Rules of Punctuation

 

Sentences start with a Capital letter,
So as to make your writing better.
Use a full stop to mark the end.
It closes every sentence penned.

Insert a comma for short pauses and breaks,
And also for lists the writer makes.
Dashes – like these – are for thoughts.
They provide additional information (so do brackets, of course).

These two dots are colons: they pause to compare.
They also do this: list, explain and prepare.
The semicolon makes a break; followed by a clause.
It does the job of words that link; it’s also a short pause.

An apostrophe shows the owner of anyone’s things,
It’s quite useful for shortenings.
I’m glad! He’s mad! Don’t walk on the grass!
To show strong feelings use an exclamation mark!

A question mark follows Where? When? Why? What? and How?
Can I? Do you? Shall we? Tell us now!
“Quotation marks” enclose what is said.
Which is why they are often called ‘speech marks’ instead.