There use of correct sentence punctuation makes your sentences more effective and understandable. A misused punctuation can alter the meaning of the whole sentence, thus affecting the message you are trying to convey. The following article will guide you on how to correct your punctuation problems in your sentences.
General Information about Correct Grammar in Sentences and Proper Punctuation
Punctuations are necessary to make effective sentences. Among the common punctuations in English language are period, colon, semi-colon, dash, apostrophe, open and close quotation mark, an exclamation point, and a hyphen.
A period is used to end a sentence while a comma is used to enumerate items, to separate things or ideas or dependent clauses in a sentence. Correct punctuation for commas is often mistaken from semi-colon. A semicolon is used to set off a list of items within a sentence. This is also used to separate two related but distinct thoughts.
An apostrophe is used if you want express possessive form like ‘my sister’s’ and if you omit a letter from two combined words like ‘they’re (they are), you’re’ (you are). Open and closed quotation marks are used to cite a statement a person said or if you want to emphasize something. And exclamation point is used to express overwhelming emotion.
A hyphen (-) to bridge two like concepts in a sentence while dash (–) is to specify that you’re moving onto a separate idea or line of thoughts.
5 Tips on How to Check and Correct Your Grammar by Yourself and Improving Your Punctuation Skills
- If unsure, consult a reference. Some people just go on with their guts if they feel unsure about things. But this should not be the case for grammar, punctuation and sentence correction as you may end up with different meaning for your sentences. Better consult someone or check a reliable reference to make sure.
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- Avoid too many exclamation points. There is no point to use too many exclamation points in your sentence because it does not make sense at all. Exclamation point signifies strong emotion or reaction and you need not to overemphasize it.
- Apostrophe and comma change meanings of words. There is a huge difference of what an apostrophe and a comma can do in your sentences so you have to be very careful using them.
- Read more published materials. Reading published (we mean hard copies) materials will sharpen your skills in sentence construction and use of punctuation.
- Consult and online correction tool. If you don’t have someone to edit your work, you can always consult an online correcting sentence tool to help you correct sentence punctuation problems.
Consulting and Learning about Our Useful Tool for Your Punctuation Problems
Whenever you search for phrases like correct my punctuation, there can be numerous online tools that the search engine will provide. This is why it is very important to identify the right tool for you punctuation needs. You can look for the best tool by searching for the most and widely used tool online, reading reviews about them and trying some of the suggested sites. Most of them are free so you can try as many websites as you can until you find the best tool to use. One of the best around is our punctuation tool.
