❗ What Are Punctuation Marks For?

Hello! The tiny marks we use when we write have a big job. Today we will meet the full stop, the question mark, the exclamation mark, the comma, the apostrophe and inverted commas.

The same words can mean three different things! Pengu is here. We are telling someone something, and our voice goes calmly down. Pengu is here? We are asking, and our voice goes up. Pengu is here! We are excited, and our voice is strong.

A full stop ends a sentence that tells us something: “It is sunny.” A question mark ends a question: “How are you?” An exclamation mark shows excitement, surprise, a warning or a shout: “Hooray!”

When we write a list, we use commas. The basket has an apple, a pear, a banana and a strawberry. We separate the items with commas. Before the word “and” we do not need one.

We also put a comma after the name of the person we are talking to, and after words like “yes” and “no”. When we read, we make a very short pause there. Ada, can you help me? Yes, of course!

An apostrophe has two jobs. It shows that something belongs to someone: Mina’s bag. And it shows where letters are missing: “do not” becomes “don’t”, and “it is” becomes “it’s”.

Careful: an apostrophe is not for plurals. When we mean more than one, we just add an s: two cats. When something belongs to one cat, we write the cat’s toy.

All together in a short note to Sam! A comma after the name, an apostrophe in Ada’s, a comma in the list, and a full stop at the end. Inverted commas go round the words someone says. Then an exclamation mark and a question mark. Every mark has its place.

Summary: punctuation marks tell us how to read with our voice and what a sentence means. A full stop, question mark or exclamation mark ends a sentence. A comma separates and pauses. An apostrophe shows belonging or missing letters, and inverted commas go round speech. Now try it in Noktalama Köprüsü!