How To Use Punctuation Marks Correctly Every Time

When you make a punctuation mistake, it might be something that's laughed about or ignored if it's just an email between colleagues. But a mistake made in a formal report or a contract can have bigger consequences, and even cost your company money in the long run. 

It’s not just the grammar snobs or punctuation police either. When you make a punctuation error, people may not mention it to you, but they definitely notice! And these errors affect more than just you; they can even damage people’s opinions of your organization’s professionalism. That’s why it’s essential you make sure that everything you write is mistake-proof and error-free!  

Punctuation cheat sheet

Period:

• Use at the end of sentences
• Use with abbreviations: govt., St., etc.
• Use an ellipsis to indicate an omitted word or omitted words in a quotation
  — When you are quoting from an author’s work and you don’t want to include the whole quotation, use … to indicate there are words missing
• Don’t use after a sentence ending in a punctuated abbreviation
  — The meeting was scheduled to start at 9 a.m.
• Don’t use after a Roman numeral that is part of a name
  — King Henry the VIII

Semicolon:

• Use to separate two closely related independent clauses where no conjunction is used
• Use to separate two clauses joined by transitions such as ‘however’, ‘nevertheless’ and ‘therefore’

Colon:

• Use to introduce something that explains or illustrates what has come before it
  — Here’s how to use this guide: Start with page 1.
• Use to introduce a list or a series of examples
  — There are three instructions: 1. Open the box. 2. Read the directions. 3. Assemble the product.
• Use to separate subtitles from titles
  — Helen Keller: The Untold Story
• Use to introduce quotations that are more than three lines long (block quotes)
• Use after a salutation in formal correspondence

Comma:

• Use to separate two sentences joined by a conjunction
  — Joanna enjoys playing golf, but she also has other interests.
• Use to separate introductory phrases and clauses from the main parts of sentences
  — Besides being a good golfer, Joanna is an exceptional speller and has won many spelling bees.
• Use to separate items in a series
  — Joanna is a golfer, speller, writer and organizer.
• Use to separate phrases and clauses that aren’t a part of the main sentence
  — Joanna, a great organizer, enjoys helping others become better organized.
• Use to separate adjectives in a series
  — This is a clear, simple, easy-to-understand guide.
• Use to set off transitional words from the rest of the sentence
  — Furthermore, she is always right.
• Use to set off the names of people addressed in a sentence
  — Well, Joanna, you’ve reached your goal.
• Use to separate titles and degrees from the names they’re associated with
  — We’ll now hear from Louie Hay, M.D.
• Use to separate items in dates, addresses and geographical locations
  — Mary Anne published her first book on August 17, 1981.

Dash:

• Use to connect thoughts to the beginning or end of a sentence
  — What makes John great is that he can hit just as well right-handed as he can left-handed—he’s naturally ambidextrous.
• Use to take the place of colons
  — It comes in three colors—pink, blue and yellow.
• Use to insert a thought into a sentence
  — The beagle—my personal favorite—won Best in Show.
• Use to add information to some word, phrase or clause in a sentence
  — Writing, speaking and teaching—activities Mary Anne excels at—seem like unreachable goals for people like me.

Parentheses:

• Use to explain
  — The idea (that she might ever lose) never occurs to Joanna.
• Use to enclose the abbreviations or acronyms of spelled-out forms or vice versa
  — The Professional Golfers Association (PGA ) often consults with Joanna.
• Use to indicate the source of information within text
  — There have been many articles (Golf Digest, 1966) written about Joanna’s techniques.

Hyphen:

• Use to connect compound nouns
  — My mother-in-law is visiting us.
• Use to connect compound verbs
  — Be sure to double-space that report.
• Use to connect compound adjectives only when the adjectives precede the noun
  — The up-to-date information is on the desktop.
  — The information is up to date.
• Use to indicate a suspension between the first and subsequent words in a
  hyphenated compound
  — There was a difference between the low- and high-performance engines.
• Use to separate the numerator from the denominator in spelled-out fractions
  — One-third
• Use to divide a word of more than two syllables at the end of a line
  — We can certainly predict that our yearly adventure into the rugged mountains will be magnificent

Remember to follow your company's style guide. They may have different feelings regarding the use of dashes, hyphens, and the Oxford comma. But in general, these tips can help you create a checklist so you can ensure you catch any errors before submitting your work.

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