Punctuation in English

📘 Lesson on Punctuation in English

1. Period / Full Stop ( . )

Used to end a sentence.

- She is a teacher.
- I like programming.

Marks the end of a statement. Example: "This is a sentence."

2. Comma ( , )

Used for a short pause or to separate items.

- I bought apples, bananas, and oranges.
- After lunch, we went to the park.

Prevents confusion by dividing parts of a sentence.

3. Colon ( : )

Used to introduce a list, explanation, or example.

- I need three things: a pen, a notebook, and a ruler.
- Remember this: honesty is the best policy.

4. Semicolon ( ; )

Used to join two related sentences or complex lists.

- I have a meeting tomorrow; I need to prepare today.
- We visited Paris, France; Rome, Italy; and Berlin, Germany.

5. Exclamation Mark ( ! )

Shows strong emotion (surprise, excitement, anger).

- Wow! That’s amazing.
- Stop! Don’t touch that.

6. Question Mark ( ? )

Used at the end of a question.

- How are you?
- Did you finish your homework?

7. Quotation Marks ( “ ” )

Used to show direct speech or quotations.

- She said, “I am learning Python.”
- “What time is it?” asked Ravi.

8. Apostrophe ( ’ )

Shows possession or contraction.

- This is Ravi’s book. (possession)
- Don’t = Do not, It’s = It is (contraction)

9. Hyphen ( - )

Joins words together.

- well-known
- twenty-one
- mother-in-law

10. Dash ( — )

Used for extra information or emphasis.

- She was late — as usual.
- I need three things — time, patience, and energy.

11. Parentheses ( ( ) )

Used to add extra information.

- He finally answered (after thinking for five minutes).
- My brother (who lives in Delhi) is visiting us.

12. Ellipsis ( … )

Shows pause or something left out.

- I was thinking… maybe we should go.
- He said he would call me at 8… but he didn’t.

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