Punctuation Marks Guide

Exclamation mark - Shows excitement, emphasis, or strong emotion

Expresses strong emotion, excitement, surprise, or emphasis. Used to end exclamatory sentences, show urgency, or add emotional impact to text. Essential for expressive writing and communication.

Question mark - Indicates questions or uncertainty

Indicates interrogative sentences, questions, or uncertainty. Essential for asking questions, expressing doubt, and creating interactive communication. Used at the end of direct questions.

Semicolon - Separates related clauses or list items

Connects closely related independent clauses, separates complex list items, and creates sophisticated sentence structures. Used in formal writing, programming, and complex punctuation.

Colon - Introduces lists, explanations, or quotations

Introduces lists, explanations, quotations, or elaborations. Used before enumerations, time expressions, and to signal that what follows will explain or expand upon what preceded.

Ellipsis - Indicates omitted text or trailing thought

Indicates omitted text, trailing thoughts, pauses in speech, or suspense. Used in quotations to show deleted material, in dialogue for hesitation, and in creative writing for dramatic effect.

Quotation mark - Standard quote symbol for speech or text

Encloses direct speech, quotations, titles of short works, and words used in special senses. Essential for indicating exact words spoken or written by someone else.

Apostrophe - Shows possession or contractions

Indicates possession, contractions, and omitted letters or numbers. Essential for showing ownership (John's book), contractions (don't), and abbreviated years ('90s).

Left double quote - Opening quotation mark

Opening quotation mark in proper typography. Used to begin quotations, dialogue, and cited text. Provides professional typographic appearance in formal documents and publications.

Right double quote - Closing quotation mark

Closing quotation mark in proper typography. Used to end quotations, dialogue, and cited text. Provides professional typographic finish to quoted material in formal documents.

Single low quotation mark - German/European style quote

Used in German and some European languages as an opening single quotation mark. Essential for proper typography in multilingual documents and international publications.

Double low quotation mark - German/European opening quote

Used in German and some European languages as an opening double quotation mark. Essential for proper typography in German texts and European multilingual documents.

En dash - Used for ranges, dates, and compound adjectives

Indicates ranges (pages 10–20), spans time periods (2020–2023), and connects equal elements in compound adjectives. Wider than hyphen, narrower than em dash.

Em dash - Creates strong breaks in sentences or dialogue

Creates strong breaks in sentences, indicates abrupt changes in thought, sets off parenthetical information, and shows interrupted dialogue. Longer than en dash.

Inverted exclamation - Spanish punctuation mark

Used at the beginning of exclamatory sentences in Spanish. Essential for proper Spanish typography and grammar, appearing before the exclamation and paired with regular exclamation mark at the end.

Inverted question mark - Spanish punctuation mark

Used at the beginning of interrogative sentences in Spanish. Essential for proper Spanish typography and grammar, appearing before the question and paired with regular question mark at the end.

Section sign - References legal or document sections

References specific sections in legal documents, academic papers, and formal texts. Used in legal citations, academic writing, and document organization to point to particular numbered sections.