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. If you want to add extra information to a sentence, use brackets and if you want to show that a part of a sentence is missing, use the ellipsis (...).

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

Her best friend's name is Alex.

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

Full stops show you that a point has been made. Punctuation marks are definitely very useful.

Question mark

You use a question mark (?) at the end of a sentence when asking a question. A sentence with a question mark is also called an interrogative sentence.

Example

How much time do you spend studying for an English exam?

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

Stop using more than one exclamation mark!

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, months of the year and so on.

Example

Proper noun	common noun
Heathrow	airport
Marks & Spencer	shop
The Shard	skyscraper

Ellipsis

Three dots in a row (...) is called an ellipsis and is used to either show that a part of a sentence is missing (perhaps to save space or to remove irrelevant information) or that a sentence is unfinished (to allow the reader to fill in the gap). The former is mainly useful in a dialogue while the latter can be used in the main body of your writing.

Examples

full quotation	with ellipsis
"Today, after hours of careful thought, I cancelled my trip."	"Today... I cancelled my trip."
He wondered when the train would arrive. He had to be at work by 9 pm or else he'd be issued a warning.	He wondered when the train would arrive. He had to be at work by 9 pm or else...

Note: Like exclamation marks, don't use the ellipsis too often; only use it when you want to achieve one of the above effects.

Round brackets

Round brackets can be used to add extra information to a sentence. Take note that if you use brackets towards the end of a sentence, the full stop is placed after the brackets.

Example

Holly really wanted a dog (she wasn't too fond of cats), but her flat was too small.

All rules in action

In January of next year, I'm going to study abroad (a BA in Literature). I will either go to Germany or France. Cool, right? I can't wait! I wonder what it will cost...