14 Punctuation Marks

Can YOU name them all?


1. The Comma ,
2. The Period .
3. The Colon :
4. The Semi-Colon ;
5. The Quotation Mark "
6. The Exclamation Mark !
7. The Question Mark ?
8. Brackets [] ()
Brackets, or crotchets, are always used in pairs to mark off material inserted into a quotation which is not part of the original quotation. The use of brackets should be limited, but may include short references, short definitions, a short piece of information which clarifies the quotation, or an editorial comment.
The Latin word sic, which means "thus" or "so," is often put into brackets to indicate a misspelling or some other misuse of language in the original quotation.
Brackets are also used in dictionaries, glossaries, and word lists to show word origins and etymologies.
Brackets may be used to show parenthetical information for material already inside parentheses.
Editorial insertion:
Then Ceres asked: Tell me, heavenly bow,
If Venus or her son [Cupid], as thou dost know,
Do now attend the queen.
(Clarifies the meaning)
Misspelling in original quotation:
"Mi dere Jo I hope u r write [sic] well."
Word origin: Brackets [L.]
(The word brackets comes from Latin.)
Parentheses within parentheses: (Charles Dickens [1812-1870] had been trained as a stenographer.)
9. The Ellipse or Ellipsis ...
These are a mark or series of marks with a space before and after (... or ***) used in writing or printing to indicate omission of a word, part of a word, or words and to indicate hesitation in speech. The one made with 3 periods is the one I am familiar with. Thank you to Neil McDevitt for working that one out for me. Use sparingly as too many of these little dots will irritate any reader.
10. Braces {}
11. The Hyphen -
The hyphen is the short line produced by the key in the upper right on your computer keyboard. It never has spaces before or after it. Its most common usage is to connect compound adjectives e.g. well-known actor. Most sources point out that a writer may omit the hyphen if 
no ambiguity could result.

12. The Dash -
The most common dashes are the en dash and the em dash. 
The en dash is a little longer than the hyphen and is used to show a range of dates, numbers, or locations. e.g. 1998-1999
The em dash is longer than the en dash and is used to indicate an interruption, a change in thought, or the insertion of supplemental information. 
You create the en dash and the em dash in Microsoft Word via the Insert Menu, choose Symbol
The 'Readers Digest Universal Dictionary' describes the dash but makes no reference to or distinction between en dash and em dash. It gives five different uses and mentions that "in modern writing, the dash is not used in combination with the colon or comma".
13. The apostrophe '
14. Parentheses ()
Parentheses set off material not essential to the meaning of the text. They are used for asides and explanations when the material is not essential or if it is made up of more than one sentence. Parentheses may contain a complete sentence or sentences. Example: He had to go through the usual process to get his bus driver's license (police and FBI check, reference check, motor vehicle check, written exam, mechanical test, and driving test). (This could be set off by a colon for more emphasis since it is a list or by a dash for strong emphasis. But since the sentence says "the usual process," there is no need to emphasize anything.)

More about Punctuation

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