Period or Full Stop - This is used at the end of a sentence or in abbreviations.

The period (.) is placed at the end of declarative sentences, statements thought to be complete and after many abbreviations.

Question Mark is used at the end of a sentence that is asking a question.

Quotations marks (" ") are a pair of punctuation marks used primarily to mark the beginning and end of a passage attributed to another and repeated word for word. They are also used to indicate meanings and to indicate the unusual or dubious status of a word.

Examples:

“I feel I’ve really earned this, ” she said, taking up her mug of tea.

” I told a fib about my age, ” little Tom said.

“It is a historic moment ,” he told journalists.

“Fine, thanks,” he replied in a cheerful manner.

Use a question mark (?) to indicate a direct question when placed at the end of a sentence.

Commas are used before “and” or “but” to join independent clauses. They are also used to divide items in a list or give sentences clearer meaning.

The comma is used to show a separation of ideas or elements within the structure of a sentence. Additionally, it is used in numbers, dates, and letter writing after the salutation and closing.

A comma (,) is used to show the difference between two separate ideas or elements within a sentence. Commas have other users as well, as they can be used to separate numbers, and write dates.

Apostrophe is used to indicate the possessive form of nouns

An apostrophe (') is used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of lowercase letters. Examples of the apostrophe in use include:

An apostrophe (‘) is used to show that certain letters have been omitted from a word. The punctuation symbol can also be used to show the possessive form of a noun, in addition to indicating the plural form of lowercase letters.

• Use an apostrophe in contractions

He is = He’s

I am = I’m

Do not = Don’t

They have = They’ve

It is = It’s

I would = I’d

Let us = Let’s

She has = She’s

Who is = Who’s

• Use an apostrophe to indicate possession

The apostrophe examples:

He joined Charles’s army in 1642.

Sally’s hair was blond and curly.

We have put together an anthology of children’s poetry.

The boy’s sister traveled by bus to meet us.

Exclamation Mark is isue at the end of an exciting sentence to emphasis a strong feeling

The exclamation point (!) is used when a person wants to express a sudden outcry or add emphasis.

Stop!

Yeah!

Sit down!

What a lovely view you have here!

That’s fantastic!

Johnny, don’t touch that!

Help!

Good heavens!

Aaarrgh!

Semi-Colon- is ised to link major elements of a sentence.

Semicolon (;)

A semicolon (;) is used to separate two independent clauses while still demonstrating that a close relationship exists between them. The semicolon does a better job of showing the connection between two statements than a full stop would.

The semicolon (;) is used to connect independent clauses. It shows a closer relationship between the clauses than a period would show.

Examples:

My daughter is a teacher; my son is a doctor.

There are eight members in the team: two from China, Japan; three from France, Spain; two from Brazil; and one from India.

Richard always slept with the light on; he was afraid of the dark.

A colon (:) has three main uses. The first is after a word introducing a quotation, an explanation, an example, or a series.

Colon (:)

A colon (:) is a fairly common punctuation mark with a varied number of uses. It can be used to introduce a quotation, an example, a series, or even an explanation. Secondly, it can be used to separate two independent clauses. Finally, a colon can be used to show emphasis.

You have two choices: finish the work today or lose the contract.

That’s because we have one goal: for you to consider your website a success.

John has all the ingredients: minced clams, milk, potatoes, and onions.

A dash is used to separate words into statements. There are two common types of dashes: en dash and em dash.

A hyphen is used to join two or more words together into a compound term and is not separated by spaces. For example, part-time, back-to-back, well-known.

Examples:

My eight-year-old boy loves reading.

I work part-time.

Self-expression

Self-confidence

Self-consciousness

Nineteenth-century history

Old-furniture salesman

Off-the-peg suits

Self-paced learning exercises

• To link prefixes to words
  For example: These things happened before the pre-enlightenment era.
• To indicate word breaks

Parentheses ( )

Parenthesis, ( () ) are quotation marks that show additional thoughts about a statement. In many scenarios, they can be replaced by commas without any changes to the meaning of the sentence.

We also often use parentheses to set off less important details.

Example:

The two brothers (Richard and Sean) were learning how to play guitar.