Pretty basic stuff but I often see people misuse commas or full stops, etc...
Hey, sometimes I misuse them, or don't use them at all!
So let's go with endings:
If someone is exclaiming something you use the exclamation mark "!", self explanatory.
If someone is asking a question you use the question mark "?".
To finish a sentence you put a ".".
To give the reader a "breath" or moment to stop in the middle of a sentence you put a ",".
COLONS:
Now if someone was to list something or give an example you use ":" not ";". This is called a colon.
E.g. "I went to the mall to buy only three things: shoes, a shirt and a pair of pants."
Never use the colon like this: "My favourite cake is made of: milk, flour, eggs."
The correct way to punctuate that would be: "My favourite cake is made of milk, flour and eggs." No need for a colon.
SEMI-COLONS:
You use a semi-colon ";" to join sentences.(Never more than two)
E.g. "I went to the mall today; I bought some shoes, shirts and pants."
Not "I went to the mall today; I bought some shoes, shirts and pants; then I went for dinner."
DASHES:
Now dashes can be used to connect words such as well-being and Cheshire-like.
But they can also be used like this:
The mall—covered in trash and grime—was empty.
This is when you use two dashes alongside one another. You use this to add an extra note instead of doing this:
"The mall, which was covered in trash and grime, was empty."
Sometimes you can't use commas because they would be confusing:
"Even the simplest things, reading, writing, drawing, were boring." So authors use (—) to isolate the emphasis.
They can also be used to introduce or conclude something:
"Books, pencils, papers—these kids couldn't even remember the simplest necessities."
And it can also be used to break up dialogue:
"Oh! I-I'm so sorry-"
"Don't worry about it,"
COMMAS:
Now, commas are tricky because people tend to over or under use them.
To put it simply, use the comma to give the reader a "breath"; a moment to pause.
So, people put one after beginning words such as "Now", "However" and "Usually", etc... To emphasis the first word, to emphasis the beginning.
I hope that makes sense? You don't always have to but you should.
If you have any questions or something wasn't clear, maybe I missed something, just ask!
- Anna ❤️
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