Punctuation Marks!

Practice yourself in little things, and thence proceed to greater. - Epictetus




Brackets ( ) [ ] { } < >
Brackets are used in pairs. They separate meaningful elements in texts and sentences.
We usually distinguish four types of brackets:
1. Round Brackets ( )

Synonyms: brackets, oval brackets, curved brackets, parentheses, fingernails.

2. Square Brackets [ ]
Synonym: box brackets.

3. Curly Brackets { }
Synonym: braces.

4. Angle Brackets < >
Synonym: chevrons.


Dashes - – — ~
Four types:
1. Hyphen -
Hyphens join words and parts of words.

2. En dash (half the width of the em dash ) –
En dashes join words and parts of words.

3. Em dash —
Em dashes separate parts of sentences.

4. Swung dash ~
Swung dashes separate inexact or inaccurate quantities, approximates, and alternatives.


Ellipsis ...
Ellipses indicate pauses, omission of words and unfinished thoughts.


Semicolon ;
Semicolons separate similar sentences and groups of words.


Slash /
Slashes separate similar words and phrases; extensively used in computing and mathematics.
Synonyms: stroke, virgule, scratch comma, forward slash, slant bar, slant, oblique dash, diagonal.

Question Mark ?
Synonyms: question point, interrogation point, note of interrogation, query, eroteme.


Exclamation Mark !
Exclamation marks express strong emotions.


Full Stop .
Synonyms: stop, period, full point, decimal point and dot.


Colon :
Colons are used between numbers and after words that give examples or explanations.


Comma ,
Commas separate ideas; they are also used in many other cases.


Quotation Marks ‘ ’, “ ”
Quotation marks are basically used to begin and to end quotations.


Apostrophe ’
Apostrophe indicates possessive case, omission of letters, the plurals of numbers, and abbreviations; it also separates letters from words.