It teaches all punctuation rules with examples. Watch video https://youtu.be/T6c57dqRj6w

1. Punctuation Marks and
Their Usage
Lecture No. 18
Zafar Ullah, lecturer in English zafarullah76@gmail.com

2. Definition
• The marks, such as full stop, comma, and
brackets, used in writing to separate
sentences and their elements and to
clarify meaning.
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3. Why to Study Punctuation Marks
• Clarity of meaning
• To show quoted words
• To show pauses
• Intonation
• To emphasize as rhetoric
• Used in speech
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4. Change Punctuations, Change Meanings
• Woman, without her man, is nothing.
• Woman! Without her, man is nothing.
• Let’s eat, Grandma!
• Let’s eat Grandma!
• AMMA TALLO ME PKAO
• AMMA, TALLO ME PKAO
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5. 1. Full Stop/ Period (.)
i. To show the end of the sentence
• He took his breakfast.
ii. To show abbreviations
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6. 2. Comma (,)
• The comma is used to show a separation
of ideas or elements within the structure of
a sentence.
i. Listing comma
I bought pens, pencils, books and erasers.
ii. Separation of two clauses
We went to the movies, and we went out to
lunch.
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7. Cont…
iii. It is used in numbers, dates, and letter
writing after the salutation and closing.
• Dear sir,
• Yours affectionately,
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8. 3. Question Mark (?)
• Use a question mark (?) to indicate a
direct question when placed at the end of
a sentence.
• When will you leave for CUST?
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9. 4. Sign of Exclamation (!)
• To show feelings of happiness, sadness
and surprise
• Hurrah!
• Alas!
• What a charming museum it is!
• How fascinating Centaurus is!
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10. 5. Inverted Commas (“…”)
• To quite the exact words of someone
• He said to me, “I shall send you a gift
tomorrow.”
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11. 6. Colon (:)
i. It introduces a quotation, an explanation, an
example, or a series.
• He was planning to study four subjects: politics,
philosophy, sociology, and economics.
ii. In independent clauses when the second clause
explains the first clause, similar to a semicolon:
• I didn't have time to get changed: I was already
late.
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12. Cont…
iii. It is used for emphasis:
• There was one thing she loved more than
any other: her dog.
iv. A colon also has non-grammatical uses in
time (8:30 A.M), ratio (2:3), APA references
and business communication (To Whom It
May Concern: .
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13. 7. Semicolon (;)
i. It is used to connect two independent
clauses in compound sentences
(FANBOYS;).
Danish was hurt; he knew she wanted to
insult him.
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14. 8. Apostrophe (Ali’s)
i. To show possession of human beings
Ali’s bag is white.
ii. Understood “s” in plural nouns
This is girls’ hostel.
iii. Contractions
I’m a student.
They’re working hard.
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15. 9. Hyphen (-)
i. Hyphens combine words together to
make Compound Nouns/Adjectives.
Hyphens are also used with
some suffixes and prefixes, such as -like, -
wise, anti-, and post- to make new
adjectives. Anti-violent, Dog-like, Ability-
wise, Decision-making, City-owned
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16. cont…
ii. Compound numbers and continuous
numbers require hyphen in them and their
function is usually adjectives in the
sentence.
• Sixty-five, Their age is 23-25.
• William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
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17. 10. Dash (–)
i. A dash hints a brief break in thought or
helps to add information to a sentence. A
dash has no space before or after it.
• The man was running around the
building—I couldn’t see his face—and
disappeared down the alley.
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18. Cont…
• ii. A dash can replace the conjunctions
such as namely, that is, or in other
words to add new information or
explanation.
• I was thinking about another road—the
one through Metro Cash and Carry.
• There’s only one way not to lose—don’t
even participate in the game.
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19. 11. Parentheses - ()
• Parentheses block off materials that
interrupt the text to add information.
• The parks (in Islamabad) are always
crowded.
• We provide a lot of academic services.
(See our website)
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20. 12. Brackets [ ]
i. Brackets enclose the additional things for
clarification in the quoted material.
• “It [the river] taught me all I ever knew
about life.”
• “Yeats used to love her [Maude Gonne],
and he wrote many poems about her.”
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21. 13. Slash (/)
i. To show omission c/o (in care of)
ii. To show fractions ¾
iii. To show date 27/11/2020
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22. 14. Caret (^)
• To carry out a correction and point the
place to insert
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23. 15. Ellipsis (…)
i. The ellipsis is most commonly
represented by three periods (. . . )
although it is occasionally demonstrated
with three asterisks (***). The ellipsis is
used in writing or printing to indicate an
omission, especially of letters or words.
He began to count, "One, two, three, four…"
until she got to 10
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24. 16. Braces { }
i. They are used to contain two or more lines
of text or listed items to show that they are
considered as a unit. They are not common.
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25. Thanks
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26. Question Answers
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