English Grammar, Simple Punctuation

Punctuation means making points. It means putting the right kind of points in the right place so as to mark the exact length and meaning of sentences. Proper punctuation is essential in written English to enable the reader to understand what it is you are trying to say. Spacing with punctuation is also important to make your writing readable. Here are some English punctuation rules.

Common Punctuation Marks


. full stop (period USA)
! exclamation mark
? question mark , comma
: colon
; semi colon

' apostrophe
" " quotation marks
- hyphen



Apostrophes [']
Apostrophes next to the letter ('s) indicate possession or belonging. No space is needed before or after the apostrophe.
For example:-

This is Lynne's web site.

They are also used to show missing letters in shortened words, especially in informal writing. No space is needed before or after the apostrophe.
For example:-

It's a nice day today, isn't it? I've got an idea. Let's go out.