There are significantly 15 punctuation marks that are used in the English language. They are as follows:

1. Period / Full Stop .
2. Question mark ?
3. Exclamation point !
4. Comma ,
5. Semicolon ;
6. Colon :
7. Slash /
8. Hyphen –
9. En Dash –
10. Em dash —
11. Parentheses/brackets ( )
12. Square Brackets [ ]
13. Apostrophe \’
14. Ellipsis …
15. Quotation mark \” \”

The above-stated 15 punctuation marks have been described in brief with their definition in this step. Further, you will find a link for every punctuation to learn about their detailed rules.

What is a Period or Full Stop? .

The Period or Full Stop is used to stop or end a sentence.

E.g. I am learning English in Stepwise-English.

There are 04 important rules of The period or Full stop. Click on the link to learn details about The period or Full Stop.

What is an Question Mark? ?

The question mark is used at the end of an interrogative sentence.

E.g. Did you complete all steps of StepwiseEnglish?

What is a Exclamation Point? !

The exclamation mark shows excitement, surprise, and other kinds of excessive emotions and outbursts.

E.g. What an inspirational speech!

What is a Comma? ,

We use commas, especially for pauses, lists, and separating grammatical parts of a sentence.

E.g. We need Pencil, Eraser, and Paper to draw.

What is a Semicolon? ;

The Semicolon joins two independent clauses which are closely related in meaning.

E.g. He seemed to be very hungry; He ate a lot.

What is a Colon? :

Generally, the colon has several grammatical, as well as non-grammatical uses. Most of time the colon is used to emphasize dialogue, to introduce a list or series of elements that illustrates or amplifies the inormation that preceded the colon.

E.g. For this vacation, you need 5 things: Passport, Phone Charger, Water Bottle, Money, and Credit Card.

What is a Slash? /

The Slash is used to show options and choices, among other things.

E.g. You may go to Australia/U.S.A.

What is a Hyphen? –

Mostly we use the hyphen to join multiple words which together have one single meaning.

E.g. Truck-drive, Ice-cream, Mother-in-law, real-time, follow-up, on-campus.

What is an En Dash? –

Generally, the en dash shows a span or bridge and thus in several cases, can be read as \’to\’ or \’through\’.

For E.g. StepwiseEnglish has  1-100 steps for complete English Learning.

What is an Em Dash? —

The Em  Dash is used for many purposes. The Em Dash can take the place of other punctuation marks depending on the context.

E.g.I talked to Mr. Krishna—my son\’s English teacher—at the book fair on Friday.  

The three of us-Ram, Shyam, and Laxman—went on a long trip.

What is a Parentheses / Brackets? ( )

The parentheses are curved brackets. The Parentheses are largely used in written English. They allow writers to add in additional information.

E.g. Joon is hungry again (even though he had had a heavy breakfast).

What is an Apostrophe? \’

We use Apostrophe for possessive, to contract words, and even for some plurals.

E.g. This is Charu\’s Car.

You\’re supposed to be in Ajay\’s class.

What is a Square Brackets? [ ]

The Square Brackets are mostly used in editorial and academic formats, the square brackets have several uses in English, one of which clarifies facts.

E.g. He [Police Man] hit me.

What is an Ellipsis? …

The ellipsis is a set of three periods or full stops. They indicate that there is something more that has not been mentioned.

E.g. “There are more…let\’s not talk about these matters”, Mrs. Rohan said.

What is are Quotation Marks? “ ”

We use the Quotation Marks to show that the written statement is quoted directly as it was spoken or written elsewhere.

E.g. Mahatma Gandhi said, “ You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

\”To be really independent means not even to lean on excuses\”

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