Punctuation

Punctuation marks make meaning clear. They separate sentences and their parts, and guide the reader.

Ending a sentence:

• full stop (.) ends a statement;
• question mark (?) ends a direct question: 'Are cherry seeds lucky?';
• exclamation mark (!) shows strong feeling: 'Don't drown it!'

Comma (,) separates items in a list, and parts of a sentence: 'a little sweet, a little sour; small, bright red cherries'.

Colon (:) introduces a list or an explanation: 'She did not try to avoid the tree: one sweep, and the cherry tree was cut in two.' What comes after the colon explains what came before.

Semicolon (;) joins two closely related complete sentences (or separates long items in a list): 'When Grandfather saw what had happened, he went after the woman and scolded her; but the damage could not be repaired.'

Apostrophe (') has two jobs:

• missing letters (contractions): he's, they'll, I'm;
• belonging (possession): Jagan's book. For a plural ending in s, put it after: the girls' toys. For a name ending in s, add just the apostrophe: Manas' car.

Quotation marks (' ') hold the exact words someone said. A dash (—) adds emphasis or a related thought: 'He was late—again.'

Capital letters for:

• names of people and places: Rakesh, Mussoorie;
• days, months, festivals: Monday, December, Diwali;
• titles with names: Dr Sneha;
• gods and holy books;
• the word I;
• adjectives from names: Indian;
• geographical names, languages, religions: the Himalayas, French;
• titles of books, poems and plays: Malgudi Days.