-
Reference for group study of punctuation
marks
I. Comma
What does a comma indicate in a
sentence?
A pause within a sentence.
It Separates one part of a sentence
from another part.
Tips for
using comma
1.
In
a
compound
sentence,
a
comma
is
to
join
coordinate
clauses(
并列句，又叫
compound
sentences).
It is put before the conjunction(and, but, or,
for, so, nor,
yet)(
逗号和并列连词连用
).
Examples:
He asked the question in a loud voice,
but
no one answered.
We were tired,
and
we decided to have a
rest.
Come early,
or
you’ll miss the show.
She couldn’t go to the airport to meet
him,
nor
could she send
anyone in her stead.
It must have
rained last night,
for
the
ground is wet.
（注意
for
< br>作并列连词时表示原因）
He is an
eccentric boy,
yet
you can’t help liking him.
2. A comma is used after an
adverbial clause
（状语从句）
or phrase (including a prepositional
phrase
介词词组
and a participial
phrase
分词词组
) before the
subject of the sentence or in the
middle of the sentence.
Example:
When
the bell rang, the
teacher dismissed the class.
In the
ancient palace
, they saw the throne
where emperors used to sit.
Born and
brought up in the South
, she is not
used to eating wheat.
The audience,
interested in the topic
,
asked the speaker many questions.
2-b Omission: The comma is
often omitted
when an
adverbial element follows the main clause.
< br>（状语从句中主句在前，从句在后时，中间的逗号总是去掉的）
E.g. She decided to study English
although she was interested in music.
Although she
was interested in music, she finally decided to
study English.
3. Commas
are used to separate a series of words or phrases
having the same function in the
sentence.
E.g.: The little
girl likes to sing, to dance, and to act.
She buys bread, butter, vegetables, and
many other things from this supermarket.
（注意：英语中没有顿号。
）
4. Nonrestrictive clauses
（非限制性定语从句）
and phrases
（非限制性作定语的词组）
are set
off by commas:
Wang Ling,
who is the best singer of the class, will teach us
to sing the song.
He had to leave his
home town, where he had lived ever since he was
born.
4-a Restrictive clauses and phrases are
not set off by commas.
The young man
who is talking with the foreign reporters is the
inventor of the machine.
This is the
house where the famous poet was born.
Restrictive v.s. Nonrestrictive
< br>（区分限制性定语从句和非限制性定语从句）
限定性定
语从句与主句的关系很紧奏，对其先行词起限定、修饰的作用。如果将其去掉，会
影响句
子意思的完整性；有时甚至于引起费解、误解。
非限定性定语
从句在形式上就与主句很松散，它与主句之间有一个逗点
，
隔开；它对其先
行词没有限定、
修饰的作用，
只起补充、
说明的作用。
有时也用它来对全句进行补充、
说明。
即使将其去
掉，也不会影响句子意思。
5.
Commas set off parenthetical elements
（插
入成分
/
插入语）
.
Ex: Your work, I’m sorry to say, is not
satisfactory.
The doctor, in fact, has
done very little work.
6.
In dates, a comma is used to separate the day from
the year if the order is month-day-year. No
comma is used if the order is day-
month-year:
E.g. she was born on 24 May
1979/ May 24, 1979.
（
这里日和年都是数
字形式，
并且挨得很近，
自然需要逗号隔开才容易区分）
6-a When you use just the
month and the year, no comma is necessary after
the year:
The average temperatures
for July 1998 are the highest on record for that
month.
7. With numbers over 1.000,
commas are often used to separate digits by
thousands.
319,087
23,654,085
8.
Use
commas
to
set
off
all
geographical
names
（地点名称）
,
addresses
(except
the
street
number
门牌号
and
name).
（在写地址时各
个地点名称之间用逗号隔开会使人看得更清楚，
而门牌号是数字形式，因此没必要用逗号
区分。
）
e.g. 1.
Birmingham, Alabama, gets its name from
Birmingham, England.
2. Who lives at
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC?
Attention: do not join two sentences
with a comma only; such an error
is
called
run-on
sentences
or
a
comma
fault.(
see
examples
on
page
126)
Exercise: correct the
mistakes in the use of punctuation.
1.. We are studying and living at the famous
university
—
Beijing
University.
Correct: We are studying
and living at the famous university , Beijing
University.
汉语中的破折号标明行文中解释说
明的部分
,
而英文同位语也具有同等说明的功能
,
对于同位
语
,
英语一般使用逗点而不用破折号。
were
led into a nearest fabric shop that was divided
into two parts.
Correct:We
were led into a nearest fabric shop , which was
divided into two parts.
从句意
来看
,
上句是一个非限制性定语从句
,
故应在
shop
后加逗点
,
把
that
相应改成
which
will go there , if it is fine
tomorrow.
Correct: If it is
fine tomorrow , we will go there.
或
We will go there if it is
fine tomorrow.
thought
what the teacher pointed out was right , however
,she
didn’t
care for that .
Correct:She thought what
the teacher pointed out was right however , she
didn
’
t
care for
that .
或
She thought what the
teacher pointed out was right . however , she
didn
’
t care for that .
或
She
thought what the teacher pointed out was right ,
but she
didn’t
care for that
.
有些起连系作用的副词，
如
however, therefore, hence,
nevertheless, moreover, thus, otherwise,
besides
等等，通常与分号连用表示前后两个分句有密切的联系。
are many great heroes in
Chinese history
，
for example,
YueFei, ect.
Correct: There are many
great heroes in Chinese history; for example,
YueFei, ect.
由
for example,
for instance, namely, that is(to say), in fact,
i.e., e.g.
等词语引出的分句之前一
般用分号，而
不用逗号。
for using periods
period is used at the end of a
Declarative
sentences(
陈述句
)
Mildly imperative
sentences
（语气缓和的祈使句）
Indirect
questions
（间接问句）
(See examples on the textbook.)
period is used with most abbreviations
（
缩略形式）
, but in
current usage the period is often
dropped
from
abbreviations
especially
for
names
of
an
organization,
a
news
agency
and
a
broadcasting corporation.
UN
UNESCO
NATO
BBC
YMCA
CONSULT DIC
TIONARY
！
（如果不确定某些词的缩略形式是否有句点，
可网络搜索或查字典）
periods together
is called the ellipsis
mark
（省略号）
, 1) indicating the
omission of one or
more
words
within
a
quoted
passage;
2)
showing
a
pause
in
conversation
or
faltering
speech
（
hesitation,
pause
）
.
E.g. “What do you mean?”
“I
mean… well, I mean you needn’t be involved in
it.”
Max wrote
,“...in
one word
,man’s
consciousness ,
changes with every change
in the
conditions of his material
existence....”
（句末四个点怎么回事？）
III.
Tips for using semicolon
The
semicolon is used to mark the
connection of closely related sentences
（看到分号即可
.
知分号前后两个分句
是关系密切的，如果用句点则表示没有密切关系，句点表明
the end of
the meaning
）
(1) No one is born with
knowledge; knowledge must be taught and learned.
(2) No one is born with
knowledge. Knowledge must be taught and learned.
semicolon is used between two
coordinate clauses not linked by a conjunction(
and, but, or,
nor, for, so, yet)
No one is born with knowledge, so
knowledge must be taught and learned.
No one is born with knowledge;
knowledge must be taught and learned.
2.
Conjunctive
ad
verbs(
联系副词：词性属副词而非连词，但是表达某种关系
)
like
however,
therefore, hence, nevertheless,
moreover, thus, otherwise, besides, etc., should
be preceded by a
semicolon, not a comma
.
（关系副词和分号是最佳搭档，分号表明前后有密切关系，而紧跟
其后的关系副词表明确切的关系。
）
用于由某些起连接功能的表达连接的独立分句之间，这些起连接功能的表达还包括：
accordingly
，
finally
，
likewise
，
simil
arly
，
instead
，
after all
，
even
so
，
in
fact
，
in
addition
，
at the
same time
等等；
3. The semicolon is used with
conjunctions when the clauses have internal
punctuation
：
1
）
Unfortunately,
Wang couldn
’
t come; and his
absence made things difficult for us.
2
）
Before he came,
we had expected him to help us; but when he was
with us, he didn
’
t do
much.
4. The semicolon is
used to separate a series of items which contain
internal commas(
在句子中
如果已经使用过逗
点，为了避免歧义的产生，就用分号来分隔相似的内容。
)
The employees
were Tom Hanks, the manager; Jim White, the
engineer; and Dr. Jack Lee.
5. A semicolon may join a clause with a
word or words omitted;
(1) Five students from Class
Ⅲ
won prizes in
the competition; two from Class
Ⅰ
; none
from
Class
Ⅱ
.
(2) There are four Nobel Prize winners
in their university; none in our university.
The omission is sometimes indicated by
a comma:
(1
)
Five students from Class
Ⅲ
won prizes in
the competition; two, from Class
Ⅰ
; none,
from
Class
Ⅱ
.
(2)
There are
four Nobel Prize winners in their university; in
our university, none.
IV
TheColon(:)
1. The colon is
used to introduce:
1) an explanation
2) a summary
2. introduce a quotation or
a statement
冒号用于一个正式的引用之前。如果是引用比较正式
的发言讲话就要用冒号，一般情况下就用逗点。
e.g. My grandpa often mentions one
saying by Confucius: “To say you know when you
know, a
nd
to say you do not
when you do not, that is knowledge.
3. The colon is
used to
1) separate the
hour from the minute
10:45
2)
mark the scores of games
3:2
3) end the salutation of a
letter Dear Mr. Brown:
(
美国英语中，信件或演说词的称呼语之后用冒号，而在英国英语中
多用逗号。
)
4)
end the introductory remark in a speech
Ladies and gentlemen:
V. The
Question Mark (?)
1. The question mark
is used after a direct question
(even in quotation marks) :
He asked, “Did
you hand in
your
paper?”
2. The
question mark is used when a declarative or an
imperative sentence is converted into a
question:
You cleaned the
room this morning?
Five
yuan is enough?
Pay ten
yuan?
3. A question mark
within parentheses indicates the writer's
uncertainty about the correctness of
the preceding word, figure, or date:
The author of this strange
book was born in 1078 (?) and died in 1135.
Ⅵ
. The
Exclamation Mark(!)