How to Use Common Punctuation Marks
- In This Quick Guide:
- The Comma
- The Semicolon
- The Colon
- Quotation Marks
Using the correct punctuation is more than following the grammar rules—correct punctuation enables your audience to understand your ideas more clearly. Like traffic signals, punctuation keeps your ideas flowing in the right direction.
The Comma
Commas tell us how to read and understand sentences because they tell us where to pause. A correctly placed comma helps move readers from the beginning of a sentence to the end. A misplaced comma can create more confusion than a conversation with a teenager.
Here are the guidelines that govern comma use.
Introductory and Concluding Phrases
Use a comma after introductory and concluding expressions:
Use a comma after an introductory prepositional phrase. In each sentence, the introductory phrase is underlined.
Example: Along the route from the house to the woods, Hansel and Gretel left a trail of old lottery tickets.
Use a comma after an introductory participial phrase.
Example: Excited by their approach, the witch called her agent and decided to take a meeting.
Use a comma after an introductory subordinate clause.
Example: When Hansel and Gretel arrived, they were astonished to find the TV contract already prepared.
Use a comma after the greeting of an informal letter.
Examples: Dear Sammi, Dear Mudface,
Use a comma after phrases that show contrast.
Example: The neighbors return home at all hours, often drunk as skunks.
Use a comma at the close of any letter.
Examples: Yours truly, Sincerely, Yours until Niagara falls,
Interrupting Words and Phrases
Use a comma after interrupting words and expressions.
Use a comma to set off interrupting words and expressions. The interrupting words are underlined in the following example.
Example: Windows, as you know, is the best $89 solitaire game you can buy.
Use a comma to set off words of direct address (words that tell to whom a remark is addressed). The words in direct address are underlined in the following example.
Example: Mr. Happy, did you know that cats can’t walk backward?
Use a comma with names and titles.
Example: Ms. Karyn Gerhard, Editor
Use a comma to set off words in apposition (words that give additional information about the preceding or following word or expression). The words in apposition are underlined in the following examples.
Example: A light sleeper, my landlord is the first to awake when he hears the chains rattle.
Example: My landlord, a light sleeper, is the first to awake when he hears the chains rattle.
Use a comma to set off a nonessential clause (a clause that can be omitted without changing the sentence’s basic meaning). The nonessential clause is underlined in the following example.
Example: Philosophy, a science that lets us be unhappy more intelligently, is being offered this semester at the local university.
Use a comma to separate items in a series.
Example: We bought marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate to make those delicious campfire treats.
Sentence Separation
Use a comma to set off parts of a sentence:
Use the comma before the coordinating conjunction. Remember: The coordinating conjunctions are and, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet. The coordinating conjunction is underlined in the following example.
Example: The faucet stopped working, and the sink leaks.
Use a comma to set off a direct quotation.
Example: He said, “Lawyers are the larval form of politicians.”
Example: “Lawyers,” he said, “are the larval form of politicians.”
Use a comma to separate the parts of an address.
Example: She lives at 763 Main Street, Farmingdale, New York 11735.
Clarification
Use commas to prevent misreading:
Use a comma to clarify any potentially confusing sentences.
Confusing: To get through a tunnel must be dug.
Revised: To get through, a tunnel must be dug.
Numbers
Use commas with numbers:
Use a comma between the day of the month and the year.
Examples: December 7, 1941, July 20, 1969
Use commas to show thousands, millions, and so on.
Examples: 1,000; 10,000; 100,000; 1,000,000
The Semicolon
People are irrationally frightened of semicolons. These little guys wouldn’t hurt a flea, even if they fell on it.
Use a semicolon between closely related independent clauses.
Example: Bigamy is one wife too many; monogamy is the same idea.
Use a semicolon between main clauses when the coordinating conjunction has been left out.
Example: She planned to dye her hair purple; however, the store was out of grape Jell-O so she decided to pierce her navel instead.
Use a semicolon to join independent clauses when one or both clauses contains a comma.
Example: After the sheep was cloned, the cows tried calling the tabloids; but they didn’t get through.
Use a semicolon between main clauses connected by conjunctive adverbs such as however, nevertheless, moreover, for example, and consequently.
Example: Cloning sheep is a good idea; however, cloning ex-spouses, English teachers, or Freddy Kruger is not.
The Colon
Even though the semicolon and the colon walk alike and talk alike, they are not alike. The colon and the semicolon are not interchangeable. Here’s how to use the colon.
Use a colon before a list.
Example: The new ice-cream parlor offered a choice of the following flavors of the month: chicken fat ripple, pork and beans, and prime rib chip.
Use a colon before a long quotation, especially a formal one.
Example: Abraham Lincoln said: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
Use a colon before part of a sentence that explains what has just been stated.
Example: Life is a series of rude awakenings: It is what happens to you while you are making other plans.
Use a colon after the salutation of a business letter.
Examples: Dear Mr. President:, To Whom It May Concern:
Use a colon to distinguish chapter from verse in a biblical citation, hours from minutes, titles from subtitles.
Example: Song of Songs 4:15
Quotation Marks
Nothing spices up your writing like a few juicy quotations. Just consider what a letter would be like without a little dialogue:
Use quotation marks to set off a speaker’s exact words.
Example: “Is that person a man or a woman?” we asked.
Use quotation marks to set off the titles of short works such as poems, essays, songs, short stories, and magazine articles.
Example: “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Use single quotation marks to set off quoted material or the titles of short works within a quotation enclosed by double quotation marks.
Example: As the wit said, “‘Health’ is the slowest possible rate of dying.”
Use quotation marks to set off a definition.
Example: The word karaoke means “So you think you can sing? Think again.”
That’s all there is to it! Practice makes perfect, of course, so have fun using your newfound punctuation knowledge in tweets, statuses, and emails. For more basic comp and grammar help, check out our Quick Guide Correcting Common English Grammar Mistakes. Happy writing!
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Grammar and Style, Second Edition, by Laurie E. Rozakis, Ph.D.
