VOA慢速英语2021--Using Punctuation Marks

 

Hello! Today on Ask a Teacher we answer a question about punctuation¹ marks from Luay in Syria.

Question:

I hope you can tell me about the difference between punctuation marks such as the semicolon (;), the colon² (:) and the comma (,) and between round brackets³ and square brackets.

Using Punctuation Marks

Using Punctuation Marks

Luay, Syria.

Answer:

Dear Luay,

Thank you for writing with this very interesting question. Even native speakers have trouble with these punctuation marks when writing English. Let us begin with the simplest one, the comma.

First, you need to understand the sentence: it is a group of words with a subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought. Another name we give to sentences is "independent clause⁴." That means the group of words forms a sentence by itself. As you can guess, there is another kind of word group that cannot stand alone. We call that a "dependent clause."

The most common use of a comma is to separate an independent clause and a dependent clause. When we read the examples in this lesson, we will say the punctuation marks out loud so listeners can understand where they belong.

Every Thursday, VOA has a new Everyday Grammar lesson.

The independent clause is "VOA has a new Everyday Grammar lesson." The dependent clause, "Every Thursday," is separated by a comma. There are many other uses for commas which you can read about in our Everyday Grammar lesson.

The colon

The colon is two dots, one over the other. It has three main uses. One is to introduce a list of things. The part of the sentence before the colon should be an independent clause. Here is an example:

Ashton likes only three kinds of fruit: apples, bananas and cherries.

You should not use a colon when the list is part of the independent clause, as in:

Ashton likes apples, bananas and cherries.

Note that these things are separated by commas but there is no comma before "and." That is a debated subject we will not get into today.

You can also use a colon between two independent clauses⁵ when the second one explains the first.

We ate all of the ice cream: it was too hot this afternoon.

Third, you can use a colon to emphasize a phrase or word at the end of a sentence:

After hours of work, we saw what we wanted: a clean house.

Semicolon

Moving on to the semicolon, you may say it looks like a period or a dot above a comma. We use a semicolon to connect two independent clauses that have related subjects. For example,

I think we should study in the bookstore; my friend works there.

You should never use a comma to connect two independent clauses. Note that the semicolon takes the place of any conjunction that might connect two independent clauses. A good test of whether you have used the semicolon correctly is to replace it with a conjunction, that is, "or," "for," "and" or "but." Here is a sentence with a semicolon between the two independent clauses:

The cat came in the door; it was carrying a mouse.

When we replace the semicolon with "and" we no longer need to use the semicolon.

The cat came in the door and it was carrying a mouse.

Brackets and parentheses⁶

Your last question was about the marks you call round and square brackets. The round ones are called parentheses. We use them to add some information to help explain what we have written. When reading them aloud, we say "open parentheses" for the one on the left side and "close parentheses" for the opposite one, on the right. For example,

I opened a can of food for Makeda (the dog) and put it in a dish.

The square brackets [] have several uses. They are used to put comments or information into direct quotations⁷, to identify errors in text, and to add more information within something that is already in parentheses. Here are examples of the brackets in action:

His mother said, "Look, this letter [it was from the university] came for you."

Alex picked up the bag (he thought it held more water [it only had empty bottles]) and shook it.

You may also see brackets around a Latin word, [sic] showing there was a mistaken word in what someone else wrote.

I hope this answers your question, Luay.

Words in This Story

punctuation –n. the marks (such as periods and commas) in a piece of writing that make its meaning clear and that separate it into sentences and clauses

1 punctuation   

n.标点符号，标点法

参考例句：

• My son's punctuation is terrible.我儿子的标点符号很糟糕。
• A piece of writing without any punctuation is difficult to understand.一篇没有任何标点符号的文章是很难懂的。

2 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

3 brackets   

n.括弧( bracket的名词复数 )；等级；类别层次；壁架v.把…括在括弧内( bracket的第三人称单数 )；把…归为一类

参考例句：

• Publication dates are given in brackets after each title. 出版日期括于书名后面。
• Put your name in brackets at the top of each page. 把你的名字填在每页上端的括弧内。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 clause   

n.（正式文件或法律文件的）条款，从句，分句

参考例句：

• The sentence consists of a main clause and a subordinate clause.这句中有一个主句和一个从句。
• What clause do you require in the contract?你要求在合同中订上什么条款？

5 clauses   

从句( clause的名词复数 )； （法律文件等的）条款

参考例句：

• Relative pronouns and adverbs introduce attributive clauses. 关系代词和关系副词引导定语从句。
• Please underline the noun clauses in the passage. 请用线画出短文中的名词性从句。

6 parentheses   

n.圆括号，插入语，插曲（ parenthesis的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Irregular forms are given in parentheses . 不规则形式标注在括号内。
• Answer these questions, using the words in parentheses. Put the apostrophe in the right place. 用句后括号中的词或词组来回答问题，注意撇号的位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 quotations   

n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价

参考例句：

• The insurance company requires three quotations for repairs to the car. 保险公司要修理这辆汽车的三家修理厂的报价单。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These quotations cannot readily be traced to their sources. 这些引语很难查出出自何处。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》