Punctuation Resources

. , : ; " ' ! ? ( )
Punctuation marks do a lot of work in writing. They give important messages to the reader about how a sentence should be read.

Learning how to use commas, full stops, colons and semi-colons can make your writing clearer and more effective.

In the course book there is a page on commas. The page on combining information gives examples of how to use colons/semi-colons as well as commas.

Remember that punctuation varies from one language to another - this is especially true of commas - so when you read in English keep an eye on how writers use punctuation.

If you have questions about punctuation in English or you need to see some examples, try:

The Blue Book at http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/cnt_punc.asp. This is the web site for Jane Straus' The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation. The site has a lot of free material - see the 'Punctuation Rules' if you have a specific question. Also try the quiz.

This is a US-oriented book so will not please all lovers of British English. For a more British notion of 'correct punctuation' see http://www.correctpunctuation.co.uk/.

To find out the names of punctuation marks in English see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuation.

Online Game

To test your knowledge of apostrophes and other punctuation marks play this game http://eatsshootsandleaves.com/ESLquiz.html which is based on a best-selling book by Lynne Truss.

Note: 'period' is used in US English, 'full stop' in British English. 'Parenthesis' is widely used in US English, 'brackets' in British English.

There are some US/UK cultural differences in the way punctuation is used, notably regarding commas. In US English, writers are more likely to use the 'final comma' in a list of items:

The writing course included workshop activities, exercises, writing tips, and links to web sites.

In British English the final comma before 'and' is only used if there is a chance that the reader might confuse the last two items in the list. The comma would only be used for clarification.