How to use punctuation marks?

Punctuation marks are symbols that assist written language recording and are an integral part of written language. They are used to express pauses, tone, and the nature and function of words.

There are 16 commonly used punctuation marks, divided into two categories: periods and marks.

The function of the period mark is to punctuate, mainly indicating pauses and tone when speaking. Dots are divided into sentence-ending dots and intra-sentence dots. The end-of-sentence period mark is used at the end of a sentence, and there are three types: period, question mark, and exclamation mark. It indicates the pause at the end of the sentence and also indicates the tone of the sentence. Intra-sentence punctuation is used within a sentence, and there are four types: comma, pause, semicolon, and colon, indicating various types of pauses within the sentence.

The function of labels is to indicate, mainly the nature and function of statements. There are 9 commonly used symbols, namely: quotation marks, parentheses, dashes, ellipses, emphasis marks, connection marks, spacers, book title marks and proper title marks.

Usage instructions

Period: The period is in the form of ".". There is another form of period, which is a small dot ".", which is generally used in scientific literature. For a pause at the end of a declarative sentence, use a period. Use a period at the end of an imperative sentence with a soothing tone.

Question mark: The question mark is in the form of "?". To pause at the end of a question, use a question mark. A question mark is also used at the end of a rhetorical question.

Exclamation mark: The exclamation mark is in the form of "!". For a pause at the end of an exclamatory sentence, use an exclamation point. An exclamation point is also used at the end of a strong rhetorical question.

Comma: The form of comma is ",". If there is a pause between the subject and the predicate within the sentence, use a comma. If there is a pause between the verb and the object within the sentence, use a comma. If there is a pause after an adverbial inside a sentence, use a comma. The pauses between clauses in a complex sentence should always use commas, except sometimes semicolons.

Period mark: The form of the period mark is ",". Use a pause between parallel words within a sentence.

Semicolon: The semicolon is in the form of ";". Use a semicolon to pause between parallel clauses within a complex sentence.

For multiple repetitive sentences with non-parallel relationships (such as transition relationships, causal relationships, etc.), a semicolon is also used between the two parts before and after the first level. Semicolons can also be used between items listed on separate lines.

Colon: The colon is in the form of ":". Used after a salutation to indicate the following. Used after words such as "say, think, be, prove, announce, point out, reveal, for example, as follows" to indicate the mention of the following. Used after a general utterance to indicate the subsequent explanation. Used after words that require explanation to elicit explanations or explanations. A colon can also be used before a general statement to summarize the above.

Quotation marks: The form of quotation marks is double quotation mark """ and single quotation mark "‘'". If quoted directly in the text, use quotation marks. Objects that need to be discussed are marked with quotation marks. Words with special meanings are also marked with quotation marks. When you need to use quotation marks inside quotation marks, use double quotation marks on the outer layer and single quotation marks on the inner layer.

Parentheses: The commonly used form of parentheses is parentheses "()". In addition, there are square brackets "[ ]", hexagonal brackets "〔〕" and square brackets "". Explanatory text in the text is marked with brackets. When annotating certain words in a sentence, the parentheses are placed immediately after the words being annotated; when annotating the entire sentence, the parentheses are placed after the punctuation mark at the end of the sentence. For example:

Dash: The form of dash is "——". Explanatory statements in the text are marked with dashes. Sudden changes in topic are marked with a dash. The sound is prolonged and a dash is used after the onomatopoeia. To list items, use a dash before each item.

Ellipsis: The ellipsis is in the form of "...", six small dots, occupying the position of two characters. If an entire paragraph or line of poetry is omitted, twelve small dots can be used to indicate it. The omission of a quotation is indicated by an ellipsis. The omission of an enumeration is indicated by an ellipsis. Intermittent speech can be marked with ellipses.

Emphasis sign: The form of emphasis sign is “.”. Words, words, and sentences that require readers to pay special attention are marked with emphasis.

Connection number: The connection number is in the form of “-” and occupies one character.

There are three other forms of hyphens, namely long horizontal "——" (occupies the position of two characters), half-word line "-" (occupies the position of half a character) and wave pattern "~" (occupies the position of one character). Location). Two related nouns form a unit of meaning with a hyphen between them. Connecting numbers are used between related times, places or numbers to indicate the beginning and end. Connecting numbers are used between relevant letters, Arabic numerals, etc. to indicate the product model.

Spacer: The spacer is in the form of “.”. The boundaries between the various parts of the names of foreigners and certain ethnic minorities are marked with spacers. The boundary between the book title and the chapter (chapter, volume) title is marked with a spacer.

Book title number: The form of the book title number is the double book title number """ and the single book title number "〈〉". Book titles, chapter titles, newspaper titles, journal titles, etc. are marked with book title numbers. When the book title number is also used inside the book title number, use a double book title number on the outer layer and a single book title number on the inner layer.

Proper name: The form of proper name is “_____”. Under proper names such as personal names, place names, dynasty names, etc., they are marked with proper names. Appropriate names are only used in ancient books or certain literary and historical works. In order to match the proper title, the title of this type of work can use a tilde " ".

Position of punctuation marks

Periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, commas, semicolons and colons generally occupy the position of one word, located lower left and do not appear at the beginning of a line. .

The first half of quotation marks, parentheses, and book title numbers do not appear at the end of a line, and the second half do not appear at the beginning of a line.

Both the dash and the ellipsis occupy the space of two characters and cannot be separated in between. Connection numbers and spacer numbers generally occupy one character. These four symbols are centered above and below.

Emphasis marks, proper title marks and wavy line book title marks are marked below the words and can move with the words.