Punctuation

PUNCTUATION

Punctuation (derived from the Latin punctum, a point) means the right use of putting in Points or Stops in writing. The following are the principal stops:-

(1) Full Stop or Period (.)

(2) Comma (,)

(3) Semicolon (;)

(4) Colon (:)

(5) Question Mark (?)

(6) Exclamation Mark (!)

Other marks in common use are the Dash:- Parentheses ( ); Inverted Commas or Quotation Marks" ".

The Full Stop represents the greatest pause and separation. It is used to mark the end of a declarative or an imperative sentence;

as,

Dear, patient, gentle, noble Nell was dead.

The Full stop can be used in abbreviations, but they are often omitted in modern style.

M.A. or MA M.P. or MP U.N.O. or UNO

Note that in current English Mr and Mrs occur without a full stop, as these have come to be regarded as the full spellings.

The Comma represents the shortest pause, and is used :-

To separate a series of words in the same construction; as, England, France and Italy formed an alliance.

He lost lands, money, reputation and friends. It was a long, dull and wearisome journey.

He wrote his exercise neatly, quickly and correctly.

Note:- A comma is generally not placed before the word preceded by and.

To separate each pair of words connected by and; as,

We should be devout and humble, cheerful and serene.

High and low, rich and poor, wise and foolish, must all die.

   After a Nominative Absolute; as,

This done, she returned to the old man with a lovely smile on her face.

The wind being favourable, the squadron sailed.

The genius making me no answer, I turned about to address myself to him a second time.

To mark off a Noun or Phrase in Apposition ; as, Paul, the apostle, was beheaded in the reign of Nero. Milton, the great English poet, was blind.

Pandit Nehru, the first prime Minister of India, died in 1964.

            To mark off words used in addressing people Come into the garden, Maud.

How are you, Mohan?

Lord of the universe, shield us and guide us.

But when the words are emphatic, we ought to use the Note of Exclamation; as, Monster! by thee my child's devoured!

To mark off two or more Adverbs or Adverbial phrases coming together ; as, Then, at length, tardy justice was done to the memory of Oliver.

Before and after a Participial phrase, provided that the phrase might be expanded into a sentence, and is not used in a merely qualifying sense; as,

Caesar, having conquered his enemies, returned to Rome.

Before and after words, phrases, or clauses, let into the body of a sentence; as,

He did not, however, gain his object.

It is mind, after all, which does the work of the world.

His behaviour, to say the least, was very rude.

His story was, in several ways, improbable.

Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between thee and me.

The essay-writers, whose works consisted in a great measure of short moral dissertations, set the literary taste of the age.

The people of Orleans, when they first saw her in their city, thought she was an angel.

To indicate the omission of a word, especially a verb; as, Rama received a fountain pen; Hari, a watch.

He was a Brahmin; she, a Rajput. He will succeed; you, never.

   To separate short co-ordinate clauses of a Compound sentence; as, The rains descended, and the floods came.

Men may come and men may go, but I go on for ever.

I came, I saw, I conquered.

The way was long, the wind was cold.

The minstrel was infirm and old.

When there is a conjunction the comma is sometimes omitted; as, He came and saw me.

To mark off a direct quotation from the rest of the sentence; as, "Exactly so," said Alice.

He said to his disciples, "Watch and pray."

"Go then," said the ant, "and dance winter away."

Before certain co-ordinative conjunctions; as,

To act thus is not wisdom, but folly.

  To separate from the verb a long Subject opening a sentence; as,

The injustice of the sentence pronounced upon that great scientist and discoverer, is now evident to us ail.

All that we admired and adored before as great and magnificent, is obliterated or vanished.

To separate a Noun clause-whether subject or object preceding the verb; as, Whatever is, is right.

How we are ever to get there, is the question,

That he would succeed in his undertaking, no one ever doubted.

To separate a clause that is not restrictive in meaning, but is co-ordinate with the Principal clause; as,

Sailors, who are generally superstitious, say it is unlucky to embark on a Friday. During my stay in Sri Lanka I visited Mihintale, which is regarded as the cradle of Buddhism.

When the Adjective clause is restrictive in meaning the comma should not be applied; as, This is the house that Jack built.

The Lord is nigh upto them that are of a broken heart.

The echoes of the storm which was then raised I still hear grumbling round me. The design was disapproved by everyone whose judgement was entitled to respect.

To separate an Adverbial clause from its Principal clause; as,

When I was a bachelor, I lived by myself.

If thou would 'st be happy, seek to please.

When the Adverbial clause follows the Principal clause the comma is frequently omitted; as,

Seek to please if thou would'st be happy

213.The Semicolon represents a pause of greater importance than that shown by the comma. It is used :-

To separate the clauses of Compound sentence, when they contain a comma; as, He was a brave, large-hearted man; and we all honoured him.

To separate a series of loosely related clauses; as,

Her court was pure ; her life serene;

God gave her peace; her land reposed.

Today we love what tomorrow we hate; today we seek what tomorrow we shun; today we desire what tomorrow we fear.

The Colon marks a still more complete pause than that expressed by the Semicolon. It is used (sometimes with a dash after it): -

(1) To introduce a quotation; as,

Bacon says :- “Reading makes a full man, writing an exact man, speaking a ready man.”

(2) Before enumeration, examples, etc; as,

The principal parts of a verb in English are: the present tense, the past Tense, and the past participle.

The limitation of armaments, the acceptance of arbitration as the natural solvent of international disputes, the relegation of wars of ambition and aggression to the categories of obsolete follies : these will be milestones which mark the stages of the road.

Between sentences grammatically independent but closely connected in sense; as, Study to acquire a habit of thinking: no study is more important.

The Question Mark is used, instead of the Full Stop, after a direct question; as, Have you written your exercise?

If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you trickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not have revenge?

But the Question Mark is not used after an indirect question; as He asked me whether I had written my exercise.

The Exclamation Mark is used after Interjections and after Phrases and Sentences expressing sudden emotion or wish ; as,

Alas ! -- Oh dear !

What a terrible fire this is !

O, what a fall was there, my countrymen ! -- Long live the King !

Note:- When the interjection O is placed before the Nominative of Address, the Exclamation Mark, if employed at all, comes after the? noun; or it may be placed at the end of the sentence; as,

O father ! I hear the sound of guns.

O Hamlet, speak no more !

Inverted Commas are used to enclose the exact words of a speaker, or a quotation;

as,

"I would rather die," he exclaimed, "than join the oppressors of my country."

Babar is said by Elphinstone to have been "the most admirable prince that ever reigned in Asia."

If a quotation occurs within a quotation, it is marked by single inverted commas; as, "You might as well say," added the March Hare, "that 'I like what I get' is the same thing as 'I get what I like,”

The Dash is used:-

To indicate an abrupt stop or change of thought; as, If my husband were alive – but why lament the past ?

To resume a scattered subject; as,.

Friends, companions, relatives - all deserted him.

The Hyphen - a shorter line than the Dash - is used to connect the parts of a compound word; as,

Passer-by, man-of-war, jack-of-all-trades.

It is also used to connect parts of a word divided at the end of a line.

Parentheses or Double Dashes are used to separate from the main part of the sentence a phrase or clause which does not grammatically belong to it; as,

He gained from Heaven (it was all he wished) a friend.

A remarkable instance of this kind of courage - call it, if you please, resolute will - is given in the history of Babar,

The Apostrophe is used:-

To show the omission of a letter or letters; as, Don't, e'er, I've.

In the Genitive Case of Nouns.

To form the plural of letters and figures.

Dot your i's and cross your t's.

Add two 5 's and four 2 's.

Capital Letters

Capitals are used :-

(1) To begin a sentence.

(2) To begin each fresh line of poetry.

(3) To begin all Proper Nouns and Adjectives derived from them : as, Delhi, Rama, Africa, African, Shakespeare, Shakespearian.

(4) For all nouns and pronouns which indicate the Deity; as, The Lord, He is the God.

(5) To write the pronoun / and the interjection O.

Exercise

Insert commas, where necessary, in the following sentences:-

The necessity of amusement made me a carpenter a bird-eager a gardener.

Speak clearly if you would be understood.

Even a fool when he holdeth his peace is counted wise.

When we had dined to prevent the ladies leaving us I generally ordered the table to be removed.

My orchard was often robbed by schoolboys and my wife's custards plundered by the cats.

Whenever I approached a peasant's house towards night-fall I played one of the most merry tunes.

By conscience and courage by deeds of devotion and daring he soon commended himself to his fellows and his officers.

Wealth may seek us but wisdom must be sought.

Beware lest thou be led into temptation.

Brazil which is nearly as large as the whole of Europe is covered with a vegetation of incredible profusion.

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing while others judge us by

what we have already done.

Some are born great some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.

I therefore walked back by the horse way which was five miles round.

Read not to contradict nor to believe but to weigh and consider.

The leaves as we shall see immediately are the feeders of the plant.

Sir I would rather be right than be President.

In fact there was nothing else to do.

At midnight however I was aroused by the tramp of horse's hoofs in the yard.

Spenser the great English poet lived in the time of Queen Elizabeth.

One of the favourite themes of boasting with the Squire is the noble trees on his estate which in truth has some of the finest that I have seen in England.

When he was a boy Franklin who afterward became a distinguished statesman and philosopher learned his trade in the printing office of his brother who published a paper in Boston.

We had in this village some twenty years ago an idiot boy whom I well remember who from a child showed a strong propensity for bees.

Margaret the eldest of the four was sixteen and very pretty being plump and fair with large eyes plenty of soft brown hair a sweet mouth and white hands of which she was rather vain.

A letter from a young lady written in the most passionate terms wherein she laments the misfortune of a gentleman her lover who was lately wounded in a duel has turned my thoughts to that subject and inclined me to examine into the causes which precipitate men into so fatal a folly.

Exercise

Insert commas, where necessary, in the following sentences:-

In the old Persian stories Turan the land of darkness is opposed to Iran the land of light.

History it has been said is the essence of innumerable biographies.

Attention application accuracy method punctuality and dispatch are the principal qualities required for the efficient conduct of business of any sort.

When I was in Delhi I visited the Red Port, Qutab Minar, Raj Ghat, India Gate and Chandni Chowk.

He was now in the vigour of his days forty-three years of age stately in person noble in his demeanour calm and dignified in his deportment.

Your wife would give you little thanks if she were present to hear you make this offer.

A high-bred man never forgets himself controls his temper does nothing in excess is courteous dignified and that even to persons whom he is wishing far away.

All that I am all that I hope to be I owe to my angel mother.

We all or nearly all fail to last our “lease” owing to accidents violence and avoidable as well as unavoidable disease.

Nuclear bomb testing fills the air with radioactive dust and leaves many areas uninhabitable for centuries.

In a strict and legal sense that is properly the domicile of a person where he has his true fixed permanent home and principal establishment and to which whenever he is absent he has the intention of returning.

Exercise

Punctuate the following :-

As Caesar loved me I wept for him as he was fortunate I rejoice at it as he was valiant I honour him but as he was ambitious I slew him.

The shepherd finding his flock destroyed exclaimed I have been rightly served why did I trust my sheep to a wolf.

However strange however grotesque may be the appearance which Dante under takes to describe he never shrinks from describing it he gives us the shape the colour the sound the smell the taste.

Perhaps cried he there may be such monsters as you describe.

Sancho ran as fast as his ass could go to help his master whom he found lying and not able to stir such a blow he and Rozinante had received mercy on me cried Sancho did I not give your worship fair warning did I not tell you they were windmills and that nobody could think otherwise unless he had also windmills in his head.

Modern ideas of government date back to the 1960s when for the first time people began to question a kings right to rule once through to be god given.

Wretch said the king what harm did I do thee that thou shouldst seek to take my life with your own hand you killed my father and my two brothers was the reply.

Exercise

Punctuate the following:-

When I look upon the tombs of the great every emotion of envy dies in me when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful every inordinate desire goes out when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone my heart melts with compassion. When I see the tomb of the parents themselves I consider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must quickly follow

They had played together in infancy they had worked together in manhood they were now tottering about and gossiping away in the evening of life and in a short time they will probably be buried together in the neighbouring churchyard.

Take away that bauble said Cromwell pointing to the mace which lay upon the table and when the House was empty he went out with the key in his pocket.

One day walking together up a hill I said to Friday do you not wish yourself in your own country again yes he said what would you do there said I would you turn wild and eat men’s flesh again he looked full of concern and shaking his head said no.

When a great office is vacant either by death or disgrace which often happens five or six of these candidates petition the emperor to entertain his majesty and the court with a dance on the rope and whoever jumps the highest without falling succeeds to the office

That familiarity produces neglect has been long observed the effect of all external objects however great or splendid ceases with their novelty the courtier stands without emotion in the royal presence the rustic tramples under his foot the beauties of the spring with little attention to their colours or their fragrance and the inhabitant of the coast darts his eye upon the immense diffusion of waters without awe wonder or terror.

If you look about you and consider the lives of others as well as your own if you think how few are born with honour and how many die without name or children how little beauty we see and how few friends we hear of how many diseases and how much poverty there is in the world you will fall down upon knees and instead of repining at one affliction will admire so many blessings which you have received from the hand of God.

We thank Thee for the place in which we dwell for the love that unites us for the

peace accorded us this day for the hope with which we expect the morrow for the health the work the food and the bright skies that make our life delightful for our friends in all parts of the earth.

Androcles who had no arms of any kind now gave himself up for lost what shall I do said he I have no spear or sword no not so much as a stick to defend myself with.

My quaint Ariel said Prospero to the little sprite when he made him free I shall miss you yet you shall have your freedom thank you my dear master said Ariel but give me leave to attend your ship with prosperous gales before you bid farewell to the assistance of your faithful spirit.

O master exclaimed Ananda weeping bitterly and is all the work undone and all by my fault and folly that which is built on fraud and imposture can by no means endure returned Buddha.

Nothing is so easy and inviting as the retort of abuse and sarcasm but it is a paltry and an unprofitable contest.

Think how mysterious and often unaccountable it is that lottery of life which gives to this man the purple and fine linen and sends to the other rags for garments and dogs for comforters.

The human mind is never stationary it advances or it retrogrades.

The laws of most countries today are spilt into two kinds criminal law and civil law.

Islam is one of the worlds Jargest religions with an estimated ] 100-1300 million believers it was founded in the 7th century by  the Prophet Mohammad.

There is a slavery that no legislation can abolish the slavery of caste.

Truly a popular error has as many lives as a cat it comes walking long after you have imagined it effectually strangled.

So far from science being irreligious as many think it is the neglect of science that is irreligious it is the refusal to study the surrounding creation that is irreligious.

None of Telleyrand's mots is more famous than this speech was given to man to conceal his thoughts.

There is only one cure, for the evils which newly acquired freedom produces and that cure is freedom.

If you read ten pages of a good book letter by letter that is to say with real accuracy you are for evermore in some measure an educated person.