Punctuation

Punctuation is the use of spacing and punctuation marks as aids to making meaning in written texts. Common forms of punctuation are the full stop, the comma, the exclamation mark, the question mark, the colon and semi-colon, dashes, and capitalisation of letters. Punctuation helps to mark the boundaries between sentences, clauses, and phrases; mark the difference between a statement and a question; clarify ambiguous meanings; add emotional impact; and identify proper nouns. The verbal equivalent of punctuation is prosody, where intonation, pauses, stress and rhythm serve many of the same purposes.