Punctuation Marks
Apostrophe, Brackets, Colon, Comma, Dash, Ellipses, Exclamation Point, Hyphen, Parentheses, Period,
Question Mark, Quotation Marks, Semicolon, Virgule
Apostrophe
1. Indicates the possessive case of singular and plural nouns, indefinite
pronouns, and surnames combined with designations such as Jr.,
Sr., and II: my sister's husband, my three sisters' husbands, anyone's
guess, They answer each other's phones, John Smith, Jr.'s car.
2. Indicates joint possession when used with the last of two or more
nouns in a series: Doe and Roe's report.
3. Indicates individual possession or authorship when used with each of
two or more nouns in a series: Smith's, Roe's, and Doe's reports.
4. Indicates the plurals of words, letters, and figures used as such: 60's
and 70's; x's, y's, and z's.
5. Indicates omission of letters in contractions: aren't, that's, o'clock.
6. Indicates omission of figures in dates: the class of '63.
Brackets
1. Enclose words or passages in quoted matter to indicate insertion of
material written by someone other than the author: A tough but
nervous, tenacious but restless race [the Yankees]; materially
ambitious, yet prone to introspection. . . .-Samuel Eliot Morison
2. Enclose material inserted within matter already in parentheses:
(Vancouver [B.C.] January 1, 19-).
Colon
1. Introduces words, phrases, or clauses that explain, amplify, or
summarize what has gone before: Suddenly I realized where we
were: Rome. "There are two cardinal sins from which all the others
spring: impatience and laziness."-Franz Kafka
2. Introduces a long quotation: In his original draft of the Declaration
of Independence, Jefferson wrote: "We hold these truths to be
sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and
independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent
and inalienable. . . ."
3. Introduces a list: We need the following items: pens, paper, pencils,
blotters, and erasers.
4. Separates chapter and verse numbers in Biblical references: James
1:4.
5. Separates city from publisher in footnotes and bibliographies:
Chicago: Riverside Press, 1983.
6. Separates hour and minute(s) in time designations: 9:30 a.m., a 9:30
meeting.
7. Follows the salutation in a business letter: Sir or Madam:
Comma
1. Separates the clauses of a compound sentence connected by a
coordinating conjunction: A difference exists between the musical
works of Handel and Haydn, and it is a difference worth noting. The
comma may be omitted in short compound sentences: I heard what
you said and I am furious. I got out of the car and I walked and
walked.
2. Separates and or or from the final item in a series of three or more
(optional): Red, yellow, and blue may be mixed to produce all
colors.
3. Separates two or more adjectives modifying the same noun if and
could be used between them without altering the meaning: a solid,
heavy gait. But: a polished mahogany dresser.
4. Sets off nonrestrictive clauses or phrases (i.e., those that if eliminated
would not affect the meaning of the sentences): The burglar, who had
entered through the patio, went straight to the silver chest. The
comma should not be used when a clause is restrictive (i.e., essential
to the meaning of the sentence): The burglar who had entered
through the patio went straight to the silver chest; the other burglar
searched for the wall safe.
5. Sets off words or phrases in apposition to a noun or noun phrase:
Plato, the famous Greek philosopher, was a student of Socrates.
The comma should not be used if such words or phrases precede
the noun: The Greek philosopher Plato was a student of Socrates.
6. Sets off transitional words and short expressions that require a pause
in reading or speaking: Unfortunately, my friend was not well
traveled. Did you, after all, find what you were looking for? I live
with my family, of course.
7. Sets off words used to introduce a sentence: No, I haven't been to
Paris. Well, what do you think we should do now?
8. Sets off a subordinate clause or a long phrase that precedes a
principal clause: By the time we found the restaurant, we were
starved. Of all the illustrations in the book, the most striking are
those of the tapestries.
9. Sets off short quotations and sayings: The candidate said, "Actions
speak louder than words." "Talking of axes," said the Duchess,
"chop off her head."-Lewis Carroll
10. Indicates omission of a word or words: To err is human; to forgive,
divine.
11. Sets off the year from the month in full dates: Nicholas II of Russia
was shot on July 16, 1918. But note that when only the month and
the year are used, no comma appears: Nicholas II of Russia was
shot in July 1918.
12. Sets off city and state in geographic names: Atlanta, Georgia, is the
transportation center of the South. 34 Beach Drive, Bedford, VA
24523.
13. Separates series of four or more figures into thousands, millions, etc.:
67,000; 200,000.
14. Sets off words used in direct address: "I tell you, folks, all politics is
applesauce."-Will Rogers. Thank you for your expert assistance,
Dolores.
15. Separates a tag question from the rest of a sentence: You forgot
your keys again, didn't you?
16. Sets off sentence elements that could be misunderstood if the comma
were not used: Some time after, the actual date for the project was
set.
17. Follows the salutation in a personal letter and the complimentary
close in a business or personal letter: Dear Jessica, Sincerely yours,
Fred.
18. Sets off titles and degrees from surnames and from the rest of a
sentence: Walter T. Prescott, Jr.; Gregory A. Rossi, S.J.; Susan P.
Green, M.D., presented the case.
Dash
1. Indicates a sudden break or abrupt change in continuity: "If-if you'll
just let me ex-plain-" the student stammered. And the problem-if
there really is one-can then be solved.
2. Sets apart an explanatory, a defining, or an emphatic phrase: Foods
rich in protein-meat, fish, and eggs-should be eaten on a daily
basis. More important than winning the election, is governing the
nation. That is the test of a political party-the acid, final
test.-Adlai E. Stevenson
3. Sets apart parenthetical matter: Wolsey, for all his faults-and he
had many-was a great statesman, a man of natural dignity with a
generous temperament. . . .-Jasper Ridley
4. Marks an unfinished sentence: "But if my bus is late-" he began.
5. Sets off a summarizing phrase or clause: The vital measure of a
newspaper is not its size but its spirit-that is its responsibility to
report the news fully, accurately, and fairly.-Arthur H. Sulzberger
6. Sets off the name of an author or source, as at the end of a
quotation: A poet can survive everything but a misprint.-Oscar
Wilde
Ellipses
1. Indicate, by three spaced points, omission of words or sentences
within quoted matter: Equipped by education to rule in the nineteenth
century, . . . he lived and reigned in Russia in the twentieth
century.-Robert K. Massie
2. Indicate, by four spaced points, omission of words at the end of a
sentence: The timidity of bureaucrats when it comes to dealing with .
. . abuses is easy to explain. . . .-New York
3. Indicate, when extended the length of a line, omission of one or more
lines of poetry:
Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean-roll!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Man marks the earth with ruin-his control
Stops with the shore.-Lord Byron
4. Are sometimes used as a device, as for example, in advertising copy:
To help you Move and Grow
with the Rigors of
Business in the 1980s . . .
and Beyond.-Journal of Business Strategy
Exclamation Point
1. Terminates an emphatic or exclamatory sentence: Go home at once!
You've got to be kidding!
2. Terminates an emphatic interjection: Encore!
Hyphen
1. Indicates that part of a word of more than one syllable has been
carried over from one line to the next:
During the revolution, the nation was be-
set with problems-looting, fighting, and famine.
2. Joins the elements of some compounds: great-grandparent,
attorney-at-law, ne'er-do-well.
3. Joins the elements of compound modifiers preceding nouns:
high-school students, a fire-and-brimstone lecture, a two-hour
meeting.
4. Indicates that two or more compounds share a single base: four- and
six-volume sets, eight- and nine-year olds.
5. Separates the prefix and root in some combinations; check a
dictionary when in doubt about the spelling: anti-Nazi, re-elect,
co-author, re-form/reform, re-cover/recover, re-creation/recreation.
6. Substitutes for the word to between typewritten inclusive words or
figures: pp. 145-155, the Boston-New York air shuttle.
7. Punctuates written-out compound numbers from 21 through 99:
forty-six years of age, a person who is forty-six, two hundred
fifty-nine dollars.
Parentheses
1. Enclose material that is not essential to a sentence and that if not
included would not alter its meaning: After a few minutes (some say
less) the blaze was extinguished.
2. Often enclose letters or figures to indicate subdivisions of a series: A
movement in sonata form consists of the following elements: (1) the
exposition, (2) the development, and (3) the recapitulation.
3. Enclose figures following and confirming written-out numbers,
especially in legal and business documents: The fee for my services
will be two thousand dollars ($2,000.00).
4. Enclose an abbreviation for a term following the written-out term,
when used for the first time in a text: The patient is suffering from
acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
Period
1. Terminates a complete declarative or mild imperative sentence:
There could be no turning back as war's dark shadow settled
irrevocably across the continent of Europe.-W. Bruce Lincoln.
Return all the books when you can. Would you kindly affix your
signature here.
2. Terminates sentence fragments: Gray clouds-and what looks like a
veil of rain falling behind the East German headland. A pair of ducks.
A tired or dying swan, head buried in its back feathers, sits on the
sand a few feet from the water's edge.-Anthony Bailey
3. Follows some abbreviations: Dec., Rev., St., Blvd., pp., Co.
Question Mark
1. Punctuates a direct question: Have you seen the new play yet? Who
goes there? But: I wonder who said "Nothing is easy in war." I
asked if they planned to leave.
2. Indicates uncertainty: Ferdinand Magellan (1480?-1521), Plato
(427?-347 B.C.E.).
Quotation Marks
1. Double quotation marks enclose direct quotations: "What was Paris
like in the Twenties?" our daughter asked. "Ladies and Gentlemen,"
the Chief Usher said, "the President of the United States." Robert
Louis Stevenson said that "it is better to be a fool than to be dead."
When advised not to become a lawyer because the profession was
already overcrowded, Daniel Webster replied, "There is always
room at the top."
2. Double quotation marks enclose words or phrases to clarify their
meaning or use or to indicate that they are being used in a special
way: This was the border of what we often call "the West" or "the
Free World." "The Windy City" is a name for Chicago.
3. Double quotation marks set off the translation of a foreign word or
phrase: die Grenze, "the border."
4. Double quotation marks set off the titles of series of books, of
articles or chapters in publications, of essays, of short stories and
poems, of individual radio and television programs, and of songs and
short musical pieces: "The Horizon Concise History" series; an
article entitled "On Reflexive Verbs in English"; Chapter Nine, "The
Prince and the Peasant"; Pushkin's "The Queen of Spades";
Tennyson's "Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington"; "The
Bob Hope Special"; Schubert's "Death and the Maiden."
5. Single quotation marks enclose quotations within quotations: The
blurb for the piece proclaimed, "Two years ago at Geneva, South
Vietnam was virtually sold down the river to the Communists. Today
the spunky little . . . country is back on its own feet, thanks to 'a
mandarin in a sharkskin suit who's upsetting the Red
timetable.'"-Frances FitzGerald
Put commas and periods inside quotation marks; put semicolons and
colons outside. Other punctuation, such as exclamation points and
question marks, should be put inside the closing quotation marks
only if part of the matter quoted.
Semicolon
1. Separates the clauses of a compound sentence having no
coordinating conjunction: Do not let us speak of darker days; let us
rather speak of sterner days.-Winston Churchill
2. Separates the clauses of a compound sentence in which the clauses
contain internal punctuation, even when the clauses are joined by
conjunctions: Skis in hand, we trudged to the lodge, stowed our
lunches, and donned our boots; and the rest of our party waited for
us at the lifts.
3. Separates elements of a series in which items already contain
commas: Among those at the diplomatic reception were the
Secretary of State; the daughter of the Ambassador to the Court of
St. James's, formerly of London; and two United Nations delegates.
4. Separates clauses of a compound sentence joined by a conjunctive
adverb, such as however, nonetheless, or hence: We insisted upon
a hearing; however, the Grievance Committee refused.
5. May be used instead of a comma to signal longer pauses for
dramatic effect: But I want you to know that when I cross the river
my last conscious thought will be of the Corps; and the Corps; and
the Corps.-General Douglas MacArthur
Virgule
1. Separates successive divisions in an extended date: fiscal year
1998/99.
2. Represents per: 35 km/hr, 1,800 ft./sec.
3. Means or between the words and and or: Take water skis and/or
fishing equipment when you visit the beach this summer.
4. Separates two or more lines of poetry that are quoted and run in on
successive lines of a text: The student actress had a memory lapse
when she came to the lines "Double, double, toil and trouble/Fire
burn and cauldron bubble/Eye of newt and toe of frog/Wool of bat
and tongue of dog" and had to leave the stage in embarrassment.