Punctuation Mark (part- 2)
This page contains-
A) Most common uses of punctuation and it's basic rules of the following:
a) Quatation Mark ( " " )
b) Hyphen ( - )
c)En dash (–)
d)Em dash ( — )
e)Parentheses / Round Brackets( )
f)Square Bracketse)
g)Slash ( / )
h) Ellipses point ( ... )
B) British vs. American punctuation. Is it different or the same?
a) Quotation Mark ( " " )
Quotation Marks are used to denoting the beginning and end of a quote. One of the most important ways we use quotations is to " quote" someone's words. To quote something means to repeat exactly what someone said.
The direst quotation mark tells the reader when words are taken directly from another text or source.Period/full stop and comma always go inside the quotation mark.
Example-
i) She told him," you are the only person on this Earth."
ii) "I love horror movies," she said,
iii) " I have a business meeting," John answered.
Use single quotation marks for quotations within the quotation.
Example-
i) I spoke to George yesterday and he said, "Did you talk to Jane? She told me, 'I'm quitting my job'."
b) Hyphen ( - )
A hyphen (-) is a punctuation mark that we use to join words or parts of words.
Use a hyphen to join two or more words that serve as single adjectives before a noun.
Example-
i) She was a well-known actress.
ii) I met a Kind-hearted man.
iii) Jane bought a brand-new phone.
iv) chocolate-covered pretzels are my favourite.
Hyphen is used with compound numbers. A compound number is any number that consists of two numbers. You should hyphenate compound number between 21 to 90 ( except 30,40,50,60,70,80 and 90) .
Example-
i) This rope is seventy- six meters long.
ii) There are twenty-five students in the class.
iii) There were around one hundred and thirty-three guests at the wedding.
A hyphen is used between a prefix and a capitalized word.
i) I'm having a mid-Term exam.
ii) We need to fight with post-Covid challenges.
iii) Jane's birthday is in mid-April.
A hyphen is used with hyphenated compound words.
i) Sandy is enjoying marry-go-round.
ii) Her brother-in-law visited her last month.
iii) Who was the runner-up in the race?
c) En Dash (–)
En Dash means 'through to' or can say to show any kind of range.
Example-
To show a period of time
i) This office remains open from Monday– Friday.
ii) Mack goes jogging 9:30–10:30 to be in a good shape.
show a range of number
iii) Pages 112 – 115 are the most interesting part of this storybook.
iv) There will be 20-25 kids in the game.
To show distance
v) The flight from India-America is too long.
vi)This rope is 2-3 meters long.
To show game score
vii) The team won the game 10-15.
d) Em Dash ( — )
Em Dash is used to express a break in thought. When we think we thought in a sentence, a sentence is a complete thought. To express a thought within the thought Em Dash is used. It is also used to show an interruption, a change of thought, or to show emphasis.
Em Dash is usually used in informal writing such as informal letters, emails, and journals. In formal writing in place of Em Dash another punctuation symbol like comma, colon, a semicolon is used.
Example-
i) My grandma—she makes the best pies by the way—is coming to visit us this weekend.
sometimes Em Dash can be used in some situation in place of:
comma,
colon :
semicolon ;
parentheses ()
Example-
ii) I'm afraid of two things— spiders and snakes.
OR
I'm afraid of two things: spiders and snakes.
iii) Please call my lawyer —Gary Richard—on Tuesday.
OR
Please call my lawyer, Gary Richard, on Tuesday.
OR
Please call my lawyer (Gary Richard) on Tuesday.
Em Dash is also used to express a strong break or unpredictable break.
iv) I can't wait for the— oh, by the way, I am allergic to seafood.
v) Mom needs to talk to you about— oh, excuse me! I didn't know you are on call.
vi) I had a great weekend — hey! is that a new English teacher?
e) Parentheses / Round Brackets ( )
parentheses or round brackets use to separate extra information from the rest of the sentence or add emphasis. Commas can replace them without changing the sentence.
Example-
i) Tomorrow (Friday) will be the last working day for the school of this session.
ii) Jimmy (my brother) came here last Sunday.
iii) I need to consult my family lawyer( Richard Smith).
f) Square Brackets ( [ ] )
The square bracket is used by the editor to indicate extra information. It is used to make a quotation more understandable.
Example-
i) This book states that "when climbing it[ mountain], it is important to be safe."
ii) She said ."If I bring her[my cat] to school she will tell the teacher.
g) Slash ( / )
The mark slash is used to indicate the word 'OR' and can be used to separate the day, month and year.
Example-
i) Anybody you/I can attend the function.
ii) Please explain my case to the lawyer when he/she arrives.
iii) My date of birthday is 01/07/1999.
h) Ellipses point ( ... )
An Ellipsis (...) is a punctuation mark consisting of three dots. It is used to omit a word, phrase, line, paragraph, or more from a quoted paragraph. It is used to show that the text has been omitted from a quotation.
Ellipses are usually written as "..." or [...]
Example-
i) It is no small irony that the government[...] ends up promoting precisely that which they would most like to express.
It is used to save space or remove irrelevant material.
Used to indicate a pause or trail-off.
Example-
ii) I can not help it; reason has nothing to do with it; I love her against reason.
OR
ii) I can not help it ...I love her against reason. ( using Ellipses)
British vs. American punctuation marks, different or the same?
There are two ruling styles of punctuation British and American. Over the year these two styles have converged but still vary slightly. Punctuation differs a bit in the form of use and calling punctuation symbol. Here are some punctuation symbols which are called differently followed by some difference of using punctuation in American English and British English.
In the term of using punctuation
Mark (AmE ) (U S) (BrE) (U K)
( .) Period Full Stop
( ! ) Exclamation Exclamation
point Mark
( ) Parentheses Round
Brackets
[ ] Brackets Square
Brackets
(...) Ellipses Point Ellipses Mark
In the term of using punctuation
i) To show Time :
In American English use colon and in British English full stop is used to indicate time.
Am E Br E
12:00 12.00
10:30 10.30
7:10 7.10
ii) Writing Titles :
Here is also a slight difference in usage of punctuation while writing titles In the American English period is used to write a short form of a title while in British English no punctuation mark is used.
Am E Br E
Mr. Mr
Dr. Dr
Mrs. Mrs
iv) writing date :
There is also a change in the pattern of writing date. In American English month is written before the date and in British English date is written before the month.
Am E Br E
mm/dd/yy dd/mm/yy
08/31/2000 31/08/2000
07/14/1998 14/07/1998
iii Using quotation :
British English uses single quotation marks to indicate quotations or dialogue. When there is a quotation inside the quotation, British English uses double quotation marks for the nested quotation.
Example-
The WHO says This is how British people, as they say, do it
(Am E)
The WHO says, 'This is how British people, as they say, ''do it'''.
On the other side, American English flip this method completely.
They use double quotation marks to indicate quotation or dialogue and single quotations for a nested quotation.
(Br E)
The WHO says, ''This is how British people, as they say, 'do it''.
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