question mark
-put at the end of a sentence that asks or requests something (called interrogative sentences)
exclamation mark/point
(used in exclamatory sentences)
-put at the end of a sentence that expresses strong feelings or commands
-used with interjections ex: Wow!
period
-used at the end of sentences that are not exclamations or questions
-used at the end of declarative sentences that state facts or truth or command sentences that are not emotional
-British call it a full stop
colon
-used at the end of independent clauses to show that more information follows
comma
Used to separate parts of a sentence
quotation marks
use to show what someone is saying
hyphen
a punctuation mark (-) used between parts of a compound word or between the syllables of a word when the word is divided at the end of a line of text
dash
used in less formal writing, longer line than hyphen, introduces additional information or interrupt a thought
brackets
Use to include explanatory words or phrases within a quote
semicolon
punctuation that separates independent clauses
apostrophe
-used to show possession ex: Mrs. O's
-used to make contractions ex: It's nice outside.
-forms plurals of letters, numbers and symbols ex: How many S's are in the word Mississippi?
parentheses
-used around information that does not fit into the flow of the sentence, but that you want to include
-also used in math order of operations ex: (3x+2) - 8 =0
ellipsis
Three periods (...) indicating of words in a thought or quotation have been omitted or left out
slash
In printing, a diagonal mark used to separate alternatives, as in and/or, to represent the word "per" as in miles/hour, and to indicate the ends of verse lines printed continuously, as in "Old King Cole/was a merry old soul.
em dash
A punctuation symbol used to indicate an explanation or emphasis. Sometimes used in pairs.