Friday, 27 March 2020

How Many Punctuation Marks Are in English Grammar

In today's Lesson, will learn how many punctuation marks are in English grammar

There are 14 punctuation marks in English Grammar. Everyone needs to master them. here is list; full stop, comma, question mark, exclamation mark, quotation mark, parentheses, square brackets, slash, a hyphen, en dash, em dash, ellipsis points, colons, semicolons. 

  • What is punctuation?

The English language has a system of symbols and signs knowns as 'punctuation'. 

  • Why do we need punctuation?

Punctuation shows us how to structure sentences and how each sentence should be read.  

Let's learn each punctuation one by one. 

1. Full Stop (.)

Marks the end of a sentence 


  • Jimmy went to the shop. He bought some sweets.

2- Comma (,)

Indicates natural pause in a sentence or is used to separate items in a list. 


  • Helen went to her friend Amy's house, she loves to go there. 
  • Linda bought apples, bananas, pears, and grapes in the market.   

3. Question Mark (?)

indicates the end of a question.


  • How are you?
  • How long is the bus journey to London from Cambridge

4. Exclamation Mark (!) 

marks the end of a dramatic statement or sentence. 


  • Stop!
  • Don't run into the road!

5. Quotation Mark (" ")

Indicates direct speech.

  • "I love to read a book," said Stacey.
  • "What did you do yesterday?" asked Lucy 

6. Parentheses (Round Brackets)

separates extra information from the rest of the sentence or add emphasis. Commas can replace them without changing the sentence.  


  • On the weekends I visit Jimmy (My best friend).
  • Yesterday (Friday) was the last day of school.

7. Square Brackets ([])

Used by the editor to indicate extra information.


  • The book states that "When climbing it [mountain], it is important to be very safe.

8. Slash (/)

The forward slash is used to indicate the words 'OR' and can be used to separate the day, mouth and year.


  • Please explain to the lawyer when he/she arrives. 
  • The date today is 3/27/2020. 

9. Hyphen (-)

Used to join words or to separate syllables in a word. 


  • She is very self-confident. 
  • Her son is going to be four-years-old. 

10. En Dash (-)

Indicates a period of time, range numbers or a distance.


  • She lived in London from 1999-2005.
  • The number range form 1-20.
  • The flight from Dubai-UK is very long.

11. Em Dash (-) 

long dash can be used instead of a comma, colon or brackets. This adds emphasis or enhances readability. 


  • I can't wait to see Amy - my best friend - on Sunday.  
  • My parents are visiting tomorrow - I have missed them so much.

12. Ellipsis Points (...)

 indicate omitted words or to add effect to a sentence. 


  • She walked into the shop... (omitted words) then walked straight back out. 
  • "Sorry... (pause for effect) I forgot my homework," said Adam. 

13. Colon (:) 

Colons are used to introduce an example or explanation. We also use it to introduce a list of items. finally, you can use it to introduce speech in the quotation. 


  • We had one problem: there was no way to get there on time. 
  • There is just one rule here: do everything I tell you. 
  • We have invited a small number of people: Bill, Emma, Rachel...
  • Tolstoy wrote several books other than war and peace: Anna Karenina, The Cossacks, Resurrection... 
  • He said: "do talk to me about this again."

14. Semicolon (;)

Semicolons are used to connect two sentences which are about related ideas.  Semicolons are not necessary. You can use a semicolon instead of a full stop to a connection between your ideas.


  • The population of Shanghai is around 24 million; Beijing has around 22 million people.
  • We knew he was guilty; there was no evidence, however.    

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-> 100 Examples of Common Gender - Type of Nouns 

I hope you have liked our today's post which was all about how many punctuation marks are in English Grammar. see later bye.


Author & Editor

Hi! I am Sajid Hussain. I am the founder and teacher of OEM where you find multiple options of Learning English language. If you have any problem in connection to learning English, Here is my whatsApp Number +923012130128


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