CAMBRIDGE CHECKPOINT

ENGLISH STUDY NOTES AND EXERCISES

PUNCTUATION MARKS

What is a Punctuation Mark?

In simple terms, punctuation marks are a symbol to create and support meaning within a sentence
or to break it up. Examples of different punctuation marks include: full stops (.), commas (,),
question marks (?), exclamation marks (!), colons (:), semi-colons (;), apostrophes (') and speech
marks (",").

1. Full stop
A full stop is the punctuation name for a mark that is used to show the end of a sentence, as
shown in this punctuation example:

'Lucy went clothes shopping. She bought a lovely new skirt.'

Full stops are used to indicate that it is the end of a sentence, usually communicating a complete
point or thought. It highlights a new sentence is about to begin.

2. Commas
A comma is the punctuation name for a mark that are great for breaking down sentences,
combining two clauses or showing us when to pause.

'Despite the fact I hate Mathematics, I quite like learning about fractions.'

This shows how commas can add emphasis and tell the reader when to pause. Sometimes,
commas can be misplaced. This is called a comma splice, where two independent clauses are
connected by a comma, when they should really be separated with a full stop or semi colon or
connected with a connective.

3. Question marks
A question mark is the punctuation name for a mark that is a bit more straightforward. They
simply indicate that the speaker is asking a question. They're used at the end of question (or
interrogative) sentences.

'Do you still want to keep your teddy bear?'

4. Exclamation marks
An exclamation mark is the punctuation name for a mark that can change the meaning and tone
of a sentence. They still end a sentence, but they can add emotion - whether that's excitement,
anger or nervousness!

'Look, it's a cat!'

'I am so nervous about my Checkpoint exams!'

'I can't believe you just said that!'

All three of these sentences convey very different emotions using an exclamation mark, so it can
be confusing. Yet imagine if they used a full stop instead - these emotions would be much harder
to read and understand. A sentence which needs in an exclamation mark is called an exclamatory
sentence.

5. Colons
A colon is the punctuation name for a mark that is ideal for connecting two clauses.

'Never go out in the sun without sunscreen: you will damage your skin.'

They are also great for introducing a list of three or more things.

'I'm visiting four cities this summer: Rome, Florence, Paris, and Seville.'

6. Semicolons
Semicolons get a bad reputation for being difficult, but in truth, they are super handy!

You can use a semicolon to join two main (or independent clauses) which have equal
importance. For example,

'Katie was hungry; she hadn't eaten all day.'

In this case, semicolons show a closer relationship between the clauses than a full stop would
show.

Semicolons can also be used to connect two sentences that show a contradiction.

‘She is poor; she spends a lot when she finds money.

Basically, in this case a semicolon can be easily replaced by the conjunction ‘but’.

i.e. ‘She is poor but she spends a lot when she finds money.
7. Apostrophes
An apostrophe is the punctuation name for a mark that is quite confusing for many children, but
it's really important that children learn how to use them properly.

Apostrophes are used to identify something that belongs to someone or to show a letter or
multiple letters are missing from a word. Yet as simple as this sounds, many children and adults
often misplace or forget apostrophes, even putting them somewhere they shouldn't be altogether.
The following sentence shows how to use an apostrophe for contractions, where letters are
missing from "were not", "of the clock" and "cannot".

"We weren't meant to leave before 4 O'clock, so we can't go yet."

Apostrophes can also be used to show the possessive form of a singular noun.

"The student's job was to make sure no one touched the pet rabbit's breakfast."

With plural nouns where the word already has an 's' at the end, an apostrophe just gets added at
the end.

"The girls' toy truck had broken."

If the word is plural and doesn't have an 's' at the end, again one can be added.

"The women's business meeting had been delayed."

8. Dash
A dash is the punctuation name for a mark that used to separate words into statements. There are
two common types of dashes: en dash and em dash which vary in length. The en dash is twice as
long as a hyphen and is most commonly used to signify a range between two words or numbers,
for example the date range:

1990-2014.

Meanwhile, the em dash can be used in place of a comma, parenthesis, or colon to enhance
readability or emphasize the conclusion of a sentence. For example:

She gave him her answer — No!

8. Hyphen
This list of punctuation marks isn't exhaustive, but it does contain the most commonly used
punctuation marks with names. For example:
Sarah had a part-time job that she worked on a Saturday.

9. Parentheses
A parenthesis is a word, phrase, or sentence that is inserted into writing as extra information
using brackets, commas or dashes. For example:

'Orama (who is a high school student) lives in Blantyre

When a whole sentence is written inside a parenthesis then the full stop will be included inside
the parenthesis, for example - Please read this story. (You'll be amazed.). However, if the
majority of a sentence is written outside the parenthesis, then the full stop should also be used on
the outside, for example, You are late (aren't you?).

10. Brackets
Brackets is the punctuation name for a mark that are curved symbols that look like () and are
used to separate non-essential or additional information from a sentence. For example:

She finally answered (after taking five minutes to think) that she didn’t understand the question.

11. Quotation marks (Speech Marks)

A quotation mark is the punctuation name for a mark that is the primary type of punctuation used
in quotes. These are inverted commas that are used as either single (‘ ’) or double (“ ”) sets.
They are used either to mark the beginning and end of a title or quoted passage. For example:

Walking across the beach Mary said, "the weather is very sunny today".

12. Ellipsis
An ellipsis (plural ellipses) is a punctuation mark made up of 3 dots. Ellipses are commonly used
to indicate the omission of words, lines or paragraphs from a quoted passage. For example:

'Today...we are proud to announce our new product.'

EXERCISE 1

Use appropriate punctuation marks in the following sentences.

1. We had a great time in France the kids really enjoyed it

________________________________________________________________________

2. Some people work best in the mornings others do better in the evenings
 ________________________________________________________________________

3. What are you doing next weekend

________________________________________________________________________

4. Mother had to go into hospital she had heart problems

________________________________________________________________________

5. Did you understand why I was upset

________________________________________________________________________

6. It is a fine idea let us hope that it is going to work

________________________________________________________________________

7. We will be arriving on Monday morning at least I think so

________________________________________________________________________

8. A textbook can be a wall between teacher and class

________________________________________________________________________

9. The girls father sat in a corner

________________________________________________________________________

10. In the words of Murphys Law Anything that can go wrong will go wrong

________________________________________________________________________

EXERCISE 2

Put in semicolons, colons, dashes, quotation marks, Italics (use an underline), and
parentheses where ever they are needed in the following sentences.

1. The men in question Harold Keene, Jim Peterson, and Gerald Greene deserve awards.

______________________________________________________________________________

2. Several countries participated in the airlift Italy, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg.
______________________________________________________________________________

3. There's no room for error, said the engineer so we have to double check every calculation.

______________________________________________________________________________

4. Judge Carswell later to be nominated for the Supreme Court had ruled against civil rights.

______________________________________________________________________________

5. In last week's New Yorker, one of my favorite magazines, I enjoyed reading Leland's article
How Not to Go Camping.

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

6. Yes, Jim said, I'll be home by ten.

______________________________________________________________________________

7. There was only one thing to do study till dawn.

_____________________________________________________________________________

8. Montaigne wrote the following A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself.

______________________________________________________________________________

9. The following are the primary colors red, blue, and yellow.

______________________________________________________________________________

10. Arriving on the 8 10 plane were Liz Brooks, my old roommate her husband and Tim, their
son.

______________________________________________________________________________

11. When the teacher commented that her spelling was poor, Lynn replied All the members of
my family are poor spellers. Why not me?

______________________________________________________________________________

12. He used the phrase you know so often that I finally said No, I don't know.

______________________________________________________________________________

13. The automobile dealer handled three makes of cars Volkswagens, Porsches, and Mercedes
Benz.
______________________________________________________________________________

14. Though Phil said he would arrive on the 9 19 flight, he came instead on the 10 36 flight.

______________________________________________________________________________

15. Whoever thought said Helen that Jack would be elected class president?

______________________________________________________________________________

16. In baseball, a show boat is a man who shows off.

______________________________________________________________________________

17. The minister quoted Isaiah 5 21 in last Sunday's sermon.

______________________________________________________________________________

18. There was a very interesting article entitled The New Rage for Folk Singing in last Sunday's
New York Times newspaper.

______________________________________________________________________________

19. Whoever is elected secretary of the club Ashley, or Chandra, or Aisha must be prepared to do
a great deal of work, said Jumita, the previous secretary.

______________________________________________________________________________

20. Darwin's On the Origin of Species 1859 caused a great controversy when it appeared.

______________________________________________________________________________
ANSWERS FOR EXERCISE 1

1. We had a great time in France – the kids really enjoyed it.

2. Some people work best in the mornings; others do better in the evenings.

3. What are you doing next weekend?

4. Mother had to go into hospital: she had heart problems.

5. Did you understand why I was upset?

6. It is a fine idea; let us hope that it is going to work.

7. We will be arriving on Monday morning – at least, I think so.

8. A textbook can be a ‘wall’ between teacher and class.

9. The girl’s father sat in a corner.

10. In the words of Murphy’s Law: ‘Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.’

ANSWERS FOR EXERCISE 2

Semicolons, colons, dashes, quotation marks, Italics (use an underline), and parentheses are
added in the following sentences.

1. The men in question (Harold Keene, Jim Peterson, and Gerald Greene) deserve awards.

2. Several countries participated in the airlift: Italy, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg.

3. "There's no room for error," said the engineer, "so we have to double check every calculation."

4. Judge Carswell--later to be nominated for the Supreme Court--had ruled against civil rights.

5. In last week's New Yorker, one of my favorite magazines, I enjoyed reading Leland's article
"How Not to Go Camping."

6. "Yes,"Jim said, "I'll be home by ten."

7. There was only one thing to do--study till dawn.

8. Montaigne wrote the following: "A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself."

9. The following are the primary colors: red, blue, and yellow.

10. Arriving on the 8:10 plane were Liz Brooks, my old roommate; her husband; and Tim, their
son.

11. When the teacher commented that her spelling was poor, Lynn replied, "All the members of
my family are poor spellers. Why not me?"

12. He used the phrase "you know" so often that I finally said, "No, I don't know."

13. The automobile dealer handled three makes of cars: Volkswagens, Porsches, and Mercedes
Benz.

14. Though Phil said he would arrive on the 9:19 flight, he came instead on the 10:36 flight.

15. "Whoever thought," said Helen, "that Jack would be elected class president?"

16. In baseball, a "show boat" is a man who shows off.

17. The minister quoted Isaiah 5:21 in last Sunday's sermon.

18. There was a very interesting article entitled "The New Rage for Folk Singing" in last
Sunday's New York Times newspaper.

19. "Whoever is elected secretary of the club--Ashley, or Chandra, or Aisha--must be prepared to

do a great deal of work," said Jumita, the previous secretary.

20. Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) caused a great controversy when it appeared.