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‹Better GutenbergMcGuffey’s Eclectic Spelling BookLesson 248 — Of Characters Used in Punctuation · 181 of 182Contents›

McGuffey’s Eclectic Spelling Book

by Alexander H. McGuffey

181 of 182 · Contents · Download EPUB

Lesson 248 Of Characters Used in Punctuation

A Comma [, ] denotes the slightest degree of separation between the elements of a sentence.

A Semicolon [; ] denotes a degree of separation somewhat greater than that indicated by a comma.

A Colon [:] marks a still greater degree of separation than a semicolon.

A Period [.] usually indicates the close of a sentence.

The Interrogation Point [?] is used at the end of a question.

The Exclamation Point [!] denotes astonishment or other emotion.

A Hyphen [ - ] is used to join words or syllables.

A Dash [-] marks a sudden break or stop in a sentence.

A Parenthesis [( )] includes words which might be left out without injuring the sense.

Brackets inclose words, etc., intended to explain or rectify what precedes or follows.

An Apostrophe [‘] indicates the omission of one or more letters; or denotes the possessive case.

Quotation Marks [“ “] show that the passage included, is taken from some other author.

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