How many types of punctuation marks are there in English?

Usage of punctuation marks in English

Usage of period

Period is second only to comma in frequency of use in English and is usually used to express the end of a sentence. Finish. Common usages are as follows:

1) Used in declarative sentences to indicate the end of a sentence. It can also be used after gentle imperative sentences or polite questions.

2) Used after certain abbreviations.

3) Used as a decimal point

Usage of commas

Separating adverbials at the beginning of sentences

Often used to separate adverbials used as independent components, etc. The following words.

Separate dates, math, and locations.

Separate the person's name from the job title or invert the name.

Separating salutations

Used after salutations and hot words in letters or after closing honorifics.

Usage of semicolon

The semicolon is a real separator. It cannot be used to complete a sentence. It is usually used between parallel clauses. Generally speaking, the role of a semicolon is between a period and a comma. The relationship between the two parts separated by a semicolon is closer than that separated by a period, but not as close as that separated by a comma. Semicolons are generally used in the following ways:

1) Used between parallel clauses to separate (usually) main clauses that are not connected by conjunctions. These clauses are considered to be closely related and belong to one sentence.

2) Used before clauses introduced by words such as for example, for instance, namely, that is (to say), in fact, i.e., e.g., etc.

Usage of colon

The colon is a supplementary and coherent symbol that is used to draw the reader's attention to the following. Colon is mostly used in formal and solemn questions. The specific usage is as follows:

1) List words that express enumeration, explanation, or explanation.

2) Introduce a longer formal quotation or a large quotation.

3) Used after a salutation in letters or speeches (comma is often used in British usage).

4) Used between hours and minutes (period is often used in British usage), between ratio numbers, and between chapters and verses in the Bible.

5) Separate the title and subtitle of the book title.

Usage of question mark

Question mark is a symbol used after a question. It is mostly used in conversations and is relatively rare in written expressions. The general usage of question marks is as follows:

1) Used after questions or euphemistic imperatives.

2) Used in brackets to express doubt or uncertainty.

Usage of exclamation mark

Exclamation mark is used to express strong emotions, such as exclamation, appreciation, appeal, determination, or to express emphasis, command, etc. Usually exclamation marks are used in the following ways:

1) Used to strengthen the command tone or attract attention.

2) Express exclamation, praise, ridicule or joke.

Usage of hyphens

In English, hyphens have many functions and their usage is flexible and changeable. Usually hyphens are used in the following ways:

1) Used for compound words.

2) Used between affixes (or combined morphemes) and roots (or words).

3) Used to avoid semantic or phonetic confusion of words or for separation.

4) Used between two place names, two numbers or two times, meaning "to".

5) Used for word transition.

However, the following situations should be paid attention to when transitioning:

※Single interstitial words cannot be separated into transitions, for example, strength should not be divided into steng- and th

※Inflectional changes Forms should not be moved separately, for example, working should not be divided into work- and ing.

※Numbers and abbreviations should not be separated into lines, for example, 25759 and UNESCO should not be divided into 257- and 59, UNES- and CO.

※ Words that easily cause ambiguity should not be moved separately. For example, legend and earnest should not be separated into leg- and end, ear- and nest.

※After the line transition, there should not be only one letter left at the end of the line. For example, together and alone should not be divided into a- and like, a- and lone.

※Words with affixes should be separated between the affix and the affix. The root of the word is moved. For example, unimportant and disappear should be moved separately at uni and important, dis- and appear

.

※Compound words should be moved between compound components (if the original hyphen is used, you can use a double hyphen at the end of the line or add a hyphen at the beginning of the next line),

Note : A hyphen should not be confused with a dash, which separates parts of a sentence and is half the length of a dash.

Usage of dash

Dash is a symbol used to strengthen the tone and indicate a sudden change in meaning. It often functions as a colon, semicolon or comma. Its usage is as follows:

1) Indicates a sudden interruption in speech, a sudden change in meaning, or hesitation.

2) Elicit the emphasized words.

3) Words that separate non-limiting modifiers, appositives or additional components.

4) Elicit general words.

5) Indicates the source of the citation.

6) Used between two place names or two times, meaning "to",

Usage of quotation marks

Quotation marks include double quotation marks and single quotation marks In fact, double quotation marks are more commonly used than single quotation marks, and single quotation marks are more common in news headlines in newspapers and periodicals. Quotation marks have the following uses:

1) Used for direct quotations.

Pay attention to the relative position of other punctuation marks and quotation marks in the sentence:

Commas and periods are placed inside quotation marks (this is American usage, British usage is usually placed outside quotation marks). When using quotations within a quotation, you can use single quotation marks (this is American usage, in British usage, single quotation marks are outside and double quotation marks are inside). When the quotation is for more than one paragraph, quotation marks are placed at the beginning of each paragraph and at the end of the last paragraph.

2) Used to quote articles, literary and artistic works, songs, radio and television programs, paintings, etc.

Usage of apostrophe

Apostrophe is mainly used in the following ways:

1) Indicates the possessive case of a noun or indefinite pronoun.

Formation rules:

Add 's to singular and plural nouns that do not end in s, such as John's bike John's bike

Add ' to singular and plural nouns that end in s, For example, student' room student room

Add 's or' to singular nouns ending in s, such as Charles' brother / Charles's brother Charles' brother

2) Represents mathematics, symbols, and letters or the plural form of the word itself.

3) Indicates that letters, numbers or words are omitted.

Usage of parentheses

Parentheses are mainly used to supplement the content of the sentence. Its function is equivalent to an English parenthesis, and its specific usage is as follows:

1) Enclose explanatory text such as examples, citation sources, references, and supplementary explanations.

2) Bracket the numbers or letters that represent the enumeration.

3) Bracket the words that can be omitted.

4) Include the publication place, publisher and publication year of the publication in the annotation,

5) Include optional content

Usage of brackets

Square brackets are usually special symbols used in writing to express opinions, comments, or to make content corrections. Its usage is as follows:

1) Quoting other people’s words and inserting your own explanatory or commentary words.

2) Correct the original text.

3) Enclose the stage cues in the script.

4) Make parentheses within parentheses.

Usage of abridgement marks

Abridgement marks, also known as ellipsis marks, are usually used to indicate omitted parts in quotations or unfinished parts of discourse. They can also indicate discontinuities in discourse. pause. The asterisk (Asterisk) is sometimes used to indicate omission, but this usage has gradually disappeared in modern English. The usage of the abbreviation mark is:

1) Indicates the omission of words

2) Indicates interruptions, pauses, and hesitations in sentences.

3) Indicates the omission of a whole line of poetry

Usage of the slash mark

The main function of the slash mark is to separate it. Its specific usage is as follows:

1) Used to separate replacement words.

/or students.

Can be teachers and/or students.

2) Used to separate parallel words.

3) Used in some abbreviations.

4) Used in units of speed, weights and measures.

5) Used in certain number combinations

6) Used in poetry lines.