How to use punctuation

By Zuni Tuck

Capital letters and full stops

You use capital letters at the beginning of a sentence and you use full stops at the end of a sentence. You also use capital letters when you are writing a name of someone or something.

Question marks

You use a question mark to show when someone is asking a question.

Eg:

“Where are the scissors Sally?” asked Joe.

Exclamation marks

You use an exclamation mark to show when someone cries out suddenly and with feeling.

Eg:

Put that down!

Oh no!

That’s brilliant!

Commas

A comma is used in lists and it can also be used to indicate a break in a long sentence.

Eg:

I need to buy: apple juice, soap, sugar, bread, milk, chocolate and cake.

Colon

A colon is used to introduce a quotation or a list of items.

Eg:

For this task you will need:

A pen

Paper

Glue

Felt

Ellipses

This is a set of three dots to show that something has been left to the reader’s imagination.

Eg:

Looking over the edge of the cliff, Jane wondered if she’d ever see her hamster again…

Brackets

To clarify or inform. Jamie's bike was red (bright red) with a yellow stripe.

For comments The fish was vivid red (I’m not kidding you).

Dashes

Dashes are used to emphasise something or instead of brackets.

Eg:

The book was good - and I mean really good.

Jamie's bike was red - bright red - with a yellow stripe.