Zasady interpunkcji angielskiej (punctuation)

1. Full stop [.]

a. to indicate the end of a sentence
b. in direct speech, to indicate the end of a spoken sentence
§ He said “I’ll probably be late home tonight”.
c. In certain abbreviations, such as:
§ M.A., e.g., i.e., etc.
§ Although he had a PhD in Philosophy, he found it difficult to find a job.

2. Question Mark [?]

a. at the end of direct question.
§ What’s the time?
b. at the end of a question in reported speech
§ “Why are you late?” the teacher asked.
c. at the end of question tags.
§ You have finished, haven’t you?

3. Exclamation Mark [!]

a. at the end of an exclamatory sentence
§ I can hardly believe it!
b. at the end of an exclamation in direct speech
§ “What an extraordinary coincidence!” she claimed.

4. Comma [,]

a. to separate items in a list of nouns, adjective, adverbs or clauses.
§ She answered the question carefully, thoughtfully, accurately and appropriately.
b. to separate main clauses which describe consecutive actions
§ He stormed out of the room, slammed the door behind him and left the class speechless.
c. after a subordinate clause which preceded the main clause
§ When we first arrived in this country, we found many things strange and intimidating.
d. before pr after a noun-defining relative clause
§ This grammar book, which was published last year, is one of the best I have ever used.
e. to separate an introductory word or phrase from the main part of the sentence.
§ To be honest, we are not sure yet of the possible results.
f. after “Yes” or “No” at the beginning of the sentence
g. in direct speech
§ “I have got a lot of work to do”, he said “so I’d better go home now”.

5. Colon [:]

a. before words or phrases which refer back to the statement preceding the colon and give a fuller explanation of the statement (which makes a complete sense on its own).
§ The treatment was a complete success: all traces of the disease were eradicated.
b. to introduce examples (complete sentences)
§ If you go trekking in this region, the following items are essential: a torch, a first aid kit, a compass.
c. to introduce a quotation
§ Whenever I go through Customs at an airport, I am always tempted to repeat Oscar Wilde’s classic comment: “I have nothing to declare expect my genius”.

6. Semi-colon [;]

a. To divide parts of a sentence each of which is a complete sentence on its own, but whose meanings are closely concerned. It shows a pause which is longer than a comma but shorter than a full stop.
§ Some critics considered him the best actor of his generations; others believed he never quite lived to his early promise.

7. Dash [-]

a. To separate a word or phrase which is independent of the rest of the sentence. It may precede a comment or definition, or serve to emphasise the words which follow.
§ Anger, fear, frustration, disappointment – a whole range of emotions appeared on his face.

8. Hyphen [-]

a. in some compound nouns
§ dinning-room, air-conditioning
b. in some compound adjectives
§ broad-shouldered, smartly-dressed
c. to link a prefix with a proper or abstract noun
§ pre-war, anti-American; pro-abortion
d. to separate a prefix from a word whose first letter is the same as the last letter of the prefix
§ co-operation, re-enter, co-ordination
e. when expressions of measurement, amount or quality are used as adjective before a noun
§ a five-pound note, a two-hour lecture

9. Round bracket [( )]

a. to separate additional information or a comment from the rest of the sentence.
§ The old Odeon cinema (where I saw the first Elvis Presley film) still stands on the corner.

10. Apostrophe [‘]

a. when letters are omitted in contracted forms
§ isn’t, I’m, didn’t
b. to denote possession
§ the man’s car
c. in plural nouns before the “s”
§ men’s clothing, the teachers’ salaries

11. Quotation Marks/ Inverted Commas [“”]

a. at the beginning or end of words spoken
§ “Well, that’s my final decision”, he said.
b. before and after the titles of books, films, plays, newspaper.
§ His performance in “Hamlet” was outstanding.
c. to indicate irony
§ We walked up the “grand” staircase, which was old.
d. Before and after a quotation.
§ She said “It’s a case of ‘he who laughs last laughs longest’, if u ask me”.

12. Capital Letters

a. for the first letter of a sentence
b. for the first letter of the sentence in direct speech
§ “Where have you been?” he asked.
c. for the personal pronoun “I”
d. for the first letter of proper noun
e. languages and adjectives of nationality
f. Titles of books – the most important words in it.

opracowała: Ania

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