decide what to do in order to avoid mis-
takes
of this kind in the future
_ dash
- 1.
in informal English, instead of a colon or
semicolon, to indicate that what follows is a summary or conclusion of what has
gone before:
Ø
Men were shouting, women were screaming,
children were crying – it was chaos.
Ø
You’ve admitted that you lied to me – how can I
trust you again?
- 2.
singly or in pairs to separate a comment or an
afterthought from the rest of the sentence:
Ø
He knew nothing at all about it – or so he said.
… dots/ellipsis
- 1.
to indicate that words have been omitted,
especially from a quotation or at the end of a conversation:
Ø
…challenging the view that Britain…had not
changed all that fundamentally.
/ slash/oblique
- 1.
to separate alternative words or phrases:
Ø
have a pudding and / or cheese
Ø
single/ married / widowed / divorced
- 2.
in internet and email addresses to separate the
elements (often said ‘forward slash’)
Ø
http://www.oup.com/elt
‘’ “” quotation marks
- 1.
to enclose words and punctuation in direct
speech:
Ø
‘Why on earth did you do that?’ he asked.
Ø
‘I’ll fetch it,’ she replied.
- 2.
to draw attention to a word that is unusual for
the context, for example a slang expression, or to a word that is being used
for special effect, such as irony:
Ø
He told me in no uncertain terms to ‘get lost’.
Ø
Thousands were imprisoned in the name of
‘national security.’
- 3.
around the titles of articles, books, poems,
plays, etc:
Ø
Keat’s ‘Ode to Autumn’
Ø
I was watching ‘Match of the Day’
- 4.
around short quotations or sayings:
Ø
Do you know the origin of the saying: ‘A little
learning is a dangerous thing’?
- 5.
in American English, double quotation mark are
used:
Ø
“Help! I’m drowning!”
{ } brackets (BrE)
parentheses (NAmE)
- 1.
to separate extra information or a comment from
the rest of a sentence:
Ø
Mount Robson (12 972 feet) is the highest mountain
in Canadian Rockies.
Ø
He thinks that modern music (i.e. anything
written after 1900) is rubbish.
- 2.
to enclose cross-references:
Ø
This moral ambiguity is a feature of
Shakespeare’s later works (see Chapter Eight)
- 3.
around numbers or letters in text:
Ø
Our objectives are (1) to increase output, (2)
to improve quality and (3) to maximise
profits.
[ ] square brackets (BrE) brackets (NAmE)
- 1.
Around words inserted to make a quotation grammatically
correct:
Ø
Britain in [these] years was without
Italics
Ø
I’m not going to do it – you are
Ø
…proposals which we cannot accept under any circumstances.
- 2.
To indicate the titles of books, plays, etc:
Ø
Joyce’s Ulysses
Ø
The title role in Puccini’s Tosca
Ø
A letter in The
Times
- 3.
For foreign words or phrases:
Ø
The English oak (Quercus robur)
Ø
I had to renew my permesso di soggiorno (residence permit)
