PAUSE FOR BREATH!

Punctuation is the written equivalent of pauses and emphasis in speech, and helps to make a document easy to read and understand.

You may find the following summary useful when you are drafting reports or letters.

It is broken into several different sections:

§     ending a sentence

§     separating parts of a sentence

§     special situations.

ENDING A SENTENCE

.                 Full stop

Use a full stop to show the end of a sentence, unless an exclamation mark or question mark is more appropriate.

You may use a full stop with abbreviations, when you would pronounce the letters individually in speech:

m.p.h. and m.p.g.

When you speak the abbreviated word as a complete word, for example NATO, the full stops can be omitted.

?                 Question mark

Used at the end of a question which requires an answer:

When will this rain stop?

But not for: “I asked when it would stop raining.”

!                 Exclamation mark

                  Used to show emotion or urgency:

                        Escape! Hurry up!

SEPARATING PARTS OF A SENTENCE

,                  Comma

Use a comma to identify a part of a sentence which is separate from the main theme:

Redesigning the garden, based on a Mediterranean theme, took several months....

Use a comma to separate an opening expression or introductory phrase from what follows:

However,…    For example,…    Surprisingly,…  

Requiring information about our operational results, a customer wrote to us.

Use a comma to avoid ambiguity:

The woman, having tripped over the cat, fell downstairs.

The woman having tripped over, the cat fell downstairs.

Use a comma to separate items in a list. Using the final comma is a matter of personal style:

You can choose from Jaguar, BMW or Mercedes.

You can choose from Jaguar, BMW, or Mercedes.

MISUSE. The comma should NOT be used to separate different concepts or ideas in one sentence. If in any doubt you should use separate sentences.

()                 Brackets

Used to insert an ‘aside’ into a sentence:

Commenting last night, John Smith [the company Director] said that....

The sentence outside the brackets must read correctly by itself.

;                  Semicolon

                   Use a semicolon to link different ideas in one sentence:

Mind mapping is a superb note-taking technique; months later the words simply jump out of the page.

Use a semicolon to separate items: in a list when using commas would be inappropriate:

The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors gives further advice on using punctuation with foreign expressions; for typographical marks such as asterisks and footnotes; and for unusual requirements, for example recording chess moves.

:                  Colon

Use a colon at the start of a list or series of ideas:

Travellers are advised to carry with them: traveller’s cheques, passport, visa and local currency.

Use a colon before quotations:

In the words of Sir Winston Churchill: “Now this is not the end…”  

Use a colon before an explanation:

The launch was a failure: the rocket fuel tank ruptured in three places.

Use a colon, instead of a semicolon, when the information which follows contrasts with the first part of the sentence:

We expect business to increase by some 12% in the new year: we must also expect our client base to reduce by 5%.

-                  Dash

Use a dash for emphasis:

There are only two things certain in this life - - death and taxes.

Use a dash to indicate a break:

I can’t see anything through this fog - aaaah!

Use a dash to identify a part of a sentence which is separate from the main theme:

Redesigning the garden - based an a Mediterranean theme -  took several months 

For other Letter & Report writing Newsletters please refer to the links below:

Report writing

Writing effective emails

Dealing with complaints