Punctuation
noun
The symbols like commas, periods, and question marks used in writing to separate sentences and clarify meaning.
Correct punctuation is essential for clear written communication.
Often appears as...
- correct punctuation
- punctuation marks
Usage tips
Academic
noun
The process or skill of using symbols like commas, periods, and question marks in writing.
She's teaching her students about punctuation.
Often appears as...
- teaching punctuation
- learning punctuation
Usage tips
Academic
noun
The symbols like commas, periods, and question marks used in writing to separate sentences and clarify meaning.
Correct punctuation is essential for clear written communication.
Often appears as...
- correct punctuation
- punctuation marks
Usage tips
Academic
noun
The process or skill of using symbols like commas, periods, and question marks in writing.
She's teaching her students about punctuation.
Often appears as...
- teaching punctuation
- learning punctuation
Usage tips
Academic
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Writing Clarity
Punctuation guides readers on how to read sentences, like how to pause or stop.
Let's eat, grandpa! vs Let's eat grandpa!
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Nuance
Different punctuation can convey different emotions or intensities in writing.
Sure. vs Sure!
Pro Tip 3/3Cultural Differences
Punctuation rules may vary between languages, which could confuse multilingual learners.
English uses commas for lists, but not always in Spanish.
Pro Tip 1/3Writing Clarity
Punctuation guides readers on how to read sentences, like how to pause or stop.
Let's eat, grandpa! vs Let's eat grandpa!
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Nuance
Different punctuation can convey different emotions or intensities in writing.
Sure. vs Sure!
Pro Tip 3/3Cultural Differences
Punctuation rules may vary between languages, which could confuse multilingual learners.
English uses commas for lists, but not always in Spanish.
Pro Tip 1/3Writing Clarity
Punctuation guides readers on how to read sentences, like how to pause or stop.
Let's eat, grandpa! vs Let's eat grandpa!
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Nuance
Different punctuation can convey different emotions or intensities in writing.
Sure. vs Sure!
Pro Tip 3/3Cultural Differences
Punctuation rules may vary between languages, which could confuse multilingual learners.
English uses commas for lists, but not always in Spanish.
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Video examples
How I'm using LEGO to...
but have completely different baselines. Arabic tends to be more calligraphic and connectivity is important to the Arabic language, whose letters have to be mostly joined in order to articulate a given word. It also uses an entirely different system of punctuation and diacritics. But most importantly,
Video examples
When to use apostrophes...
Most of the time, if you see an apostrophe hovering helpfully near a word, it's trying to mark possession or contraction. First, let's look at how the apostrophe marks possession. As you can see, the placement of this punctuation mark can really change the meaning of a sentence.
Video examples
How to use a semicolon -...
then, they become enlightening, finally, you'll find yourself falling for these delightful punctuation marks." Even though the commas separate different parts of the sentence, it's easy to lose track of what belongs where. But then the semicolon edges in to the rescue.
Video examples
An ode to the millennial...
x-factor we hash tag everything X collaborations use abbreviations and disregard punctuation but so what because we migrated from the mindset of we have to - we want to so rather than know a lot about a little we decided it was better to know a little about a lot
Video examples
After the Avalanche:...
and I just reached up into space 'cause that's as close as I'm ever gonna get. I'm not gonna go back and be an astronaut, and at the time, I thought, you know, maybe this is the punctuation, maybe this is the end. Maybe this is the end of the darkness.
Video examples
What color is Tuesday?...
third, or fourth type. One in 90 among us experience graphemes, the written elements of language, like letters, numerals, and punctuation marks, as saturated with color. Some even have gender or personality.
Video examples
Buffalo buffalo buffalo:...
These different interpretations create a sequence of words that is grammatically correct as it stands, though it helps to add in a few implied phrases and punctuation marks to reveal what's really going on.
Video examples
Why Shakespeare loved...
Notice how the iambs cut across both punctuation and word separation. Meter is all about sound, not spelling. Iambic pentameter may sound technical, but there's an easy way to remember what it means.
Video examples
Juan Enriquez: The...
I won't go there. You can do this stuff even without changing the punctuation. You can look at this, right? And they look at the world a little differently. They look at the same world and they say
Video examples
Why wasn’t the Bill of...
Today, every sentence, word, and punctuation mark in the Bill of RIghts is still considered fundamental to the freedoms Americans enjoy, even though the original framers left them out.
Video examples
How I'm using LEGO to...
but have completely different baselines. Arabic tends to be more calligraphic and connectivity is important to the Arabic language, whose letters have to be mostly joined in order to articulate a given word. It also uses an entirely different system of punctuation and diacritics. But most importantly,
Video examples
When to use apostrophes...
Most of the time, if you see an apostrophe hovering helpfully near a word, it's trying to mark possession or contraction. First, let's look at how the apostrophe marks possession. As you can see, the placement of this punctuation mark can really change the meaning of a sentence.
Video examples
How to use a semicolon -...
then, they become enlightening, finally, you'll find yourself falling for these delightful punctuation marks." Even though the commas separate different parts of the sentence, it's easy to lose track of what belongs where. But then the semicolon edges in to the rescue.
Video examples
An ode to the millennial...
x-factor we hash tag everything X collaborations use abbreviations and disregard punctuation but so what because we migrated from the mindset of we have to - we want to so rather than know a lot about a little we decided it was better to know a little about a lot
Video examples
After the Avalanche:...
and I just reached up into space 'cause that's as close as I'm ever gonna get. I'm not gonna go back and be an astronaut, and at the time, I thought, you know, maybe this is the punctuation, maybe this is the end. Maybe this is the end of the darkness.
Video examples
What color is Tuesday?...
third, or fourth type. One in 90 among us experience graphemes, the written elements of language, like letters, numerals, and punctuation marks, as saturated with color. Some even have gender or personality.
Video examples
Buffalo buffalo buffalo:...
These different interpretations create a sequence of words that is grammatically correct as it stands, though it helps to add in a few implied phrases and punctuation marks to reveal what's really going on.
Video examples
Why Shakespeare loved...
Notice how the iambs cut across both punctuation and word separation. Meter is all about sound, not spelling. Iambic pentameter may sound technical, but there's an easy way to remember what it means.
Video examples
Juan Enriquez: The...
I won't go there. You can do this stuff even without changing the punctuation. You can look at this, right? And they look at the world a little differently. They look at the same world and they say
Video examples
Why wasn’t the Bill of...
Today, every sentence, word, and punctuation mark in the Bill of RIghts is still considered fundamental to the freedoms Americans enjoy, even though the original framers left them out.
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Dennis Skinner
British Politician
With this 'social media,' instead of letters you get emails. They're all written in a hurry, with no punctuation, no paragraphs - it's one continual stream, with spelling mistakes. Quite frankly I think it's a world I don't need. But I have to read them all because people say, 'Did you get my letter?' And it's not even a letter!
Quote examples
James Fenton
British Poet
When we study Shakespeare on the page, for academic purposes, we may require all kinds of help. Generally, we read him in modern spelling and with modern punctuation, and with notes. But any poetry that is performed - from song lyric to tragic speech - must make its point, as it were, without reference back.
Quote examples
Laura Linney
American Actress
I am very aware that playwrights, particularly good ones, have a intention for everything they write. Language and punctuation is used specifically, and most of the time actors can find wonderful clues about character in the rhythm and cadence of the language used.
Quote examples
Kate Grenville
Australian Author
I've always had a problem with conventional punctuation of dialogue because it does seem to me to set it off too much from the narrative. I mean, in life, things don't stop while somebody says something, and then stuff starts up again; it's all happening at once.
Quote examples
Michael Morpurgo
English Author
It is really important that focusing on things such as spelling, punctuation, grammar and handwriting doesn't inhibit the creative flow. When I was at school there was a huge focus on copying and testing and it put me off words and stories for years.
Quote examples
Hugh Laurie
British Actor
Celebrity is absolutely preposterous. Entertainment seems to be inflating. It used to be the punctuation to your life, a film or a novel or a play, a way of celebrating a good week or month. Now it feels as if it's all punctuation.
Quote examples
Julie Burchill
British Journalist
Tears are sometimes an inappropriate response to death. When a life has been lived completely honestly, completely successfully, or just completely, the correct response to death's perfect punctuation mark is a smile.
Quote examples
Peter Bergen
American Journalist
Bin Laden's death is just a punctuation point on a set of problems they've had for a long time. I think the prognosis for al-Qaida and groups like it is really bad, and that's a good thing.
Quote examples
Abbas Kiarostami
Iranian Director
Cinema seats make people lazy. They expect to be given all the information. But for me, question marks are the punctuation of life.
Quote examples
Steve Martin
American Comedian
I'm tired of wasting letters when punctuation will do, period.
Quote examples
Dennis Skinner
British Politician
With this 'social media,' instead of letters you get emails. They're all written in a hurry, with no punctuation, no paragraphs - it's one continual stream, with spelling mistakes. Quite frankly I think it's a world I don't need. But I have to read them all because people say, 'Did you get my letter?' And it's not even a letter!
Quote examples
James Fenton
British Poet
When we study Shakespeare on the page, for academic purposes, we may require all kinds of help. Generally, we read him in modern spelling and with modern punctuation, and with notes. But any poetry that is performed - from song lyric to tragic speech - must make its point, as it were, without reference back.
Quote examples
Laura Linney
American Actress
I am very aware that playwrights, particularly good ones, have a intention for everything they write. Language and punctuation is used specifically, and most of the time actors can find wonderful clues about character in the rhythm and cadence of the language used.
Quote examples
Kate Grenville
Australian Author
I've always had a problem with conventional punctuation of dialogue because it does seem to me to set it off too much from the narrative. I mean, in life, things don't stop while somebody says something, and then stuff starts up again; it's all happening at once.
Quote examples
Michael Morpurgo
English Author
It is really important that focusing on things such as spelling, punctuation, grammar and handwriting doesn't inhibit the creative flow. When I was at school there was a huge focus on copying and testing and it put me off words and stories for years.
Quote examples
Hugh Laurie
British Actor
Celebrity is absolutely preposterous. Entertainment seems to be inflating. It used to be the punctuation to your life, a film or a novel or a play, a way of celebrating a good week or month. Now it feels as if it's all punctuation.
Quote examples
Julie Burchill
British Journalist
Tears are sometimes an inappropriate response to death. When a life has been lived completely honestly, completely successfully, or just completely, the correct response to death's perfect punctuation mark is a smile.
Quote examples
Peter Bergen
American Journalist
Bin Laden's death is just a punctuation point on a set of problems they've had for a long time. I think the prognosis for al-Qaida and groups like it is really bad, and that's a good thing.
Quote examples
Abbas Kiarostami
Iranian Director
Cinema seats make people lazy. They expect to be given all the information. But for me, question marks are the punctuation of life.
Quote examples
Steve Martin
American Comedian
I'm tired of wasting letters when punctuation will do, period.
Example 1 of 10
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