Punctuation rules

When it comes to punctuation, there are many simple rules that if you keep in mind, you can avoid making silly mistakes and consequently losing marks.

Let's let the period first. The period should be used at the end of a sentence - for example, "It was a great restaurant." The period can also be used after an initial - "John N. Smith is a wonderful human being." The period can be used after an abbreviation - "Mr. Brown will be our new coach." The period can also be used as a decimal point - "We will get a raise of 2.7 percent." The period can be used to separate the dollar and cent - "The candy costs $5.95." Lastly, the period should be used after each number in a vertically printed list.

Now we come to the exclamation point. This should be used at the ending of a sentence, phrase of word, to show strong emotion. More than one exclamation point should never be used - this is a very common mistake that students tend to make. For example, "It was a great match!" is acceptable, but "It was a great match!!!!" is not. Remember, only one exclamation mark should be used.

The comma, on the other hand, should be used after each item in a series of at least three items. "My backlog is huge - I need to write my essay, send in college applications, and do the laundry." The comma can also be used after the street address and city in an address - "My address is 4567 Maple Street, Hightown, Kansas 98745." Note that the comma should not be used after the state. The comma can be used after the day, in a date - "My birthday is 14 September, 1988." The comma should also be used to clarify large number - when going from right to left, the comma is needed after every 3 digits. "The population in this town is 25,879." Do keep in mind that the comma can also be used to signify an interruption in the main thought of a particular sentence - "Jim, it is needless to say, will turn up late." The comma can also be used to separate two or more adjectives which modify the same noun - "The teacher couldn't handle the rowdy, noisy children." (Sometimes, you may not be sure if you should use a comma to separate the adjectives - in such cases, say the sentence out loud, if you can put AND in place of the comma, go ahead.)