A very brief guide to punctuation

by Robert Head

Part 1: the separating or marking-off punctuative items

Firstly, the comma. The comma is a very ubiquitious piece of punctuation these days; often found littered throughout text. The comma is the shortest - most paucitive - piece of punctuation. It is generally either used to separate similar items in a list, or is used as an aid within text to mark out points where a brief pause, to breath perhaps, may be useful. E.g.:

1. You'll need the following things: a bill, a passport, a driver's license...

2. He was 17, but it felt as though life had yet to begin.

Secondly, the semi colon. The semi colon is used to mark off items in a list which can be considered different - or dissimilar - and can also be used to mark off pieces of information which follow on from a previous piece, or are somehow similarly related. E.g.:

1. There are several types of organisms living within the area: various insects, including - but not limited to - hornets, various beetles and dragonflies; arachnids; rodents, including, field mice, rats, door mice...

2. You go one way; I'll go the other.

or

It wasn't the end; the end, it seemed, would never establish itself within our horizon.

ALSO, semi colons can be placed at the end of bullet points in a list, to mark off the end of one and separate each.

Thirdly, the colon. The colon used to be used interchangeably with the semi colon - you've only to read the bible to see that. In fact, it's used as a kind of indicator, to show that a piece of information will follow. Perhaps you've set the information up previously, or prior to the colon, as in the following example:

One thing was for sure: the winter would take a note from Shakespeare's Richard the third.

Lastly, the full stop. The full stop is always used to mark the end of a sentence - usually around 15 words. However a sentence may continue indefinitely, depending upon its structure and how it's set-up. A full stop should be employed only when meaning within a piece has ceased, and using a comma seems to bring confusion or a convoulted extension of meaning.

Part 2: The other marking-off punctuation.

The following three types can in fact be used interchangeably, but in fact, there are miniscule differences between each.

Firstly, the dash (or hyphen). The dash is often used to mark of a piece of information which has a similar meaning (albeit, linked but not too relevent) to its former, or is used as a marker to show that another point - salient and connected to its former - shall follow. Therefore this punctuation mark is similar to both parantheses and the colon, as in the following examples:

1. It was 7 - in the p.m. - and, already, the sordid creatures were rising from their winks.

2. He was 32 stone with hardly any facial hair - a kind of John Candyesque fellow, if I say so.

In prose - more so than poetry - a dash is often used to link the speech of two characters, when one character interupts another, or similarly finishes his or her sentence. A comma can come after a closing/second dash, when used in a similar fashion to parantheses, however, most people rarely use them. So be different and accredit yourself with being comfortable enough to use commas after dashes.

Secondly, parantheses. Unlike dashes, these should only really be used when the information you're telling on is something which can't really be inferred, or something that's technical - often used in scientific essays for that matter. When occuring at the end of a sentence, a full stop should be placed out side of the parantheses; and when occuring as a sentence, a full stop should be placed inside of the parantheses, as in the following examples:

1. For a house looter, a crow bar should be sufficient (or any kind of prying tool for that matter).

2. Jeffry Jefferson had committed a grossly horrendous crime. (In fact, it was the fourth time inside a two year period.)

And finally, the comma (as a separating piece of punctuation). The comma can also be employed to separate off a piece of text, which builds on the context of a former piece, yet can't be allowed to flow due to an extrapolation of meaning, or just general grammatical usage. The following example highlights my point:

The light filament, from the bulb located in the lounge, had busted yet another time during the week.

Part 3: the odds and sods.

Firstly, the apostrophe. The aprostrophe is employed to show or give possession. When singular items - subjects - are given possession over other items - objects - an apostrophe and an s ('s) is employed, as in 'John's bicycle'. When plural items are employed which end in 's', an apostrophe, but no s, should be employed. As in 'The girls' toybox'. In all other instances of the plural - i.e. not ending in s, the same guidance as singular possessiveness should be followed, as in: 'the children's park', or 'the rhinoceri's game park'.

Secondly the exclamation mark. The exclamation mark should only be used in instances of surprise or a belting/loud demand, or the like, as in: 'really!?' or 'Peters, get in my office!' More than one punctuation mark is unnecessary. A punctuation mark also acts as a full stop, in the sense that if it's used at the end of a sentence or piece of text, a full stop is un-needed. Also, when a surprised response in the form of a question is used, as in 'really!?', an exclamation mark should be followed by a question mark (to show that the response begs the subject for further information - as if you're plotting a conversation between two characters).

Thirdly - and finally - in our trek, comes the question mark. The question mark is only ever employed at the end of... well... a question. Go figure! The question can be interrogative, rhetoric or of any form, but whenever anything is reuqested of somebody - as in an answer to a question - a question mark should be employed. In today's popular culture, question marks are often used as a medial for of surprise - slightly less exclamative than their cousin which ends with an exclamation mark. Always ask yourself whether you're asking something of someone, or reinforcing something, as in: '...yes, you do owe me, really.'

I hope this was both educational and entertaining. Kudos would be much appreciated.

Rob,

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