Sentence punctuation

In a nutshell

Punctuation is a system of symbols or signs that show you how a sentence should be read and makes the meaning clear.  Without punctuation, your writing won't make any sense and for this reason, there are rules you need to follow. 

Rules of sentence punctuation

A sentence always starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, exclamation mark or question mark. If your sentence has a proper noun (the specific name of a person, place or thing), it should also be written with a capital letter.

Capital letter

Capital letters (A, B, C...) are the big letters used at the beginning of a sentence and for proper nouns. When capital letters are used at the start of a sentence, they let you know a sentence is beginning. When they are used for proper nouns, they show you that the word is important.

Example

His favourite football player is Ronaldo.

Full stop

The full stop (.) is a punctuation mark that is used at the end of a sentence to show that a point has been made and you are ready to move on to the next sentence.

Example

I am tall. He is short.

Question mark

You use a question mark (?) at the end of a sentence when you are asking a question. 

Example

Do you like languages?

Exclamation mark

The exclamation mark (!) usually shows a strong feeling, such as surprise, anger or joy. It is also used at the end of a sentence. It's important to only use one exclamation mark and to not use it too often, otherwise, it could lose its effect.

Example

Yes, I will marry you!

Proper nouns

A proper noun is the name of a specific person, place or thing. Proper nouns are easy to tell apart from common nouns because the first letter(s) of ALL proper nouns are written with capital letters. Proper nouns can be the name of a person, company, country, book, days of the week and months of the year etc.

Example