What Is Punctuation? Lesson No 1 Basic English Learning Ielts Exams Preparation

What Is Punctuation? Lesson No 1 Basic English Learning Ielts Exams Preparation

What Is Punctuation?

1-Punctuation (derived from the Latin punctum, a point) means the right use of putting
in Points or Stops in writing. The following are the principal stops:-
(1) Full Stop or Period (.)
(2) Comma (,)
(3) Semicolon (;)
(4) Colon (:)
(5) Exclamation Mark (!)
(6) Question Mark (?)

Other marks in common use are the Dash:- Parentheses ( ); Inverted Commas or
Quotation Marks” ".

2-The Full Stop represents the greatest pause and separation. It is used to mark the end
of a declarative or an imperative sentence;
as,
He is great man.

3-The Semicolon represents a pause of greater importance than that shown by the
comma. It is used :-

(i) To separate the clauses of Compound sentence, when they contain a comma; as,
He was a brave, large-hearted man; and we all honoured him.

(ii) To separate a series of loosely related clauses; as,
Her court was pure ; her life serene;
God gave her peace; her land reposed.
Today we love what tomorrow we hate; today we seek what tomorrow we
shun; today we desire what tomorrow we fear.

4-The Colon marks a still more complete pause than that expressed by the Semicolon.
It is used (sometimes with a dash after it): –

(i) Before enumeration, examples, etc; as,
The principal parts of a verb in English are: the present tense, the past
Tense, and the past participle.
The limitation of armaments, the acceptance of arbitration as the natural solvent of
international disputes, the relegation of wars of ambition and aggression to the categories
of obsolete follies : these will be milestones which mark the stages of the road.
(ii) Between sentences grammatically independent but closely connected in sense; as,
Study to acquire a habit of thinking: no study is more important.
(iii) To introduce a quotation; as,
Bacon says :- “Reading makes a full man, writing an exact man, speaking a ready man.”