Learn how to use punctuation

Don’t make up your own rules for punctuation.
Think of punctuation as a traffic light. A traffic light tells you when to go (green light), slow down (orange light), or stop (red light).

That’s what punctuation does!
A period tells you when to stop. One sentence is one thought. A period tells your reader where one thought ends and another begins.
A comma tells you went to pause.
A space after a period or a comma tells you when to go again.
Punctuation marks have a specific job, and there are specific rules for using them. When you use them incorrectly, it confuses your reader.
What are all those symbols?
This is not a complete list of punctuation rules. These are guidelines to get you started.

. period
One sentence is one thought. Every sentence ends with a period. Leave a space after a period.

, comma
Even native speakers don’t know all the rules for using a comma! Use a comma when two sentence are joined together with the conjunctions and, or, but, while, and yet. The comma goes before the conjunction. Leave a space after a comma.

! exclamation point
Use an exclamation point when you want to show excitement, happiness, or surprise. Leave a space after an exclamation point.

? question mark
Use a question mark at the end of a question. Leave a space after a question mark.

“ “ quotation marks
Use quotation marks when you want to quote direct speech, or write the exact words that someone said. Use quotation marks to emphasize certain words, for example when you want to ask about a certain word. What does “emphasize” mean?

‘ apostrophe
Use an apostrophe in a contraction, like I’m and don’t. Don’t make up your own contractions, however. There are standard contractions in English. Use an apostrophe to show possession, like Amy’s hat or Mike’s house.


Add a space after , . ! ? Don’t leave a space after an apostrophe in contractions.

Hi! I’m Melanie. How are you? I’m good, thanks.

X: Hi !I ‘m Melanie .How are you ?I ‘m good ,thanks.


Here are the names for more punctuation marks. You don’t not need to use these symbols very often in writing.

: colon
; semicolon (Don’t worry, even native speakers don’t know how to use this symbol properly)
( ) parentheses (or brackets)
– hyphen
> greater than
< less than < > angle brackets
[ ] square brackets
/ slash