Punctuation Marks, the Signpost of Good Writing

Punctuation Marks, the Signpost of Good Writing

“Punctuation gives the silent page some of the breath of life.”

By Mukesh Sharma

A speaker may succeed in telling what he wants to say even if he mispronounces a word, uses it in wrong syntax and makes an incorrect sentence. But a writer would fail miserably, if he does so. Written words convey the desired meaning when it is conceived clearly and written accurately. Obviously, one can have an accident-free drive, if one follows traffic rules, and obeys traffic signals. In the same way, one can write correctly, if one follows certain rules of Writing. Grammarians call them “Punctuation Marks”.

Signpost of Good Writing

The word punctuation has been driven from the Latin word punctus, “point”.  From 15th to the early 18th Century, it was known in English as “pointing”.  The term punctuation was first used in the middle of 16th Century.  In fact, English has borrowed certain terms such as full stop, comma and colon from Greek only. Like traffic signals, punctuation may be described as Signpost of Writing.  It helps to avoid juxtaposition of thoughts. It brings clarity to an expression and accuracy to a written text.

In his The Practical Stylist, Sheridan Baker Warner writes: “Punctuation gives the silent page some of the breath of life.”

The standardised signs which are used to punctuate the written text and are known as  Punctuation Marks, can be categorised as under:

1.    The Period or Full Stop ( . )

This sign was one of the first of the marks of punctuation.  As the name suggests, it indicates a complete halt.  Hence a period or full stop marks the end of a sentence.

Standardised use of Period

i)      Any sentence which is complete in its sense may be ended with full stop.

ii)     It is used to indicate abbreviations e.g.. Mr.( Mister), M.A.( Master of Arts) etc. However, certain abbreviations that are pronounced collectively as words, are written without periods, e.g. VIP, USSR etc.

iii)   It is used between figures which indicate date e.g. 22.2.2005.

iv) Periods serve as decimals for figures, e.g.70.8%, Rs. 20.75.

v)   Periods are also used to indicate the divisions by cut, scene and line (Julius Caesar/i 3.2)

vi) Periods are placed inside the quotation marks, if sentence is a attributed to somebody.

vii)  If a sentence ends with an abbreviation, no period is necessary at the end.

viii) Periods and commas are commonly used together, e.g. When I reached the station, the train had left.

ix)    Depending upon the context, when brackets are used the period may be placed inside or outside the brackets.

2.  The Comma ( , )

The word comma derived from Greek, means a piece cut off or struck out.  It indicates a brief pause which is significantly used in writing, reading and speaking.  It is the most frequently used punctuation mark.

In Technical Writing (1985), John M Lannon says:

“The comma is a brief blinking yellow traffic light for which we slow down without stopping.”

Standardised use of Commas

i)    It is used to join compound sentences and where it is used before the coordinator (but, or, for, nor, yet, sometimes, ‘so’) joining two independently clauses.  e.g.:  <Corruption can be rooted out from India, but there must be political will to do so>  <He loves her, and cannot live without her>

ii)     It is used to join short sentences.  e.g.:  <I reached house, opened the door, and collapse over the sofa>

iii)    It is used to separate words in series.  e.g.:  <I placed an order for pizzas, french fries with burger and cutlets>

Exception:

a)   No comma is used when ‘or’ or ‘and’ is used between all items in the series.  e.g.:  <I can work in Delhi or Mumbai or Kolkata>

iv)   It is used to separate phrase and dependent sentences (clauses) in series.  e.g.:  <While cooking, she brunt her fingers, and she is not able to take exam>

v)     Infinitive, prepositional or verbal phrases introducing sentences are set off by commas.  e.g.:  <To a girl, a house is like a prison, and to a woman, it is her whole world>  <In fact, she doesn’t love him>  <Working day and night in the kitchen, her fair complexion turned dark>

vi)    When an interjection introduces a sentence, it is set off by a comma.  e.g.:  <Oh, so it is your final decision>

vii)  When a direct address introduces a sentence, it is set off by a comma.  e.g.:  <Ramlal, you have done a great job>

Exception:

a)    No comma is used when an introduction phrase is followed by inverted word order.  e.g.:  <From a battered and booted woman emerged an amazon>

b)   No comma is necessary, if an intro    ductory clause is short and allows no misreading.  e.g.:  <As soon as I receive your call I will leave home>

viii) Commas are used to increase the readability of addresses, names of places, dates, statistics, measurement and to serve other conventional purpose.  e.g.:  <March 25, 2005 is the deadline>  <Mr. Ram Avtar, D-20, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi, India>  <The C.E.O, Mr. X or C.E.O, X>

ix)  It is used in letters after salutations and complimentary clauses.

a)  Dear Mr. Dastor, b)  Yours sincerely,

Thumb-rule

In fact the comma is more an instinctive punctuation mark than sheer a grammatical entity.  The main purpose of the comma is to give clarity and readability to a written text.

During the writing process, any sensible writer can realise where his thoughts need the comma, if he wishes to convey the meaning clearly.  And this should be guiding principle and a thumb-rule as well.

3.  The semicolon ( ; )

‘Colon’ is a Greek word that means ‘limb’.  Writing about ‘semicolon’, Ronald Gillespie says:

“The semicolon and colon separate are the limbs of a paragraph”

“The semicolon is neither a weak colon nor a strong comma.  It is a kind of tight period.  Separator of contrasts.”  says Sheridan Baker.

Britannica Encyclopedia also says that the semicolon separates different clauses or statements.

Standardised use of semicolon

i)      It separates independent clauses which are complete in sense in themselves, but are closely related with one another.  e.g.:  <I love X; I wanted to marry her; she never cared for my love; today she is alone in this big bad world>

ii)     The semicolon is a useful alternative to a conjunction such as and and but.  e.g.:  <I reached the office at 10; other colleagues came after an hour>

iii) Semi colon must accompany adverb; and other expressions that connect related independent ideas (besides, otherwise, however, still, moreover, on the other hand etc.).  e.g.:  <There is no vacancy; however I accept your resume as I feel that you deserve a special post in our company>

4.  The Colon ( : )

The colon is one of the least used marks of punctuation.  According to John M Lannon, a colon signals us to stop and then proceed paying close attention to the situation ahead, the details of which will be revealed as we move ahead.

In other words, a colon signifies a transition point of the sentence.

Standardised use of colon

i)    It is used to introduce a list, items or examples.  e.g.:  <I need the books as follows: 1. Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russel, 2. Self help by Swete Martin, etc.>

ii)  The colon indicates an explanation, elaboration or co-relation.  e.g.:  <India: the world’s fastest economy >

iii)  It is used to introduce a quotation or formal statement.  e.g.:  <In a speech Subhash Chandra Bose said: Freedom wants blood. You give me blood, I will give you freedom.>

iv)    It is used to separate hour from minute in  time.  e.g.:  <8:35 AM>

v)    It is used to separate volume from page.  e.g.:  <BE Vol. 29: 230-390>

vi)  It is used to separate title from subtitle e.g.:  <Good English: The Student Writer>

vii)  It is used to separate place from publisher.   e.g.:  <New Delhi: Storytellers>

viii)  It is used in ratio.  e.g.:  <30:70>

5.  The Apostrophe ( ` )  or elision

It is a single up-in-the air comma.  It’s job is to indicate that something has been left out.  It marks the elision or possessive case.

Standardised use of the apostrophe

i)      It is used to indicate the possessive case of noun and indefinite pronouns.  e.g.:  <My brother’s car>  <One can’t tell what one’s problem is!>

Exceptions:

a)     Use of apostrophe with words end ing in sounds of S and Z depends upon the pronouncement of the syllable.  If syllable is pronounced the ‘S’ is kept, if not apostrophe is kept without the ‘S’.  e.g.:<Mr. Reinz’s house>  <Celysses’ journey>

b)     Possessive case in a plural noun apostrophe follows the completed word. e.g.: <The girls’ hat>  <The men’s hats>

ii)   When an apostrophe is used to indicate the contraction or the omissions, it referred as elision.  It is used in making the negative forms.  e.g.:  <can’t, won’t, don’t> usually in poems, the class of’ 59, the revolution of’ 48.  Poets use elisions for metrical and special reasons.  e.g.:  he’d (he had or he did), O’er (over), e’er (ever), Hon’ble (honourable), ma’am (madam).

iii)    It is also used to form plural numbers, letters, signs abbreviations, dates and words which are used as words.  e.g.:  <70’s and 80’s>  <The 1920’s>

6.  The Hyphen ( - )

The hyphen is a horizontal stroke, in print a fraction shorter than the dash ( — ).  It is opposite number of the dash.  Though both are horizontal strokes, former indicates a joining up, and latter a breaking off.  The main job of the hyphen is to act as a link between syllabus or words.

Standardised use of hyphen

i)      It is used to form familiar compounds.  e.g.:  <Sister-in-law, heavy-hearted>

ii)     It is used to coin words with prefix or suffix.  e.g.:  <President designate trans-Asia>

iii)  It is used to form numbers, fractions, ration, and compounds with numbers.  e.g.:  <two-year-old child>

iv)   It is used to join compound modifier.  e.g.:  <He is well-read and well-behaved man> <Top-flight journalist>  <High-flying glider>

v)     It is used to hyphenate all the words which begin with the prefix ‘self’. e.g.: <Self-discipline> <Self-effacement>

vi)    It is also used to hyphenate certain words to avoid ambiguity.  e.g.:  <re-creation (recreation)>

7.  The dash ( — )

The dash is a short horizontal stroke a fraction of longer than hyphen as described above.  It marks abruptness or irregularity — a sudden breaking off.  It can provide dramatic emphasis for a statement when used selectively.  Dashes are effective so long as they are not over used. Differentiating between the dash and the parenthesis, Sheridan Baker says: “The dash says aloud what the parenthesis whispers.”  The dash can make a sentence incomplete which is grammatically complete.  So it must be used selectively and judiciously for the desired effect and emphasis.

Standardised use of the dash

i)     It is used to introduce a summary statement following a series of words or phrases.  e.g.:  <Love, sacrifice, honesty — they are the unknown words in the dictionary of his life>

ii)     It marks the sudden break, shift or interruption in the writer’s thought; a sort of contrast.  e.g.:  <She loves me madly — she will kill me, if she finds me in the company of any other woman>

iii)    It serves more or less as a formal substitute for the colon in introducing an explanatory statement, list or quotation.  e.g.:  <US president George Washington Bush — we will smoke them out and bring them to justice.  We will continue to fight terrorism in whatever forms it is, in the largest interest of mankind>

8.  The Quotation marks or

     inverted commas

In the use of quotation marks, a sort of confusion has been created because of American English. In Standardised English, single quotation ( ‘ ’ ) is used and double quotation is used ( “ ” ) for quotation within quotation.  However, American English does exactly the opposite of it.  Commenting on quotation marks, Ronald Gillespie says: 

“Quotation marks can be double “....” or single ‘....’ and either is used to enclose written or spoken words which the writer is quoting.  That is their principle, though not their only function, their real importance lies in the fact that anything they do so enclose is assumed to be, and must be, the exact and literal words which have been written or spoken, not a mere approximation to them.”

It is observed that American English which is one of the dialects of Standard English (British), is influencing more and more and day by day English of those particularly Asians, who have learned it as a second language.

It is the common practice among English newspapers in India that they use double quotations for attributing the statement to somebody and single quotation, particularly for a word when it is used with some different meaning or some special significance.

Standardised use of quotation marks

i)      Commonly it is used to identify the direct quotation or to attribute the statement to speaker. e.g.:  <Pakistan PM Imran Khan said, “We will continue to extend moral support to our Kashmiri brethren in their fight for freedom.”>

ii)     It is used to indicate that a particular word has been used with different meaning or significance.  e.g.:  <In India most of the middle class people are ‘happy’ like harlots>

Readers, however, should not be confused in the choice of double or single quotation marks.  Either of them can be used depending upon the choice of the writer.  But one must stick to same choice throughout.

9.  The exclamation mark ( ! )

The words convey  the message. But the exclamation mark makes them to convey the emotion of speaker with the words.

Earlier, the exclamation mark was also known as the mark of admiration. It was derived from the word admirare which means to wonder.

It is used after words or phrases or sentences which convey amazement, horror, contempt, an imperatively given order, or any strong emotion.  It may follow a single syllable, as in go! or it may appear at the end of a long and complicated sentence.

Standardised use of exclamation mark

i)      It is used to make an emotionally charged statement.  e.g.:  <I love you! >  ( here sign of exclamation signify that the speaker makes the statement emotionally)

ii)     It is used after the words representing surprise, pain, sorrow etc..  e.g.:  < Oh!, great!, ouch!, alas!>

10.  The Question Mark ( ? ) or Sign of interrogation or Query mark

The question mark signifies a question.  In plain words, it asks a question.  It is common with the exclamation mark and has more than the effect of a full stop.  It conveys certain emotional quality, particularly, when direct question is asked, and to which an answer is expected.

Standardised use of question mark

i)      For asking the question.  e.g.:  <Where is Mr. X?>

        Exception:

  a)  No question mark is used at the end of indirect question.  e.g.:  < She   asked me why I could not give call to her >  <He was cocksure - is it bad to be cocksure that he was  going to win>

b)   The Question mark is used in journalistic writings to make an ironic statement.  e.g.:  <Rahul Gandhi will marry an Indian girl ?>

11.  Ellipses points ( ..., .... )

Though the ellipsis points are not on par with sign of exclamation in conveying the emotions, they also tend to make an emotional statement.

Usually, a writer uses ellipsis to indicate that some words have been left out intentionally with the hope that the target reader would be able to read between the lines and get the actual message of the writer.

Ellipsis points are used in three ways:

i)      Three dots ( ... )

       Use of three dots in a row indicates that some material has been left out of a quotation.  e.g.:  <Life is a sexually transmitted disease... >

ii)     Four dots ( .... )

       If omitted word comes at the end of original sentence, a fourth dot indicates the period.  e.g.:  <Politicians are power-hungry.  They can’t live without.... >

iii)    Dots at the centre of a sentence

        Several dots given in between the sentence indicates that a paragraph or more has been left out just to save the time.  e.g.:  <We left the.......travelled around the world>

12.  Italic (slanted words)

Italic is a type style in which slanted words are typed or printed.

Standardised use of Italic

i)      It is used to indicate the foreign words and phrases not yet fully absorbed into the English language.  e.g.: <Government has no idea about the modus operandi of drug-peddlers>

ii)     It is also used for the designate titles of books, periodicals, newspapers, drama, operas, symphonic works, paintings, movies, ship and aircraft. e.g.:  <Dicken’s Great Expectations>

iii)    It is also used to add emphasis to a word or phrase.  e.g.:  <Subject in the letters particularly, commercial is written in italic just for an emphasis>

13.  Slash ( / )

Slash is also called slant or virgule.  It is slightly slanted vertical stroke.

Standardised use of slash

i)    Slash is used to indicate alternatives.  e.g.:  <We can have South Indian/North Indian food>

ii)  It is also used as a dividing line between a period of time extending over successive years. e.g.:  <1982/83>

14.  Hash ( # )

Hash is equal sign crossed by two slanted vertical stroke. It is also one of key stroke on computer key-board.

Standardised use of hash

i)   It is used to indicate that the meaning of word is explained at the end of the article or in the book at foot note.

ii)   In American English, hash stands for ‘number’ and is used with telephone and house numbers.  e.g.:  <Tel # 212 (718) 7496>  <House # B-91>

iii) Netizens use this sign to tag the file to specific destination eg. #BJP, #PMO

15.  The Asterisk ( * )

It is star like sign. It signifies the hidden message carried with the asterisk word or statement which is unveiled at the end of the text.

Standardised use of asterisk sign

i)     It is commonly used in formal writings to indicate that the comprehensive meaning of the word or phrase is given at the end of the text.

ii)  It is also used in advertisement to avoid legal implication when a catch statement is asterisk.  e.g.:  <Get interest free loans* (*against Fixed deposit)>

16.  Capital letters (AAYUSHI)

English language is written in two types of letters — capital and small letters. Though most of the text is written in small letters, there are certain rules for the use of capital letters.

Use of capital letters

Capital letters are used to begin:

i)     The first word after a full stop, or mark of exclamation or question mark.

ii)   Every line of poetry, whether the previous line ends with a full stop or not.

iii)  God, and its adjective e.g.:  <It is He who knows answer to your all the question>  <He is Christ like man>

iv)   Titles like:  <I request Your Honour> <I request Your Gracious> <I request His Highness> <I request His Excellency>

v)     All proper nouns — name, people, places and things e.g.:  < Ram Singh, Ram Dayal, New York>

vi)    The days of the week.  The months.  <Monday, March>

vii)   Common, or just plain ordinary nouns, when  they are used with some special significance.  e.g.:  <The haunted House>

viii) When a word is an adjective derived from a proper noun such as the name of a person or place and still has some real link with that proper noun. e.g.:  <Indian handicraft, Chinese tea, French culture>

17.  Brackets or marks of

       Parenthesis

Brackets like inverted commas isolate what they enclose from the surrounding text. But bracket signifies totally a different reason.  And it totally gives a different effect.

There are four types of bracket:  parenthesis (  ),  square [ ], curly or braces { }, and angle or chevrons < >.

Standardised use of brackets

i)   Parenthetical bracket is used to insert additional comment or an explanation within a direct quotation.  e.g.:  <She (Jane Austen) is also known as kitchen writer>

ii)    The square brackets are used by sub-editors when they edit the story and write comments.  e.g.:  <The first day of Victoria’s reign [June 20, 1837] was an exciting one for young queen>

iii)  Sometimes in prose curly brackets are used to indicate a series of equal choices.  e.g.:  <Chose a movie {Sapney, Sholey, Kasam} and sit down>

iv)  Angle brackets (< >) are often used to enclose highlighted material.  Some dictionaries use angle brackets to enclose short excerpts illustrating the usage of words.

Copyright © 2018 by Mukesh Sharma