Punctuation

句號

句號 (period) 在英式英語中也稱為"full stop"，標誌著句子的結束。句號也用於表達縮寫、分隔整數和小數以及創建省略號（三個句點表示句子的某些部分缺失）。

Mr. Pirez was happy to be part of the new team.

I woke up at 6 a.m. on the dot.

They spent $76.37 in total.

Then he took the microphone, and we all know what happened next…

逗號

英語中的逗號將句子分隔成易於管理的部分。以下是使用逗號的不同方法。

分隔名詞、動詞和形容詞

She studied math, geography, history and political science that semester.

I will take almonds, pine nuts, Brazil nuts and macadamias please.

He was so happy he jumped, yelled and danced all the way home.

Yesterday I tripped, dropped my bag and cut my hand falling down the stairs.

My sister is a smart, funny, ambitious and generous person.

I was not impressed by the rusty, dirty and generally beat up car he had for sale.

分離獨立從句

We drove home, we did all of the laundry, after that we fell asleep.

I will go tomorrow, I might even get there early.

分隔非限制性從句

The party, which started at 7 p.m., was for her thirtieth birthday.

My grandma, who is Hungarian, loves to knit scarves for all of her grandchildren.

反問句

He left work at noon, didn't he?

We’ve been on the waitlist for months, haven't we?

感嘆詞

Wait, you don't have the tickets?

Hmm, this isn't exactly what I meant.

We're having ham for dinner, yes.

感嘆號

感嘆號用於表達驚訝、感叹或強調。

Oh my goodness!

You can't be serious!

Turn the music down right now!

問號

問號表示英語中的疑問詞、片語或子句。

Where are you going later?

Marc likes chicken, doesn't he?

Is my backpack in the backseat of your car?

You do?

冒號

冒號是位於列表或解釋之前的標點符號。

I chose five subjects to study this term: psychology, sociology, biology, chemistry and physics.

There were only two rules: keep your room clean and help out with the cooking.

I had one thing on my mind: how to make as much money as possible that summer.

分号

分號分隔長列表項並連接獨立從句。它們比逗號強，但不像句號那樣表示終結。

I hate doing laundry; all of the separating annoys me.

Many world landmarks, the Matsushima islands in northeastern Japan; the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy; the Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia; Yosemite National Park in the United States and Victoria Falls between Zambia and Zimbabwe, were still on his bucket list.

引號

當準確地寫下別人所說的話時，就需要使用引號。

He told me to "start acting like an adult or leave"!

In my opinion the most beautiful thing shakespeare ever wrote was "This above all: to thine ownself be true. And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."

I wasn't quite sure what she meant by "respectable clothes", so I wore this suit." %}

撇號

英語中撇號有兩種用途。一種撇號代表縮寫中缺少的字母：

He can't (cannot) come to work today, he's sick.

You shouldn't (should not) smoke in the hospital.

I'm (I am) running late!

撇號的另一個用途是表示所屬關係：

Miranda's purse was stolen from her car.

The school's front gate is locked.

The bus' window had been smashed in the storm.

The women's bathroom line up was very long.

連字符

連字符用於英語中的複合詞和分詞。

The ghost-like figure stood at the window.

My eight-year-old sister came first in the race.

One-fifth of the team had forgotten their hockey sticks.

She kept her computer up-to-date with the latest security software.

括號

括號的使用方式與逗號類似，它們可以顯示額外的訊息，但這些訊息對於句子的含義不一定是重要的。

Her bedroom (which was the biggest) had a huge window overlooking the lake.

I didn’t go to the party (I would have seen him if I did).

One-fifth of the team had forgotten their hockey sticks.

The car (a 2012 Subaru Outback) was filthy from the drive through the field.