PUNCTUATION MARKS
PUNCTUATION
MARKS
Punctuation marks are
very, very important in writing and also in speaking. They can be compared with the safety gadgets
of a motor car such as brakes, clutch, steering wheel, horn, trafficators,
headlights etc. Just as a motor car
without safety gadgets may go directionless, so too, a piece of writing or even
speech without punctuation marks might be misleading or altogether, sound
meaningless.
The twelve (12) parts
of speech that we have in the English Language are mentioned and explained
hereunder:
1.
Full Stop or Period (.)
- Used
to mark end of sentences.
- Used
to indicate difference in units of a currency e.g. $1.80 or in time e.g.
4.30p.m.
- Used
as a decimal point in figures e.g. 0.0012.
- Used
for abbreviations e.g. ‘U.I.’
- Used
for initials e.g. ‘S.O. Umukoro’.
2.
Comma (,)
- Used
for a short pause in a sentence.
- Used
to link points in a sentence.
3.
Semi-Colon (;)
- Used
for a longer and stronger pause in a sentence.
- Used to link clauses and phrases in a sentence.
- Sometimes used at the end of each
point/item in a list.
4.
Colon (:)
- Used
to indicate the beginning of listing of items in a sentence.
- Also
used to indicate how one idea is conclusive of another idea in a sentence e.g. ‘The
weather is cloudy: the rain shall soon fall.’
5. Hyphen
(-)
- Used
to indicate compound words e.g guard-of-honour.
- Used
to link words that have special application in a sentence.
- Also
used to hyphenate long words which cannot be accommodated on a preceding line,
and have to be carried over to the next line.
6.
Dash (---)
Short dash is referred to
by some as En Dash and long dash is referred to by some as Em
Dash.
- Used
to emphasize a point or an idea within a sentence. (Please see the following
sentence)
‘Prior to 1999, Warri was a booming ‘Oil City’ in
Delta State. But since June,1999 when it experienced a multi-pronged crisis ---
in fact the worst crisis since its cradle --- the city has not been the same’.
7.
Apostrophe (’)
- Used
as a possessive mark e.g. ‘Warri’s glory or the city’s lost glory’.
- Also
used to indicate an omission e.g. ’70s for 1970s.
8.
Quotation Marks (“”) (‘’)
- Used
for quotations e.g. “Friends, Romans and countrymen”, said Mark Anthony.
- Used
to indicate titles of books, articles, journals etc. For example: I have read
‘No Longer At Ease’.
9.
Question Mark (?)
- Used
to indicate a direct question e.g. Where are you going to?
Please take note that question marks are not used
for an indirect question e.g. He asked me where I was going. When a question is
indirect, it is treated as a statement.
- Used
to indicate a doubt e.g. Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe (1904-1996?)
10.
Exclamation Mark (!)
- Used
to indicate an exclamatory expression such as sudden surprise, joy, anger,
fear, etc. An example is ‘Oh! My goodness’.
- Used
to emphasize a point or an idea within a sentence.
11. Bracket (Parenthesis) ( ) & Brackets { }:
- Used
to enclose an explanation point in a sentence. Take note that whatever
information is enclosed within brackets in a sentence should be carefully
written in such a way that if the bracketed information is removed, the
remainder of the sentence would still be meaningful.
- Also
used as a brace to draw the eye to groups of common interest or having some
ties e.g.
Efe
Boy }
Emma
Ukpabio } Members of USSA.
Ochuko
Ovo }
12. Ellipsis
(…)
An ellipsis
is made of four dots following each other.
-
It is used
to show where words have been missed out when writing what a person said. This is often done to save time and space.
For example: “Whatever things are true … are of serious concern … are righteous
… are chaste … are lovable … are well-spoken-of … are virtuous … and … are
praiseworthy, continue considering these things” (Philippians 4:8).
-
It can also
be used to show that there is more to be said or written, but the person
stopped at that point.
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