punctuation marks

Language

2022

We explain what punctuation marks are, their function, and how the period, comma, quotation marks, parentheses, hyphen and more are used.

Punctuation marks organize and rank the ideas in a text.

What are punctuation marks?

Punctuation marks are certain types of orthographic signs, that is, marks that accompany written language (other than numbers and letters). This particular class of signs serve to delimit phrases, paragraphs and the units of text that make up its structure, in order to organize the ideas that correctly expresses and hierarchizes the main and secondary ones.

The punctuation marks, thus, fulfill a logical and syntactic role in the written language, since in the spoken language that role is fulfilled by silences and pauses.

Its main task is to avoid ambiguities that may cloud the understanding of the speech, but also point out its special characteristics, such as subsections, verbatim quotes, voices of characters, and so on. In addition, they allow modulating what is written, that is, controlling the intonation with which it should be read, in order to recompose the subtleties of the language from the text.

The oldest document in which punctuation marks are used is the Stela of Mesha, a Moabite king from the 9th century BC. Today they are present in almost all languages, except those whose tradition replaces them with empty spaces, such as Chinese or Mayan writing. This is because his way of writing concentrates an entire meaning in a single character, so there is no need to actually mark the end of a word or a phrase.

In addition, the use of punctuation marks responds to certain fixed, strict rules, necessary to guarantee the full understanding of the text, and to certain differences in style when writing, that is, to the particular way of doing it of each person.

For example, a person may prefer long sentences with many points marked by commas, or on the contrary, short sentences separated with semicolons, but in no case can they resist using commas and semicolons with the fixed meaning they have on the tongue.

The punctuation marks in Spanish are the period «.», The comma «,», the semicolon «;», the colon «:», the ellipsis «...», the quotation marks «“ ”», the parentheses "" And square brackets "[]", exclamation marks "!" and the question mark "?", the dashes "-" and the dashes "─". We will study them separately below.

Point

The period is a fundamental sign when writing, since it serves to introduce a more or less long pause, depending on the case. It is usually placed at the end of sentences (prayers, phrases), immediately after the last character written, without spaces between. There are three different types of point, which are:

  • Point and followed. Used to separate the phrases and sentences of the same paragraph, after entering it it is necessary to give a space and start with a capital letter. It is usually understood as a medium pause. For example:

“My father traveled to Greenland. There is nothing there ”.

  • New paragraph. Used to end a paragraph, so that after entering it it is necessary to start with capital letters and on a different line, according to the indentation rules of the text that is being used. For example:

“… And those were our last days in Greenland.

The next day, we woke up in Paris. The weather was dark and a humid breeze was blowing… "

  • Final point. Used to mark the absolute end of a text. Logically, nothing comes after him.

In addition to these cases, it is common to use the point after a abbreviation, but in these cases you continue writing normally after the space, without using capital letters or interrupting the line.

Comma

The comma can separate parts of the sentence, as long as they are not subject and predicate.

The comma is probably the most difficult punctuation mark to use, as it largely depends on the style of writing, but is generally understood as a very short pause.

Like the period, it is introduced without leaving spaces of separation with respect to the previous text, but leaving a space afterwards with respect to the next word, and in general it is used to give respite in the middle of very long clauses, as long as they do not separate unnecessarily to the subject of the sentence of verb main of it.

Otherwise, the comma is used to:

  • Separate the terms of an enumeration, except those preceded by conjunctions (y, e, o, u). For example: “I bought tomatoes, onions, potatoes and lettuce.
  • Enter clauses or subsections in the middle of a sentence, always using an initial and a final comma to mark the subsection. For example: "Simón Bolívar, Liberator of South America, was born in Caracas in 1783."
  • Separate certain conjunctive or adverbial phrases, such as "in effect", "however", "in order", etc., from the text that follows. For example: "Consequently, our hopes were disappointed."
  • Separate the vocative from the rest of the sentence, in phrases like “Hello, Manuel” or “Call me later, my friend”.

Semicolon

The semicolon is a rare sign, used to join two sentences in a single sentence, introducing an intermediate pause. It is useful in cases where you do not want to repeat the sentence subject, for example:

"The boys were late" + "The boys were not given cake" = "The boys were late; they did not give them cake ”.

In these cases, the semicolon can also be replaced by a conjunction ("and") or by connectors like "because" or "why".

On the other hand, the semicolon can be used to separate the terms of an enumeration, when these include elements separated by commas. For example: “I miss traveling by train, boat or plane; go to other countries; meet new people…".

The two points

This punctuation mark introduces a pause greater than that of the comma, but less than that of the period, and is used to stop the flow of text and speech, and draw the attention of the reader or the interlocutor to something that follows , and that it will always be closely related to what has been said. It is very common its use to enter verbatim citations.

For example: "They stole everything from us: shoes, money, keys."

Suspensives points

Always made up of three and only three points in a row and without spaces between them (…), this sign introduces a long pause that is intended to create suspense, doubt, intrigue or to indicate that there is part of the text that is omitted.

They are used at the end of a sentence, replacing what was not said, marking the moment when silence occurred. Furthermore, enclosed in parentheses “(…)” indicate an intentional omission in the middle of a textual quotation.

For example: "The truth is that ... I don't know what to say" or "If you say so ...".

The quotation marks

The quotation marks always come in pairs and are used to highlight a word or phrase from the rest of the text, indicating that it is something taken from another source (such as in textual citations), or that it is a familiar, vulgar, popular or outside use. than ordinary, and even occasionally that it is a twist ironic from the author.

English quotation marks ("") are commonly used, but there are also angle marks («»), and they can sometimes be combined, for example, when there is a quote within a quote. Another possibility, when using the English quotation marks, is to distinguish between the single (‘’) and the double (“”) to mark the levels of the quotation.

Some examples below:

  • In my house they call me “Chucho”, but my name is Jesús.
  • The spokesperson stated that they will not be held responsible "for what happens tomorrow."
  • As stated in his book Juan Gutiérrez: "to be wise we must follow Voltaire's maxim of‘ cultivating our garden ’constantly."

Parentheses and brackets

These punctuation marks also always come in pairs, and serve to create subsections or clauses within the text, separating what is between them from the rest so that it can be read separately, often as an explanation, annotation or an optional data, it is In other words, it can either be read or it can be omitted.

As with quotation marks, the use of parentheses "" and square brackets "[]" tend to alternate when there are clarifications within the clarifications, which is common in many textual citations. Also, square brackets are often used to indicate the addition of a text, generally to facilitate the reading, within a verbatim quote.

Some examples are:

  • Yesterday we bought two games (board, not video) to entertain the children.
  • Mario Levrero (Montevideo, 1940-2004) was an important writer for his time.
  • The newly discovered species (whose scientific name was given by Dr. Goliatnizk [see Fig. 1] and is due to mysterious reasons) is in the possession of the proper scientists.

Exclamation and question marks

Question marks indicate the beginning and end of a question.

These punctuation marks are intended to mark the intonation of the text, so that we can distinguish between a question or an exclamation, such as a scream.

They are particularly useful when reproducing the orality, as in dialogues, and they always come in pairs: the open sign and the close sign. The latter is mandatory in Spanish, unlike other languages ​​that only use closing, since the syntax of the language does not always allow to easily perceive where the desired intonation begins.

Thus, question marks serve to make questions explicit, as in: "Where did you go yesterday?" or "With what sauce do you want your pasta?"; while exclamation marks are used to introduce interjections, shouts, imperative phrases or any type of emphatic exclamation or said in a high tone of voice. For example: "Too bad!", "Stop or shoot!" Oh my God!".

More in: Interrogative sentences, Exclamation sentences

The dash and the line

These punctuation marks are distinguished from each other in their length, since they both consist of a line at the middle of the written text. The short line (-) is the hyphen, used to separate words when the space in a line runs out, or to separate certain specialized or combined terms, such as "artistic-literary" or "physical-chemical", for example.

Instead, the long line or stripe (—) is used to insert paragraphs, instead of commas or parentheses, or to introduce dialogues in a narrative. For example:

  • -Who is there? Said Pedro.
  • The important thing in an interview - that is, the most important thing - is not the appearance, but what is said.
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