Learn how to make your sentence pop with a punch of punctuation!
Author
Christina Levandowski
Published
December 12, 2023
Learn how to make your sentence pop with a punch of punctuation!
Author
Christina Levandowski
Published
Dec 12, 2023
Learn how to make your sentence pop with a punch of punctuation!
Author
Christina Levandowski
Published
Dec 12, 2023
Key takeaways
Table of contents
Ready to make some perfectly powerful sentences? Don’t forget to add a dash of punctuation! Whether you hope to be a writer someday or graduate with super high grades, punctuation is an essential skill to master.
Punctuation marks add spice to your sentences and tell your reader or listener exactly what you mean — without even using words!
If you feel nervous about using commas, quotation marks, or other forms of punctuation marks in sentences, don’t worry. We’ll help you learn how to confidently navigate common punctuation found in the American and British English language.
Read on to learn more about all common punctuation marks.
Full stops act as a “full stop” to a sentence or an idea. Chances are, you’ve already come across these in your homework or classwork. Full stops are used at every end of a sentence.
Examples of full stops in action include:
Commas show a natural point of pause between parts of your sentence. You can use commas in lists, too. We’ll show you how down below:
Semicolons are like the older sibling of a comma when it comes to the world of punctuation marks. They are generally placed between two clauses or two subject-and-predicate pairings.
They can separate ideas and signal a stronger pause than a comma. Examples of semicolons in action include:
Colons are used after complete sentences to suggest ideas that are related to the previous sentence. We know that sounds confusing, but it’s quite simple. You can also use colons before a list or a quote.
Here are a few examples of colons in sentences:
Quotation marks are also known as speech marks or inverted command. For our intents and purposes, quotation marks — “ ” — can be used to show someone is talking. They can also be used to quote a quote, of course, often acting as a form of informal emphasis.
Examples of this include:
Brackets are a special form of quotation marks that “set apart” words in a sentence, or sentences themselves. You won’t see these often! Not sure what to look for? Brackets look like you’re putting a literal box around part of a sentence, calling attention or setting it aside for something else.
Apostrophes are often used to show that someone owns something or that there’s a letter missing in a word. We’ll show you some samples below:
These three dots often mean something’s been left out, or the person speaking in the sentence has “trailed off” in a long pause. Here are some examples:
Question marks are easy — and you’ve probably run into them once or twice! They indicate that what’s being said is a question, or is something that someone isn’t sure about. Here’s what we mean:
Exclamation points exclaim things, giving a little “bang” or “pop” to your sentences. They often indicate something exciting or someone yelling.
Em dashes can indicate a sentence break, or they can replace excessive commas in sentences with multiple clauses. They can make a sentence far easier to read and understand. Here are two examples:
En dashes are used to show a range of something. They can also connect two words like we’d see in the case of a complex compound adjective. For example:
Hyphens link words in a sentence, or they can show that something is missing in the phrase.
Parentheses, also known as brackets in the UK, can do a bunch of cool things. They can indicate an afterthought or a thought that interrupted your first, original thought. Here are a few examples to show you what we mean:
Commas are the topic of quite a bit of discussion in the field. There are three main areas of misuse to keep an eye out for:
The Oxford comma debate. You’ll see this debate come up a lot when you’re writing lists. While it’s now become a matter of style, the Oxford comma used to be preferred to avoid contextual confusion in sentences.
Too many commas. While it’s easy to overuse commas as “breaks” in your sentence, too many can be confusing (and they can lead to run-on sentences!)
You can avoid this by removing unnecessary commas. This would be revised to look like: “The birds wouldn’t stop chirping, and they disrupted my morning slumber. This made me feel upset, how about you?”
Comma splices. These happen when sentences are connected by a comma, which can create a run-on sentence.
The example can be corrected by using a full stop to end the sentence. “The rain slammed the window. I made some cookies to warm up the house.”
While semicolons and colons look alike, they’re not the same. Problems can arise when you use both interchangeably. Colons usually come before a list or an example. Semicolons can join sentences together without using a conjunction.
Improper colon use. The topic of the book is: Mathematics.
Proper colon use. I have several classes I’m taking this year: artistry, sculpting, and marketing.
Improper semicolon use. Biking to work; I’ve heard the news.
Proper semicolon use. I was biking to work when I heard the news; have you heard it?
Many writers confuse the use of its and it’s.
⏰Our rule of thumb: If you can substitute it’s for “it is” or “it has” in the sentence you’re writing, you can continue using it. If you can’t, consider switching to “its.”
Punctuation can add meaning to your sentences. While this is great, using the wrong punctuation can completely change the flow and intention of your sentence, which is why it’s so important to get it right the first time.
DoodleEnglish is an app that’s filled with thousands of fun, interactive exercises covering grammar, punctuation, spelling and more!
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You can use commas as a way to separate list items or to add natural breaks in your sentence flow overall. When speaking, the pauses you take when listing items or working through a spoken sentence are where commas would go if you were writing what you’re saying.
In this vein, you can read a written sentence aloud in the same way — putting natural pauses wherever a comma should go.
The primary 16 punctuation marks used by students include:
A colon can be used if you’re working to introduce information set up by a previously stated clause. You can also use it before a list, or before a separate explanation. Semicolons work like “helping hands,” connecting two clauses in a sentence. The best part? You won’t need a conjunction when you’re using semicolons this way.
Parentheses and brackets may look similar, but they have different use cases. For example, parentheses often are used to add extra information within a given passage. Brackets can be used to add clarifying information within a quote.
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