Over the course of more than one century, the meanings of each of the punctuation marks have been formed, and the concept of what punctuation is developed. All unsuccessful examples were eliminated, and the best options were firmly entrenched in fiction.
What is punctuation , and what are its basic rules?
With this concept at school, everyone met. But can someone clearly answer the question of what punctuation is today? For an ordinary person, it is enough to know that these are the rules for punctuation. We will consider the main ones in order to refresh school lessons in our memory and to replenish our knowledge base.
Everyone was taught at school that the point at the end of a sentence expresses the completeness of thought. But there are exceptions. For example, consider the following sentence: “He noticed an envelope in his friend's hands. White. Rectangular. Incomprehensible".
Judging by the structure, this is one sentence, and all points (except the last) can be replaced by commas. Why did the author decide to put a full stop here? But to be more precise, the point is put not only where the idea of the sentence ends, but also in the case when the author believes that he said everything he wanted. Despite this, according to the standards, one point is put at the end of the sentence. If the author puts dots in the middle of the sentence, then this is simply his liberty. When quoting, however, the text cannot be distorted, no matter what the punctuation check shows. Let's consider other rules.
Ellipsis and Punctuation Rules
A certain antonym of the point is ellipsis. This punctuation mark is put if the sentence is not completed or broken. In this case, you can come up with your own continuation of the unsaid. "How to explain more clearly to you, madam ..."
This punctuation mark has one more meaning when not everything is said and, perhaps, having thought, the author will add something else. "In the department ... but it’s better not to name which department." (N.V. Gogol)
Both meanings of ellipsis - incompleteness and uncertainty can be used both together and separately. Still dots indicate omissions in sentences.
Question and exclamation marks
If we dwell on the question mark, the punctuation rules suggest that it is also completely opposite in meaning to the point, but in a slightly different way. If the dot indicates the end of thought, then the question mark also requires an answer. In Russian, spoken language in accordance with this punctuation mark has a certain intonation and interrogative words. For example, as in the following case: “What is happening to her? How does she think? How does she feel? Does she want to test me, or really can’t forgive me? Can't she say everything that she thinks and feels, or doesn’t want? Has she softened is she or embittered? "
If the author at the end of the sentence does not put an end, but an exclamation mark, then this suggests that this statement is of great concern to him. Therefore, the use of an exclamation mark, according to the rules of punctuation, is fundamentally different from the use of periods, dots and question marks: “Farewell, my happiness, my short happiness!”
Comma
Putting a comma in the sentence, the author says that it is not yet completed, and there will be a continuation. The comma is opposed to a period and an ellipsis, because the sentence is not finished, and intentionally did not interrupt. Using commas, the parts of the sentence invented by the author are connected into a single whole. So this punctuation mark not only separates or highlights, but combines the words in the text within the meaning.
In addition, punctuation during the treatment is impossible without commas, for example: "Well, you, gentleman, your cylinder is not at all funny."
Semicolon
The next punctuation mark we will look at is a semicolon. To some extent, it is synonymous with a period and a comma, and in some measure is the opposite of each of them. Using a semicolon indicates that the author has finished the bulk of his thought, and the reader has something to think about, but this is not the end, and there will be a sequel. Here's how the Russian poet A.S. Pushkin uses a semicolon:
The royal sobbed
And went to an empty place
To the beautiful bride
View once more.
Here it goes; and rose
Before him is a steep mountain;
Around her, the country is empty;
Under the mountain is a dark entrance.
Also, a semicolon is often used instead of a semicolon if the parts of the sentence that it connects are too large and complex in structure.
Such examples quite often pop up in the texts of world classics: "In the Victorian era, they say, morality was above all; but, given how many children Queen Victoria had, it seems to us that someone is cunning."
Colon
The author uses this sign in cases where he intends to explain a message made earlier. In particular, before several homogeneous members of the sentence after the generalizing word: "The whole queen's morning attire: a veil, shoes and a bathrobe was presented in the museum." When the sentence does not contain unions, then it is recommended to put a colon before the second part if it supplements the first part or explains something. Also, a colon is used before a direct speech after the words of the author. For example: Finally, I told her: “Do you want to, let's go for a walk on the shaft?”
Which of the signs creates the greatest difficulties?
Dash is the most ambiguous punctuation mark. It is used when words are omitted in the sentence or it is not complete, that is, when the verb-connective "is", "be" and the like are missing. For example: “A fairy tale is a genre of folklore in which magic characters are involved, and magical events take place”, - either: “Lotus is a flower of rare beauty”, or: “A dash is a punctuation mark”. That is, here this punctuation mark stands between the subject and the predicate, which are expressed by nouns. A dash is placed before the generalizing word, which summarizes the previous listing by using homogeneous members. "Lotus, saffron, rose - these are all flowers that were considered sacred and very revered in ancient cultures in all corners of our planet." This punctuation mark is also set if the subject-noun is in the nominative case, and the predicate-verb is used in an indefinite form: "True heroism is to go and tell the truth in the face of a person."
It is possible and necessary to put a dash if both the subject and the predicate are expressed in verbs in an indefinite form: "To write correctly and without errors is to respect the one who will read your letter."
Many authors like to use the dash, namely its ambiguity in their work, turning this punctuation mark into the main means of punctuation.
But what about quotes and brackets?
Quotation marks are most often used in direct speech. They separate the author’s words from direct speech or quotation. Also, in this way, separate words are distinguished that do not fit the style of speech or are not very accurately selected. See for yourself: "The head of the party announced that the state is" moaning "under the oppression of criminals and" corrupt rulers "!" Quotation marks can emphasize the indirect meaning of words or the irony shown: "These" saviors of the Fatherland "will lead our country to trouble without much difficulty!"
The brackets highlight statements that carry not basic, but secondary information: "The rose (planted by me) will remind you of those happy times." Thus, punctuation in a sentence depends not only on strict rules, but also to some extent on the desire and intention of the author.
Unusual punctuation marks
Sometimes writers also use unusual punctuation marks, for example, a double comma, which highlights a certain part of a sentence. By the same principle, a dash can be used. In their meaning, the double comma and dash here act as brackets. And if the construction of the sentence can be highlighted with commas, then with the help of dashes they indicate the part of the sentence, which in terms of meaning is completely eliminated from the general text. Checking punctuation in this case will help you not to make a mistake and correctly interpret the meaning of the text as a whole.
If we talk about punctuation marks in general (not only in the sentence), then the paragraph paragraph (§), which is most often used in headings, frames and highlighted elements in headings, subparagraphs and titles in the text, can pretend to this place. Taking into account all the above rules, you can understand that spelling and punctuation is something that you can not spare time when writing any text. This is just an indicator of your education. We hope that in the article we answered the question of what punctuation is.