All sections
Foundations
The verb system
Describing and connecting
- 09 Adjectives and adverbs
- 10 Prepositions
- 11 Conjunctions
- 12 Building longer sentences
- 13 Punctuation and capital letters
Words and sounds
Practice and progress
13Core
Punctuation and capital letters
Punctuation is not decoration. A missing full stop or a missing capital is a marked error in every written exam, and it is the easiest error in this course to stop making.
| Mark | Name | What it does | Example | Urdu |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | Full stop | Ends a statement. | I live in Lahore. | وقفہ تمام |
| ? | Question mark | Ends a question. | Where do you live? | سوالیہ نشان |
| ! | Exclamation mark | Shows strong feeling. Use it rarely in formal writing. | What a surprise! | علامتِ استعجاب |
| , | Comma | Separates items in a list, marks off an opening clause, and goes before and/but/so when they join two full sentences. | I bought rice, oil and sugar. Because it was late, we left. | وقفہ |
| ; | Semicolon | Joins two closely related full sentences without a conjunction. | The test was hard; I still passed. | نیم وقفہ |
| : | Colon | Introduces a list or an explanation. | You need three things: a passport, a photo and the fee. | نقطتین |
| ' | Apostrophe | Shows possession, or a missing letter. | Ali's book. It's raining (= it is). | علامتِ حذف |
| " " | Quotation marks | Show somebody's exact words. | She said, "I am ready." | واوین |
| ( ) | Brackets | Add extra information that is not essential. | The fee (about Rs 5,000) is due today. | قوسین |
| - | Hyphen | Joins two words acting as one adjective. | a well-known teacher, a five-year plan | خط ربط |
When you must use a capital letter
- The first word of every sentence: The class starts at nine.
- The pronoun I, always, anywhere in the sentence.
- Names of people and places: Ali, Lahore, Pakistan, MM Alam Road.
- Countries, nationalities and languages: Pakistani, Urdu, English.
- Days and months, but not seasons: Monday, August, but summer.
- Titles of books, films and courses: English Fundamentals.
- Organisations and universities: the University of Manchester.
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| i went to lahore on monday. | I went to Lahore on Monday. | I, a place name and a day all take capitals. |
| He said that "he was tired". | He said that he was tired. | Do not mix reported speech with quotation marks. |
| Its raining. | It's raining. | It's = it is. Its = belonging to it. |
| The students books are here. | The students' books are here. | A plural already ending in s takes the apostrophe after the s. |
Check yourself
Punctuate and capitalise.
- i met ali in lahore on monday
Show the answer
I met Ali in Lahore on Monday.
- she asked where do you live
Show the answer
She asked where I live. / She asked, "Where do you live?"
- we need three things a passport a photo and the fee
Show the answer
We need three things: a passport, a photo and the fee.
- my brothers car is new (one brother)
Show the answer
My brother's car is new.
- the students books are on the shelf (many students)
Show the answer
The students' books are on the shelf.
- Fix: Its a long journey and its raining.
Show the answer
It's a long journey and it's raining.