How to use punctuation in English?

Question mark (question mark, "?" )

Exclamation mark ("!" )

Comma (comma, ",")

Colon (colon, ":")

Semicolon (semicolon, "; ))

Hyphenation ("-")

Connection number (dash, "–")

Dash (long dash, "-")

Parentheses, parentheses "()"; Square brackets "[]"; Braces "{}")

Quotes, double quotes ""; Single quotation mark "'")

Abbreviations and possessive symbols (apostrophe, "")

I. Period

1. period is used when a sentence is completely finished.

2. The period can also be used for abbreviations of English words, such as Mrs, Dr, P.S, etc. But be careful not to use a period when abbreviations form a word. Such as IBM, DNA and so on.

Second,? question mark

Question marks should be used in direct questions, not indirect questions.

For example, how would you solve the problem? Is the correct usage, but is it used in I wonder how you will solve this problem? That is wrong. You should use a period instead of a question mark.

In addition, in polite language, a period is also used instead of a question mark.

Please give me a call tomorrow.

Third,! exclamation mark

Exclamation marks are used for exclamation and exclamation, so we should pay attention to the application of exclamation marks in business writing, because improper use will appear abrupt and unstable.

Fourth,; semicolon

1. Like Chinese, semicolons are used to separate independent clauses with equal status. In some cases, using semicolons can show the close relationship between clauses better than using periods. In addition, semicolons are often used with connective adverbs thus, how and there (before these words). For example, I realize that I need to exercise; However, I will lie down and think about it first.

2. If commas are used in the sentence, to avoid ambiguity, semicolons are used to separate similar contents. For example, the employee is the manager Tom Hanks; Engineer Jim White; And Dr. Jack Lee.

It should be noted that a complete sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a period. When writing English, replacing periods, semicolons, colons or dashes with commas is called "comma error", which is exactly what China students should avoid. Compare the following examples:

It's raining hard, so they can't work in the fields.

(Note: The underlined parts in the above sentences are two different subjects, and the sentences before and after the comma are complete-they can represent a complete meaning by themselves. Therefore, the use of commas violates the rule that a sentence can only have one set of trunks in English. )

Positive: it's raining heavily; They can't work in the fields.

It's raining hard. They can't work in the fields.

It's raining so hard that they can't work in the fields.

Because it is raining hard, they can't work in the fields.

It's raining hard, so they can't work in the fields.

As it is raining hard, they can't work in the fields.

Error: This article is poorly organized and has no central idea.

Positive: the essay is poorly organized; No central idea.

This article is poorly organized: it has no central idea.

V: colon

1. colon is used to introduce or explain the following, such as this is her plan: going shopping.

2. Colons are used before lists, especially vertical lists.

We transferred three employees to the new branch:

Tony Wang to new york.

Mike Jackson went to Tokyo

Marc forster goes to Paris.

When the list is horizontal, the colon should be used after a complete sentence. For example, we need seven people: three students, three engineers and one professor.

3. The colon is used before the official quotation. As the professor said, "It's really scary."

A colon can also be used after the address of a business letter or formal letter, such as Dear Mr. Li (In American English, the address of a letter or speech is followed by a colon, while in British English, a comma is often used. )

5. Colons are used to indicate numerical time, such as 16:45 or 4: 45 pm.

6. Colons are used between main headings and subheadings, such as Web Directory: World and Non-American Economic Data.

Six, comma

1. comma is used to separate a series of simple contents, such as I'm going to Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.

2. Commas are used to modify nouns between adjectives, such as a small and chic bicycle.

3. Commas are used to connect two long independent clauses, each with a different subject. For example, the Grizzlies ran out of time and Miller missed a desperate three-pointer when the time expired.

Use commas between related clauses. If he is your brother, please take good care of him.

Comma is used after long modifier phrases, for example, in the coldest winter on record, the pipe froze.

6. Commas are used before direct speech sentences, such as Mary saying, "Let's go fishing." (Note: The colon mentioned here is not for direct reference. If you quote a more formal speech, you should use colons, usually commas. )

If the sentence contains indirect quotations, there is no need for commas, for example, Mary said we should go fishing.

Use a comma before the rhetorical question, such as:

He works very hard, doesn't he?

The above are common punctuation marks, and the following are some common punctuation marks:

Seven, hyphen hyphen (-)

The 1. hyphen is mainly used after some prefixes (such as self-, ex- and all-) to form compound words. For example:

Ex-husband (ex-husband), brand-new (brand-new), poorly dressed (in rags)

I have 40,000 to 50,000 dollars.

I want to get a full-year or half-year lease for the apartment.

When two or more compound words are used together, and the part after the hyphen of each compound word is the same, the same part of each compound word only appears once, and it should be leased for a whole year or half a year.

2. Used to distinguish the same etymology

3. When repeated letters or too many vowels appear in a compound word, which makes reading difficult, you can use hyphens to separate the prefix from the root.

Non-nuclear, reusable and semi-independent

4. Form some compound numbers (in English writing, numbers below 100 should be written in English words, not Arabic numerals).

1949- 1999 from 2 1

Sometimes, fractions used as nouns can be separated by hyphens, but all participles used as adjectives must be connected by hyphens.

For example, a quarter [or a quarter] of the respondents.

5. When a part of a word needs to be moved, a hyphen is usually used to break the word between syllables (for example, ha-ppy, which cannot be broken into hap-py ...), or according to pronunciation, don't leave a single letter at the end or beginning of a line. Note that the last word on one page cannot be hyphenated on two pages.

Eight. Parentheses (())

1. Numbers and letters (such as (1), (2), etc.) indicating the order of the table. )

2. Used to indicate inserted or additional explanatory elements. This inserted element can be a word, phrase or sentence. However, it should be noted that parentheses will weaken the emphasis, so if you want to emphasize the inserted sentence elements, you should use dashes.

They may take a walk together (remember their feet) and see their neighbors with fresh and new eyes.

Nine, quotation marks ("").

Quotes are divided into single quotes and double quotes. Single quotation marks are only used for another direct speech contained in one direct speech.

1. stands for direct speech. When directly quoting more than four lines or more than 40 words, quotation marks are generally not used, but changed to bold, so as to make the boundary with other parts of the article clear.

"Well," the foreigner said to him, "you look like an engineer."

Periods and commas must be enclosed in quotation marks (double quotation marks and single quotation marks).

He told the gunman, "I refuse to do that"; However, when he said these words, his knees were shaking.

She calls this activity schedule her "load": work, study, exercise, entertainment and sleep.

Colons and semicolons must be enclosed in quotation marks.

The teacher asked, "Can you understand me"?

Did the teacher ask "Are they gone?"?

Did the teacher ask, "Are they gone?"

The frightened girl screamed, "Help"!

The guy just said, "I'm sorry!" "

He interrupted me, "Now, listen"-go on.

Question marks, exclamation points and dashes are sometimes placed inside quotation marks and sometimes outside nicknames. If the quoted content itself is a question or an exclamatory sentence or has a dash, the question mark, exclamation point or dash are generally put in quotation marks. Otherwise, put it outside quotation marks.

2. Indicate the titles of short publications, such as magazines, newspaper articles, short poems, short stories and a chapter of the whole book.

Have you read The Old Man and the Sea?

The third chapter is entitled "Internet"

3. The words used have special meanings. In addition, when slang appears in more formal articles, it will also be quoted, indicating that it intends to change the style of writing.

The report contains the facts of the case.

The speaker owns a "weight loss farm" in California, which costs $2,500 a week to lose weight for the gluttonous rich.

4. Used to express words that attract readers' attention or special words that readers are not familiar with.

Whenever someone says "thank you", it is customary to say "welcome"

"SOS" is a distress signal sent by a ship or plane when it is in danger.

X.Ell ipsis ellipsis (...)

No matter whether this ellipsis appears at the beginning, middle or end of a sentence, it indicates the omission of a word.

1. indicates ellipsis in direct speech.

Marx wrote ... in a word, man's consciousness changes with every change of his material living conditions.

The ellipsis and period after the sentence should be written as four black dots on a straight line. The first three black dots indicate ellipsis, and the last black dot indicates a period.

2. Express hesitation or hesitation when speaking.

"If that's what you think ... go back to school," he said.

3. A whole line of black dots should be used to indicate the omission of a paragraph or a whole line of words.

Eleven, apostrophe or apostrophe (')

1. constitutes the possessive case of a noun.

Let my son rest.

A moment's book

Three weeks' salary

2. Represents the plural form of words, letters, numbers, symbols, etc.

Don't use so many and in the sentence.

How many fives do you have?

This is different from the plural form of ordinary words. Formal writing must begin with "",and remember these rules.

In addition to the abbreviated form of verbs, it also indicates the omission of one or more letters and numbers.

I see. "Yes, madam," said the waiter.

Note: A considerable number of omitted words are used in spoken language and should not appear in written language. I am willing (I am willing to write in written language)

Twelve, underline () and italics

Italic is a unique way of writing in English, but it has the function of punctuation, just like underline.

1. Used under the names of trains, planes, ships and spaceships.

Challenger (aircraft) Apollo 9 (spacecraft)

2. Used under the title of books, newspapers, magazines, long poems, movies and compositions with a certain thickness.

Have you read Gone with the Wind?

In writing, if the title of a novel is printed in italics, it should be underlined.

Washington Post times magazine

3. Represents a foreign word or phrase that is not commonly used or accepted in English. But the animal and plant subjects in loanwords must be represented by the bottom line.

In Korea, his longing for 6 1 birthday is called "the beginning of a new life"

Sweet life.

4. Emphasize some words in the article to attract readers' attention, which is equivalent to bullets in Chinese (that is, add a black dot under the emphasized Chinese characters).

Differences between punctuation marks in British English and American English

1. Usage of quotation marks: ① Commas and periods belonging to quotation marks are inside quotation marks in American English, but mostly outside quotation marks in British English; (2) When quotation marks are used, American English contains double quotation marks and British English contains single quotation marks.

In American English, if the ellipsis happens to be at the end of a sentence, use four dots, such as I't want to ... that is ... if you don't mind. ....

2. Usage of colon: ① Between hours and minutes, American English uses colon and British English uses period; (2) In American English, a colon should be added after the address form of letters or speeches, while in British English, commas are often used.

Differences between Chinese and English punctuation marks

The punctuation marks currently used in Chinese are borrowed from the western punctuation system, which not only retains the main characteristics of western punctuation marks, but also has the characteristics suitable for Chinese. Therefore, there are some differences in punctuation between Chinese and English.

Some punctuation marks in Chinese are not found in English.

(1) pause (,): pause plays a role in dividing coordinate components in sentences in Chinese; There is no pause in English, and commas are often used as coordinate elements in clauses. For example:

She moved the box slowly, carefully and deliberately.

Note: In similar situations, and can be added after the last comma, and this comma can also be omitted-she moves the box slowly and carefully (,) and subtly.

⑵ Title: There is no title in English, and the titles of books and newspapers are indicated in italics or underlined. For example:

Hamlet/Hamlet Hamlet

Winter Story/Winter Story "Winter Fairy Tale"

The New York Times/new york Times The New York Times

In addition, the names of articles, poems, music, movies, paintings, vehicles, spacecraft and other proper nouns in English are often expressed in italics.

(3) Interval number (? ): Chinese has a separator, which is used in the middle of words that need to be separated, such as month, day, transliteration name and surname, such as "12? Nine ","Audrey? Hepburn (name) "and so on. There are no Chinese interval symbols in English, so commas are often used when intervals are needed.

(4) Bullets: Chinese sometimes uses solid dots under words to indicate words that need to be emphasized. These solid dots are bullets. However, there is no such symbol in English. When you need to emphasize some elements, you can use italics, some emphasized words, special sentence patterns, punctuation pauses and other methods.

Some punctuation marks in English are not found in Chinese.

(1) apostrophe-apostrophe (')

(2) hyphen-hyphen (-)

⑶ slash symbol-virgule or slash (/): This symbol mainly plays the role of division, for example, it can be used for employees and/or students. It is also often used for phonetic notation, such as bed /bed/.

3. Some symbols have different forms in Chinese and English.

(1) The period in Chinese is a hollow circle (. )

The period in English is a solid dot (. ).

② The ellipsis in English is three dots (...), which are located at the bottom of the line;

Six points in Chinese (...), living in the industry.

(3) The dash in English is (-)

Chinese is (-)