Using Punctuation Marks
2021-11-27
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1Hello! Today on Ask a Teacher we answer a question about punctuation marks from Luay in Syria.
2I hope you can tell me about the difference between punctuation marks
3such as the semicolon (;), the colon (:) and the comma (,) and between round brackets and square brackets.
4Luay, Syria.
5Dear Luay,
6Thank you for writing with this very interesting question.
7Even native speakers have trouble with these punctuation marks when writing English.
8Let us begin with the simplest one, the comma.
9First, you need to understand the sentence:
10it is a group of words with a subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought.
11Another name we give to sentences is "independent clause."
12That means the group of words forms a sentence by itself.
13As you can guess, there is another kind of word group that cannot stand alone.
14We call that a "dependent clause."
15The most common use of a comma is to separate an independent clause and a dependent clause.
16When we read the examples in this lesson,
17we will say the punctuation marks out loud so listeners can understand where they belong.
18Every Thursday, VOA has a new Everyday Grammar lesson.
19The independent clause is "VOA has a new Everyday Grammar lesson."
20The dependent clause, "Every Thursday," is separated by a comma.
21There are many other uses for commas which you can read about in our Everyday Grammar lesson.
22The colon is two dots, one over the other.
23It has three main uses.
24One is to introduce a list of things.
25The part of the sentence before the colon should be an independent clause.
26Here is an example:
27Ashton likes only three kinds of fruit: apples, bananas and cherries.
28You should not use a colon when the list is part of the independent clause, as in:
29Ashton likes apples, bananas and cherries.
30Note that these things are separated by commas but there is no comma before "and."
31That is a debated subject we will not get into today.
32You can also use a colon between two independent clauses when the second one explains the first.
33We ate all of the ice cream: it was too hot this afternoon.
34Third, you can use a colon to emphasize a phrase or word at the end of a sentence:
35After hours of work, we saw what we wanted: a clean house.
36Moving on to the semicolon, you may say it looks like a period or a dot above a comma.
37We use a semicolon to connect two independent clauses that have related subjects. For example,
38I think we should study in the bookstore; my friend works there.
39You should never use a comma to connect two independent clauses.
40Note that the semicolon takes the place of any conjunction that might connect two independent clauses.
41A good test of whether you have used the semicolon correctly is to replace it with a conjunction,
42that is, "or," "for," "and" or "but."
43Here is a sentence with a semicolon between the two independent clauses:
44The cat came in the door; it was carrying a mouse.
45When we replace the semicolon with "and" we no longer need to use the semicolon.
46The cat came in the door and it was carrying a mouse.
47Your last question was about the marks you call round and square brackets.
48The round ones are called parentheses.
49We use them to add some information to help explain what we have written.
50When reading them aloud,
51we say "open parentheses" for the one on the left side and "close parentheses" for the opposite one, on the right.
52For example,
53I opened a can of food for Makeda (the dog) and put it in a dish.
54The square brackets [] have several uses.
55They are used to put comments or information into direct quotations, to identify errors in text,
56and to add more information within something that is already in parentheses.
57Here are examples of the brackets in action:
58His mother said, "Look, this letter [it was from the university] came for you."
59Alex picked up the bag (he thought it held more water [it only had empty bottles]) and shook it.
60You may also see brackets around a Latin word, [sic] showing there was a mistaken word in what someone else wrote.
61I hope this answers your question, Luay.
62What question do you have about American English?
63Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
64And that's Ask a Teacher.
65I'm Jill Robbins.
1Hello! Today on Ask a Teacher we answer a question about punctuation marks from Luay in Syria. 2Question: 3I hope you can tell me about the difference between punctuation marks such as the semicolon (;), the colon (:) and the comma (,) and between round brackets and square brackets. 4Luay, Syria. 5Answer: 6Dear Luay, 7Thank you for writing with this very interesting question. Even native speakers have trouble with these punctuation marks when writing English. Let us begin with the simplest one, the comma. 8First, you need to understand the sentence: it is a group of words with a subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought. Another name we give to sentences is "independent clause." That means the group of words forms a sentence by itself. As you can guess, there is another kind of word group that cannot stand alone. We call that a "dependent clause." 9The most common use of a comma is to separate an independent clause and a dependent clause. When we read the examples in this lesson, we will say the punctuation marks out loud so listeners can understand where they belong. 10Every Thursday, VOA has a new Everyday Grammar lesson. 11The independent clause is "VOA has a new Everyday Grammar lesson." The dependent clause, "Every Thursday," is separated by a comma. There are many other uses for commas which you can read about in our Everyday Grammar lesson. 12The colon 13The colon is two dots, one over the other. It has three main uses. One is to introduce a list of things. The part of the sentence before the colon should be an independent clause. Here is an example: 14Ashton likes only three kinds of fruit: apples, bananas and cherries. 15You should not use a colon when the list is part of the independent clause, as in: 16Ashton likes apples, bananas and cherries. 17Note that these things are separated by commas but there is no comma before "and." That is a debated subject we will not get into today. 18You can also use a colon between two independent clauses when the second one explains the first. 19We ate all of the ice cream: it was too hot this afternoon. 20Third, you can use a colon to emphasize a phrase or word at the end of a sentence: 21After hours of work, we saw what we wanted: a clean house. 22Semicolon 23Moving on to the semicolon, you may say it looks like a period or a dot above a comma. We use a semicolon to connect two independent clauses that have related subjects. For example, 24I think we should study in the bookstore; my friend works there. 25You should never use a comma to connect two independent clauses. Note that the semicolon takes the place of any conjunction that might connect two independent clauses. A good test of whether you have used the semicolon correctly is to replace it with a conjunction, that is, "or," "for," "and" or "but." Here is a sentence with a semicolon between the two independent clauses: 26The cat came in the door; it was carrying a mouse. 27When we replace the semicolon with "and" we no longer need to use the semicolon. 28The cat came in the door and it was carrying a mouse. 29Brackets and parentheses 30Your last question was about the marks you call round and square brackets. The round ones are called parentheses. We use them to add some information to help explain what we have written. When reading them aloud, we say "open parentheses" for the one on the left side and "close parentheses" for the opposite one, on the right. For example, 31I opened a can of food for Makeda (the dog) and put it in a dish. 32The square brackets [] have several uses. They are used to put comments or information into direct quotations, to identify errors in text, and to add more information within something that is already in parentheses. Here are examples of the brackets in action: 33His mother said, "Look, this letter [it was from the university] came for you." 34Alex picked up the bag (he thought it held more water [it only had empty bottles]) and shook it. 35You may also see brackets around a Latin word, [sic] showing there was a mistaken word in what someone else wrote. 36I hope this answers your question, Luay. 37What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com 38And that's Ask a Teacher. 39I'm Jill Robbins. 40Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 41__________________________________________________ 42Words in This Story 43punctuation -n. the marks (such as periods and commas) in a piece of writing that make its meaning clear and that separate it into sentences and clauses 44Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.