BGCSE ENGLISH LANGUAGE REVISION (Punctuation)
By Berry Shaba
PUNCTUATION
Punctuation is the system of symbols that are used to separate or divide sentences and parts
of sentences in order to make their meaning clear. Each of these symbols is called a punctuation mark or punctuation symbol.
In spoken English, there are all sorts of things can be used to make meaning clear: rhythm,
stress, pauses, intonation. However, in written English, these devices cannot be used so the
work that they do in speech must completely be done by punctuation. As a result, written
English has developed a system of punctuation which is regular and reasonable: every
punctuation mark has one or more particular work to do.
COMMON PUNCTUATION MARKS
The Full Stop
1. The full stop (.), also called the period, is mainly used to mark the end of a
sentence/statement, as in the following examples:
The bathroom geyser is an “energy guzzler”. You will pay close to P180 per month when
your geyser works for five hours in 30 days.
Remember to avoid the error below.
“Other energy guzzlers include cell phone chargers and electrical mosquito repellents,
they should be switched off after use.”
The example above has two complete statements, but the first one has been punctuated only
with a comma. This is not correct. This can be corrected by changing the comma to a full
stop:
Other energy guzzlers include cell phone chargers and electrical mosquito repellents.
They should be switched off after use.
Now each statement has its own full stop.
2. Full stops are also sometimes used in punctuating abbreviations, e.g.
B.H.C. (Botswana Housing Corporation)
S.A.D.C. (Southern African Development Cooperation)
U.S.A. (United States of American)
A.U. (African Union)
The Question Mark
A question mark (?) is positioned at the end of a sentence which is a direct question, e.g.
What is the time?
Where do you come from?
Who is your friend?
How old are you?
A question mark is also used if the question is a direct quotation.
“Are we going to Francistown for Christmas?” Thapelo asked.
“How old are you? asked the nurse.
NB. But a question mark is not used in an indirect question.
Thapelo asked whether they were going to Francistown for Christmas.
The nurse asked how old he was.
The Exclamation Mark
The exclamation mark (!) is used at the end of a sentence or a short phrase which expresses
very strong feelings. Here are some examples:
That is marvellous!
Oh my God!
Don’t eat that!
Help!
Wow, what a beautiful baby!
The examples above are normal in novels and short stories (narratives and descriptive) so
they should not be overused in discursive and factual writing. An exclamation mark is also
usual after an exclamation beginning with ‘what’ or ‘how’:
How childish man can be!
What excellent work she produced!
NB. Note that a full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark are a sentence’s final
punctuation mark so they are always written next to the last word of the sentence.
The Comma
The comma (,) is the most common punctuation symbol but it is often used wrongly. Below
some common uses of the comma called the listing comma, the joining comma and
bracketing commas.
a). The Listing Comma
The listing comma is used in place of the word and, or sometimes for or. First, it is used in a
list when three or more words, phrases or even complete sentences are joined by the word
and or or E.g.
My mother bought oranges, apples and lemons.
Mpho took his ruler, pencil and ball point pen to school.
NB. You must not join two complete sentences with a comma, but three or more complete
sentences may be joined with listing commas plus and or or.
Note also that it is not usual in British usage to put a listing comma before the word and or or
itself. So, in British usage, it is not usual to write. These sentences would be considered
wrong.
1. My mother bought oranges, apples, and lemons.
2. We searched under beds, inside drawers and in cupboards for the missing key.
3. The nurse explained what mammography test is, what it shows and why it is necessary.
b).The Joining Comma
The joining comma is used to join two complete statement/sentences into a single sentence. It
is followed by an appropriate connecting word. The connecting/joining words - and, or, but,
while and yet.
1. She must read widely, or she will fail her English paper.
2. Boago has enrolled for a course at University of Botswana, and Bontle will study at The
College of Agriculture.
NB. You cannot join two sentences with a comma unless you also use one of these
connecting words. This error can be avoided by either following the comma with one of the
connecting words, or substituting the comma with a semicolon.
NB. Note also that most discourse markers (connecting words) e.g. However, therefore,
hence, consequently, nevertheless and thus come before a comma.
c). Bracketing Commas
Bracketing commas (also called parenthesis commas) are a pair of bracketing commas
used to mark off a weak interruption/addition of the sentences. The bracketing commas often
occur in pairs. Culture Spears, it would seem, are becoming consistent in producing an album
every year.
Bessie Head, born in apartheid South Africa, made independent Botswana her home.
Berman, one of the brilliant young musicians, will surely become a super star of Botswana
folk music.
Remember:
• Make sure the words set off are really an interruption/addition.
• Use a pair of bracketing commas to set off a weak interruption which could be removed
from the sentence without disturbing the sentence’s meaning it.
• Use a pair of bracketing commas to set off a weak interruption
• If the interruption comes at the beginning or the end of the sentence, use only one
bracketing comma.
• Use a joining comma before ‘and’, or, ‘but’, ‘yet’ or while followed by a complete
sentence.
The Colon
i) The colon (:) has only one major use. The colon is never followed by a hyphen or a dash.
The colon is used to indicate that what follows it is an explanation or elaboration of what
comes after it. What follows the colon may or may not be a complete sentence, and it may be
a mere list or even a single word e.g.
a). Planet earth is facing terrifying problem: global warming.
Explains what the problem is.
b). The matter is clear: if you do not get enough sleep, you risk being fatigued the next day.
Explains what the clear matter is.
ii).The colon is used in citing passages from the Bible:
e.g. Genesis 2:4 - 7
iii).The colon may be used in writing ratios:
e.g. The ratio of girls to boys in my class is 3:1
NB. In formal work such as compositions to write out ratios in words:
The ratio of girls to boys in my class is three is to one.
iv). A colon is used to separate the hours from the minutes in giving a time of day. British
English uses a full stop for this purpose: 6.10, 10.30 while American usage uses the colon.
4:10, 12:30.
The Semicolon
The semicolon (;) has only one major use. It is used to join two complete sentences into a
single written sentence when all of the following requirements are met:
(1) There is no connecting word which would require a comma, such as - and or but.
(2) The two sentences are felt to be too closely related in meaning to be separated by a full
stop.
(3) The special conditions requiring a colon are absent.
A semicolon can always be replaced either by a full stop (resulting in two separate sentences)
or by the word and. Below is an example from Charles Dickens.
1.It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.
He could have written it as:
2.It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times.
NB. The semicolon must be both preceded by a complete sentence and followed by a
complete sentence.
The Apostrophe
The apostrophe is used in writing contractions - that is, shortened forms of words from which
one or more letters have been omitted. In Standard English, this generally happens only with
a small number of conventional items, mostly involving verbs. The following are some of the
commonest examples, with their uncontracted equivalents:
it's
-
it is or it has
we'll
-
we will or we shall
NB. It is not wrong to use such contractions in formal writing.
Possessives
An apostrophe is used in a possessive form, like: Mpho’s family or Tshepiso's shoes. The
basic rule is simple enough: a possessive form is spelled with -‘s at the end. Example:
Mary’s book
Botswana’s desert
NB. First, a plural noun which already ends in s takes only a following apostrophe:
the girls’ sport
the ladies’ dresses
The Hyphen
The hyphen (-) is the small bar that has several related uses. It is used to show that what it is
attached to does not make up a complete word by itself.
Now here is something important: it is usually essential to hyphenate compound modifiers,
e.g.
She gave him a good-morning hug.
The hyphen in the second example is necessary to show that ‘good-morning’ is a single
compound modifier. Without the hyphen, the reader might easily be misled and end up
misunderstanding the meaning intended.


She was wearing a light-blue dress.
Mary always turned up for the end-of-term parties
There are some cases in which a hyphen is totally essential after a prefix. First, if a capital
letter or a numeral follows:
non-African countries
un-American activities
anti-African theories
post-World War 2 Europe
The Dash
The dash (—) is the long horizontal bar, much longer than a hyphen.
The dash has only one use - a pair of dashes separates a strong interruption (additional
information) from the rest of the sentence. Dashes come in pairs, though sometimes one of
them is not written. The same thing is true of bracketing commas, which set off weak
interruptions.) Here are some examples:
1. The promotion of war and conflict in Africa - in recent history - is horrifying the continent.
2. Ben Johnson - a onetime fastest person on earth - was found guilty of doping.
3. If the strong interruption comes at the end of the sentence, then of course only one dash is
used:
4. Nelson Mandela sacrificed his life for the struggle – he gave 27 years of his life to the
people.
Capital Letters
The rules for using them are mostly very simple. Capitalize
1. The first word of a sentence or fragment
2.The name of a day or a month
3. A word expressing a connection with a place
4. The name of a language
5. The name of a nationality or an ethnic group
6. A proper name
7. The name of a historical period
8.The name of a holiday
9. A significant religious term
10. The pronoun ‘I’
11. The first word of a direct quotation which is a sentence
12. A brand name
13. The first word, and each significant word, of a title
14. A Roman numeral
Abbreviations
An abbreviation is a short way of writing a word or a phrase that could also be written out in
full. However, abbreviations are very rarely used in formal writing especially in your
examination. Note that there are frequently used abbreviations for certain common titles,
which are used with someone's name, e.g. Mr Moraka, Dr David Livingstone, Mrs
Tshabalala, Ms Nleya, etc.
Remember: Do not use an abbreviation that can easily be avoided. In an abbreviation, use
full stops and capital letters in the conventional way. Do not forget to punctuate the rest of the
sentence normally.
Quotation Marks and Direct Quotations
The use of quotation marks, also called inverted commas, is very slightly complex due to the
fact that there are two types: single quotes (‘ ’) and double quotes (“ ”).
The main use of quotation marks is quite easy to comprehend: a pair of quotation marks
surround a direct quotation — that is, a repetition of someone’s exact words.
Scare Quotes
The use of quotation marks can be applied to cases which are not precisely direct quotations.
Example:
1. The company my uncle works for has given him the title of “landscape technician”
The phrase in quote marks is not a quotation from anyone in particular, but merely a term
which is used by some people. What the writer is doing here is ‘distancing’ himself/herself
from the term in quotes.
Quotation marks used in this way are informally called scare quotes. Scare quotes are
quotation marks positioned around a word or phrase from which you as the writer wish to
disassociate yourself because you consider that word or phrase to be odd or inappropriate for
some reason. Maybe you regard it as too colloquial for formal writing; possibly you think it's
unfamiliar or mysterious; possibly you consider it to be inaccurate or misleading; possibly
you believe it is just wrong. Often scare quotes are used to express irony or sarcasm:
Remember: Put quotation marks (single or double) around the exact words of a direct
quotation. Use quotation marks to distance yourself from a word or phrase or to show
that you are using it ironically. Place single quotation marks around a word or phrase
which you are talking about.
The Ellipsis
The ellipsis (...), also called omission marks or the suspension, has just two uses.
1.The ellipsis is used to show that some material has been omitted from the middle of a direct
quotation.
2. The ellipsis is used to show that a sentence has been left unfinished. While the dash is used
to show that an utterance has been broken off abruptly, the ellipsis shows that the writer or
speaker has merely “faded out” into silence, deliberately leaving something unsaid or
unspoken:
Theresa spoke softly, “If you do not find the lost phone today, there is …”
This kind of punctuation is usually common in narratives especially in direct quotations.
Numerals and Dates
The compound numerals from twenty-one to ninety-nine are written with hyphens:
His fifty-six birthday celebration was a complete bore.
The sportswoman died when was only thirty-five years old.
EXERCISE (Punctuate the following sentences)
1. In the first year of participating in the annual national museum visual art exhibition she
won an award.
2. Even all her adult life whenever she thought of uncle mpho’s life she was filled with
chocking despair and anger that her uncle had not used his talents.
3. they had a date for 700 that night at pescadores café.
4. what do you want to do about it tumelo poked a finger into gaones lower lip.
5. oh gaone said cheerfully as she turned around to face her marker.
6. morabaraba is a thrilling game of wits. It has been played in Africa for centuries. It is
reputed to have originated in egypt but is played in various ways in most parts of eastern and
southern africa. It is known by different names in different countries. In botswana, it is
referred to as morabaraba.
7. netball is new if compared to football soccer. It was introduced into england from the
united states of america as an indoor game of basketball in the mid 1890s. It is said that a dr
toles, an american visiting madame osterbergs college of physical training at hampstead,
london instructed young girls how to play indoor basketball.
CONCLUSION
Understanding the principles and rules behind the common symbols of punctuation should
strengthen candidates’ understanding of grammar and help them to use the symbols
consistently in their own writing. A good dictionary will help with the rules of basic
punctuation.
NB. Consult your teacher/tutor for more advice.
…ends/bs