Understanding Basic English : Tips for using the right punctuation

Hey, welcome back to another video built to polish your basic grammar skills and master your ability to speak the English language. Let’s learn together and be the best. In today’s video, we will learn about punctuation marks. Now you all will be thinking about what this word means. We will come to that. [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type="show" ihc_mb_who="4" ihc_mb_template="3"] We know what a sentence is, but how do we now understand when one sentence ends and the other begins or when to pause the sentence. PUNCTUATION MARKS?? Hmmm?? What are punctuation marks? These are symbols that help in making the meaning of sentences clear. They help in clear reading and understanding of sentences. We cannot write without punctuation. Well, we can write, but it will be very difficult for the person reading to understand what we meant to say to them. So, here comes the work of punctuation to make the sentences clear and meaningful. TYPES OF PUNCTUATION MARKS Full Stop Comma Question Mark Exclamation Mark Colon Semicolon Brackets Parentheses Apostrophes Dash Hyphen Quotation Marks Ellipsis There are many more punctuation marks, but here we will discuss only these fourteen punctuation marks one by one in detail as these are most commonly used. Let’s start with the first one. 1. The Full Stop (.) A full stop shows the end of declarative and imperative sentences. It takes the longest pause. It also shows short forms or abbreviations. Abbreviations are nothing but a short form of using a word. For example, the abbreviation of a doctor is Dr., and similarly, they are used for punctuations as well. Let’s take examples He is a boy. Please stand up. Dr Sahil is a surgeon. This is the house of Mr Kumar. These sentences show the use of full stop. In the last two sentences, we notice how full stop is used as an abbreviation. 2. The Comma (,) A comma is used for making pauses in the sentence. It is also used to join words with each other and also for joining two sentences with a conjunction. Here are some examples There are plates, spoons, forks, and knives on the table. Rama went to play, and then she went to dinner. Thanks for your help, Shyam. Wednesday, May 3, 2016, was when I left. All the above examples show the different uses of the comma. 3. Question Mark (?) A question mark is used to show that a direct question is asked. Here are some examples. What is your name? How are you feeling? When are you coming? Are they friends? All the above examples show that a direct question is being asked. 4. Exclamation Mark (!) An exclamation mark is used after exclamatory sentences, interjections, etc. They express emotions and feelings such as surprise, shock, grief, happiness, anger, etc. Let’s take some examples Alas! They lost. Bravo! You did it. What a lovely day! Hurrah! We won the match. We should notice that all the sentences display different feelings. 5. Colon (:) A colon has three main uses – firstly, after a word introducing a quotation, an explanation and at last with an example, or a series. Let’s see these examples I like four colours: yellow, pink, red and blue. There are only two people she loves a lot: her parents. I don’t have time to play: I have not completed my homework. All these examples show the different uses of the colon. 6. Semicolon (;) Semicolons are used to join sentences that are connected without using a conjunction. It can also be used instead of commas to separate the items in a list when the items themselves already contain commas. Here are some examples Rama is a teacher; Bhawan is a doctor. Shiv is a good boy; he helps poor people. It appears to be a tricky one, but with practice, it will be easy to use. 7. Brackets ([ ]) These are used for technical words or explanations and for clearing a meaning. If we remove the information in the brackets, the sentence will be clear for understanding. Consider these examples The [dance] centre was very helpful for children. I liked it [the new movie] a lot. All the sentences in the brackets have not much use, and if removed, no information will be lost. 8. Parentheses (()) Parentheses are used to provide more details or information, and if replaced with commas, the sentence would have the same meaning. See examples below Rama (Suresh’s wife) is a homemaker. Sanjana (a student of St. Michaels) is a very good dancer. Arya and Bina (both sisters) love cooking. All the above examples give clearer information on the subject. 9. Apostrophes (’) An apostrophe is used to show that some letters have been removed from the word. It can be used to show that something belongs to something else, and also two words can be put together, which are known as contractions. Here are some examples I haven’t changed my mind I can’t promise that. Here, haven’t and can’t are the short form of have not and cannot. Let’s take one more example Ramesh is Suresh’s brother. This is Sandip’s pen. Both these sentences show that the particular thing belongs to someone or something. 10. Dash (-) A dash is used to create spaces between words and statements. There are namely two types of dash- en dash and the em dash. En dash is used in writing range or connections and is generally shorter than em dash but twice as a hyphen. For example- 1990-2000, Delhi-Agra trains The Em dash is used in place of a comma, parenthesis, colon, etc., and is generally longer than the en dash. For example- she answers-Yes! 11. The hyphen (-) A hyphen is used to join two or more words together and does not have space between them. For example- well-known, back-to-back, part-time, etc. Some sentences are She lost her water bottle. It was a family-owned restaurant. 12. Quotation Marks (“ ”) A quotation mark is used to show which part of the sentence is said or asked by someone. They are always used in pairs – at the beginning and the end. These are also known as quotes or inverted commas. Here are some examples Looking at the sky, Sana said, “It is a beautiful day”. Laila asked Varun, “Where are you going?”. Ben replied, “I will talk to him.”. It is very important to keep in mind that whenever we use quotation marks, whatever is said, exactly that has to be written inside the quotation marks. 13. Ellipsis (…) An ellipsis is made of three dots. It has many uses, such as to show a pause in a sentence, to show that a word has been removed from a sentence, and also to express an unfinished feeling or thought. Let’s take an example After school, Bob went to play in the park, which was a few meters away, and then came home. With the help of ellipsis, this sentence can be written as After school, Bob went to play in the park … and then came home. Here’s one more example I was thinking … maybe we should call them back. The above sentence expresses an unfinished feeling. That’s an end to ellipsis. Now that we have learned more about what some of the punctuation marks are and we can use them, we will have a clearer concept. With these, we come to the end of today's topic punctuation marks. We hope we were able to make these concepts clear and easy for you all to understand. For any doubt, you can revisit the lesson anytime. Citations : [citationic styles="apa,mla,chicago,harvard,vancouver,ieee"] Power Words : Declarative Grief Imperative Conjunction Emotions Surprise Critical thinking challenge question : 1. I am sure you all are aware of the famous Harry Potter books. Here is an extract from the book for you to punctuate correctly. it only put me in gryffindor said harry in a defeated voice because i asked not to go in slytherin exactly said dumbledore beaming once more which makes you very different from tom riddle it is our choices harry that shows what we truly are far more than our abilities harry sat motionless in his chair stunned 2. Write a paragraph about any topic of your choice(What is my favourite sport, What is my favourite activity, What is my favourite subject etc) using all the fourteen punctuation marks discussed in this lesson. Watch this video for further learning : [presto_player id=11053] [presto_player id=11054] [quiz-cat id="11052"] Are you ready to solve the puzzle? Start Puzzle [/ihc-hide-content] Hashtags : #GPSforLifeAndCareer #ConsciousIntelligence #Kidswiki #MindInTheMaking #RelevanceInEducation #MeaningfulLearning #RealWorldSkills #SafeContent #360DegreeDevelopment #Skillioma #BeyondCurriculum #SkillsBeyondSchool

Understanding Basic English : Tips for using the right punctuation

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