When you have a great idea, you want to write it down. You write down everything from journal entries to creative stories to classroom assignments. Many things that you write down are organized into sentences, paragraphs, and completed pieces. You have to choose the words that you use carefully, so that you can share your great idea in the best way possible. You also must know how to use punctuation to make your writing clear. Punctuation makes your writing flow in the way that you want. If nobody cared about punctuation, it would be hard to read and understand anything at all!
Punctuation is part of good writing and uses a set of special symbols that you probably recognize. Proper punctuation makes sure that your writing is clear and organized. It also creates separations in different parts of sentences and lets the reader know when a sentence is completed. If a person is reading aloud, punctuation makes sure the reader pauses in the correct places. You will write better and share your ideas better if you become an expert at punctuation. Let's take a look at six basic punctuation symbols that you can use every day:
Period: A period is a dot (.) that indicates the end of a sentence. Without periods, all sentences would crash into each other and it would be very hard to organize ideas.
Comma: A comma (,) is used to divide parts of a sentence so that the reader can understand it easily. It is also used to make lists. Often, a comma tells the reader to take a brief pause.
Question mark: A question mark (?) is used at the end of a sentence that asks a question. It often indicates a slight upswing in the voice to signify that a question is being asked.
Quotation mark: A quotation mark (") is used at the beginning and the end of quotes. Quotes are the exact words used by another person. A writer can quote what somebody else said out loud or wrote themselves. When characters are talking in a story, quotes are also used to mark the beginning and the end of speech.
Colon: The colon (:) is used to divide sentences in specific ways, and sometimes is used to introduce a list of things. You should treat a colon almost like a period when you are reading. Often a colon delivers an example or a correlated idea that elaborates on the idea which the colon immediately follows.
Semi-colon: The semi-colon (;) is also used to separate sentences in specific ways. A semi-colon is almost like an extra strong comma. It can be used to separate a huge sentence into two clear ideas. On the other hand, it can be used to join two sentences together that relate to each other. A semi-colon is also sometimes used like a comma to create lists of things.
Punctuation is an important part of our written language. You will enjoy reading and writing more if you know how punctuation works and learn the rules for using each punctuation mark. It's easy!
Jude Lewis - I'm a person whose whose passion is writing and research. I am building my career around the language arts and to this end I value ...
