Using Punctuation Correctly is important regardless of your occupation. If you are a blogger that is even more important; most readers consider the quality of writing determinant for the success of a blog.

The wikiHow website has an comprehensive article titled “How to Use English Punctuation Correctly” outlining the basics of punctuation usage. Below you will find a summary of the article.

1. The colon (:) is used to introduce lists and it appears after nouns.

Example: The Easter basket contained three things: an egg, a chocolate rabbit, and a candy.

Incorrect example: The Easter basket contained: an egg, a chocolate rabbit, and a candy.

2. The semicolon (;) is used to separate two related but independent clauses.

Example: People continue to worry about the future; our failure to conserve resources has put the world at risk.

3. The hyphen (-) is used when adding a prefix to words, when creating compound words or when writing numbers as words.

Example: Laura is his ex-girlfriend.

Example: There are fifty-two playing cards in a deck.

4. The dash (–) is used to make a brief interruption on a sentence, an additional statement or a dramatic qualification.

Example: An introductory clause is a brief phrase that comes–yes, you guessed it–at the beginning of a sentence.

5. The parentheses (()) is used to clarify or to add a personal statement. Its usage is similar to the dash, but it denotes a stronger “side notion”.

Example: Steve Case (AOL’s former CEO) resigned from the Time-Warner board of directors in 2023.

6. The double quotation mark (“) is used to enclose direct quotations from a person or from another text. Notice that commas or periods go inside the quotation marks.

Example: “I can’t wait to see him perform!” John exclaimed.

7. The single quotation mark (‘) is used to indicate possession, to contract verbs and to denote a quotation within a quotation.

Example: Ali said, “Anna told me, ‘I wasn’t sure if you wanted to come!'”

8. The comma (,) is used to indicate a break or pause within a sentence, to denote a series or to separate adjectives.

Example: The powerful, resonating sound caught our attention.

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