Punctuations

Capital Letters Small Letters Comma Full Stop Semicolon Colon Parenthesis Square Brackets Hypen Dash Exclamation Mark Question Mark Quatation Mark Apostrophe

Capital Letters First letter of a sentence Pronoun “I” Proper nouns: names of people, places, organization, countries, nationalities & languages Days of week, Months of the year & holidays Trade marks & Abbreviation (short forms)

Comma Before but, and, for, or, so, yet After phrases, clauses (Ex. The game was over, but the crowd refused to leave.) After phrases, clauses (Ex. While I was eating, the cat jumped in. During the holidays, we went to Singapore. To get a seat, you better come early. The food, on the other hand, is bland. That Tuesday, which happens to be a public holiday, we can cancel the meeting.) After yes, no, however, well, therefore, hence (Yes, the package should arrive soon. However, you may not be satisfied with the results.)

Semi Colon Link two complete sentences (Ex. I'm going to the store; I need to buy oranges. My name is Teo; I'm studying at New Era College.) Use in a sentence before conjunctions (I wanted to send the goods today; however, I had to cancel it due to the bad weather.)

Colon Introducing list or examples Separate book titles, hour and time (Ex. I need to order a few things: A4 size paper, staplers, blue pens, and English dictionary. Separate book titles, hour and time (Ex. English Grammar : A Useful Guide 3:30 p.m.)

Parenthesis To set off words, hrases, clauses or sentences Ex. Carl wanted a car (Proton Exora). Take this over to that girl ( the one with red hair) and tell her to read it. Although she has three pets (two dogs and one cat), she left them with her aunt.

Parenthesis To enclose number, letter, or symbol Ex. There were eight (8) new rules added. Be sure to include a copyright (@) symbol in that statement. To enclose area code of a phone number Ex. (04) 235-9788

To show an addition to a direnct quotation Square Brackets To show an addition to a direnct quotation 'Hello everyone. I hope that you [the employees] will enjoy the meeting this evening.'

Compound nouns Ex. no-smoking sign Instead of 'to' Ex. page 45 - 65 Hyphen Compound nouns Ex. no-smoking sign Instead of 'to' Ex. page 45 - 65

To show a change of thought Dash To show a change of thought Ex. We went to Pulau Langkawi last year – or perhaps the year before the last. To explain Ex. The reporter pursued the woman – he wanted to get some responses from her. Use double dash Ex. She saw her sisters – all five of them – standing in front of the building.

Exclamation Mark To show strong feelings or raised voices Ex. Go away! I hate you! Shut up! A non-question begins with “what” or “how” Ex. How pretty she looked in that dress! What idiots we are! Informal writing Ex. Remember, don't be late! I'll never understand this!

Questions Marks To ask Turn a statement into a question Question Tags Ex. Are there any letters for me this morning? Turn a statement into a question Ex. She didn't actually quit her job? Question Tags There is an order, isn't it? You found the documents, didn't you?

The opostrophe Contractions – short forms Possessive Form Ex. isn't, she's, I've, They're Possessive Form Ex. Did you see Molly's letter? There is a discount on the ladies' shoes.