PUNCTUATION MARKS
1. CAPITALIZATION
Capitalize the first letter of a sentence.
Example; She loves chocolate. He loves pizza.
He is my best friend.
My dad was going to the meeting.
Capitalize proper nouns (specific name for a common noun)
COMMON NOUN PROPER NOUNS
boy David
day Friday
month July
country Canada, Kenya
city New York
ocean Atlantic Ocean
Examples; He is a boy. His name is David.
The best day of the week is Friday.
My favourite month is July.
2. PERIOD OR FULLSTOP(.)
Every statement or sentence must end with a full stop.
Example: The dog ran under the fence.
Periods are also used in abbreviations, such as in names or titles.
Examples: Dr. Smith read his patient’s chart.
Mr. H. Potter opened his front door.
K.N.H. (Kenyatta National Hospital)
U.N. (United Nations)
3. QUESTION MARK(?)
A question mark also ends a sentence; however, it ends a sentence that is a direct question. The
sentences can be questions that begin with what, how, when, where, why, or who.
Examples: How do you get to town?
Why are you late?
4. EXCLAMATION MARK (!)
An exclamation mark is also used at the end of a sentence when that sentence expresses
an intense emotion like excitement, disgust, anger, joy, or a sense of urgency.
Examples: Get out!
What a beautiful lady!
Wow!
5. COMMA (,)
Commas are used to insert a pause into a sentence. Commas have a few different uses.
Commas are used for a direct address, such as:
Example: Joe, it was nice to see you again.
They’re also used to separate two complete sentences:
Example: He went to the library, and then he went out for lunch.
Commas can also be used to list items in a series of three or more things:
Example: She went shopping and bought shoes, a dress, two shirts, and a pair of pants.
Jake has been to India, Pakistan and China,
6. COLON (:)
A colon can be used when introducing something such as a quote, an example, a series,
or an explanation or a list of items.
Example: There are three things every child needs: education, food and family
She took four classes last semester: history, biology, arts, and economics.
They serve many types of food: Chinese, Indian and America.
7. HYPHEN (-)
A hyphen is used in compound words when two or more words are connected. Here are
some examples of hyphenated words: Step-by-step
Mother-in-law
Ex-boyfriend
Used in compound numbers between 21 and 99
Examples: I have ninety-nine problems
She is thirty-two years old.
8. APOSTROPHE (‘)
Apostrophes indicates possessives or contractions.
Examples: I’ve been working from home for 6 months and it’s great.
Rebecca’s dog had surgery yesterday. (dog belongs to Rebecca)
DO NOT USE an apostrophe to form a plural
Incorrect: they have two car’s
Correct: they have two cars.
QUOTATION MARKS (“”) (‘’)
Quotation marks are used to indicate text, speech, or words spoken by someone else. It
is also used to indicate dialogue.
Example: “I don’t like this,” said Mark. [ indicates speech]
She told him that she “prefers not to think about that.” [words spoken by someone]
Single quotation marks (‘’) not to be confused with apostrophes, are often used for
quoting what the other person said.
Example: “She just said ‘see you later’ and then left,” reported Kyle.
Her daughter asked, “Why did you call that man a ‘ridiculous idiot’?”
