Review

Summarising Punctuation

When speaking in English we communicate using so much more than just words. Facial expressions, body language and gestures all allow us to emphasise certain ideas while downplaying others. We can also raise the volume of our voice, change our pitch, or pause to prepare our listener for a dramatic revelation.

None of this is possible in written English; at least, not without punctuation.

Punctuation allows us to dictate the flow and rhythm of our written expression. It enables us to show the connections between different ideas, and draw attention to important words or phrases in ways that our readers can recognise.

Punctuation is also much more satisfying to use when we know precisely how each mark works.

Too often we have employed a colon in place of an em dash, regular brackets instead of square brackets, or a comma instead of an ever-reliable full stop, leaving our reader confused or frustrated by the mess we have made.

No more.

Thanks to our newfound understanding of punctuation, we now have greater control over our written expression, allowing us to communicate ideas in more precise and meaningful ways.

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED:
Punctuation Guide