Title: Punctuation Content: Punctuation is the name for marks used for writing text. They are used to separate ideas in sentences. Punctuation makes text easier to read and understand. These are the most common punctuation marks used in English: # . is a period or full stop # , is a comma # ? is a question mark # ! is an exclamation mark # ' is an apostrophe or single quote mark # " is a quotation mark/inverted comma # : is a colon # ; is a semicolon # ... is an ellipsis mark # - is a hyphen # is an en dash # is an em dash # ( ) are parentheses or curved brackets # [ ] are brackets or square brackets. There are other punctuation marks but used less often. Other languages have other marks, such as French using guillemets, `« »` as quotation marks. == Rules of punctuation == The use of punctuation in English changes depending on the sentence. Many punctuation marks have more than one use. Modern typography says that punctuation should only be used when there is a need for it. Because of this, people use less punctuation in their writing today than in the early 20th century.Tschichold, Jan (1991). The Form of the Book: Essays on the morality of good design. Hartley & Marks, Vancouver. . When punctuation marks should be used is often decided by a group or organization. Then, it is written down into a style guide of format rules. Newspapers have a style guide so that every newspaper is consistent with its writing. == Reasons for punctuation == *One reason is obedience. If we work for an organization with a house style guide, then we use that guide. *Punctuation helps the reader understand what is meant. Consider these examples: #He did not go to town because his father was absent. This means he did go to town, and the reason was not his father's absence. #He did not go to town, because his father was absent. This means he did not go to town, and the reason for not going was that his father was absent. In the second example, no style guide will help. The writer just has to make sure that the sentence is understood as it is written. Punctuation is there to help the reader make sense of what is written. Often it is best to change the sentence so that the meaning does not rest on a comma. #He went to town, but not because his father was away. #Because his father was away, he did not go to town. That seems to make the meanings clear. == Period or full stop == thumb|25px|A period or full stop A period (U.S.A.), full stop (U.K. and Commonwealth) or full point (typography and printing),The term full stop for the term of punctuation is rarely used by speakers in Canada and virtually never in the United States. In American English, the phrase "full stop" is generally used only in the context of transport to describe the process of completely halting the motion of a vehicle. See, e.g., Seaboard Air Line Railway Co. v. Blackwell, "under the laws of the state a train is required to come to a full stop 50 feet from the crossing"; Chowdhury v. City of Los Angeles, 38 Cal. App. 4th 1187 (1995) "Once the signals failed, the City could reasonably foresee that motorists using due care would obey the provisions of the Vehicle Code and make a full stop before proceeding when it was safe to do so". looks like this: . A period or stop is used to end a sentence. The period plus a space separates sentences in prose, and makes it easier to read. If they are not needed, they should not be used. So, for example, in a list format it is obvious when a section ends, therefore it does not need a full stop. A period can show numbers that are smaller than one. With money, a period is used to show the amount of money less than one dollar. :For example: "Elizabeth bought a soda for $1.25." means that Elizabeth paid one dollar and twenty-five cents for her drink. A period is sometimes used to show that a word has been made shorter. A word that is made shorter with a period is called an abbreviation. :For example: The words doctor or mister are often made shorter when used with a name. "Dr. Smith" is the name of a doctor whose last name is Smith, and "Mr. Banerjee" and "Mrs. Yang" are common ways of writing. However, in modern typography, plain "Mr, Mrs/Ms" or "Dr" are more common. "Mrs" is never written in full: to write "mistress" is to mean something quite different. See also capitalization. ==Comma== thumb|50px|A comma A full comma, or simply a comma, looks like this: , A comma has many uses. Some of these are shown below: *To separate things in a list: "cows, horses, pigs, and sheep". A comma that is used before the word and in a list is called an Oxford comma. Some people do not use Oxford commas: "cows, horses, pigs and sheep". *To separate two sentences with a conjunction: "Most birds have separate toes, but ducks' feet are webbed." *To separate parts of a sentence: "Mimi, hungry as she was, was shy to come forward and have a slice of cake." *To indicate a pause in a sentence or question: "Hallie, did you remember to feed the cat?" *In some European countries, commas are used as the -Insert number base here- point, instead of a full stop. Instead of €3.57 it would be €3,57. In an inverse to that, €17,693 (Seventeen thousand, etc.) would be €17.693. ==Question mark== thumb|50px|A question mark A question mark looks like this: ? Question marks are used when writing a question, to make an inquiry, or to ask something. :For example: ::"Hallie, have you done your homework?" ::"Elizabeth said 'How are you?' to Hallie." ::"Why is the sky blue?" ::"Do you like apples?" ==Exclamation mark== thumb|25px|An exclamation mark An exclamation mark looks like this: ! An exclamation mark is used to write about a surprise or emotion, or to write the words a person shouts. It can be used to make a statement stronger or more forceful. :For example: ::"What a bad cat she has!" ::"Jane, come here!" ::"You did a good job!" ::How wonderful this city is! ::Don't talk, get out! ::And also an exclamation mark can be used with a question mark, to make a question more forceful. ::For example: ::"What did you do that for?!" she said angrily. ==Apostrophe== thumb|25px|An apostrophe An apostrophe looks like this: ' An apostrophe has two main uses: ===Ownership=== An apostrophe can be used to show that something belongs to someone else. If there is only one thing, the letter s is used after an apostrophe to show ownership. :For example: ::"It was the boy's dog." ::"We will go in Mimi's car." Sometimes the letter s is not used after an apostrophe to show ownership. A word will end with just an apostrophe if there is more than one thing and the word already ends with an s. :For example: ::"Father put away the girls' clothes" means that Father had to tidy up for several girls. ::"Father put away the girl's clothes" means that Father tidied up for only one girl. ===Contractions=== An apostrophe can be used to put two small words together. Two small words that are put together with an apostrophe to make one word are called contractions. This is normal in writing about a person speaking. Spoken English often uses contractions because these words are easier to say. :For example: ::Cannot can be made into the word can't. ::It is can be made into the word it's, for example, "It's a nice day today." ===Common mistakes when using apostrophes=== Pronouns do not use an apostrophe to show that something belongs to something else. Among these are its, his, hers, theirs. :For example: ::"The bird flapped its wings," not "The bird flapped it's wings." ::"It is his bike," not "It is his's bike." Plurals (words referring to more than one thing) do not need an apostrophe. :For example: ::"Apples for sale," not "Apple's for sale." ==Quotation marks==