16. Punctuation




Punctuation in Reading Comprehension

Punctuation may appear in reading comprehension tests as:

  • direct testing – you may be asked to find the sentence with the correct punctuation.
  • indirect testing – you may be asked to find the meaning of a sentence or the tone of a sentence where punctuation may have a heavy bearing.

Punctuation helps the reader to understand a sentence through visual means other than just the letters of the alphabet.

English punctuation has always had two complementary aspects: how the sentence can be read aloud, particularly to pausing; and on the other hand, grammatical punctuation linked to the structure of the sentence.

Here is punctuation you should know for your exam

Punctuation you should know for your exam

  • Full stop - serves multiple purposes. As the full stop, it is used to mark the end of a sentence. It is also used, as the full point, to indicate abbreviation, including of names as initials.
  • Comma - The comma ( , ) is used to disambiguate the meaning of sentences, by providing boundaries between clauses and phrases. For example, "Man, without his cell phone, is nothing" (emphasizing the importance of cell phone) and "Man: without, his cell phone is nothing" (emphasizing the importance of men) have greatly different meanings, as do "eats shoots and leaves" (to mean "consumes plant growths") and "eats, shoots and leaves" (to mean "eats firstly, fires a weapon secondly, and leaves the scene thirdly").[10] The comma is also used to separate numbers. For example, “January 7, 1985” and “2,000”.
  • Double quotation mark - Quotation marks ( ‘...’, “...”, '...', "..." ) are used to mark quotation.
  • Apostrophe - used to mark possession as in "John's book", and to mark letters omitted in contractions, such as you're for you are.
  • Hyphen - The dash ( ‒, –, —, ― ) and hyphen or hyphen-minus ( ‐ ) is used: (1) as a line continuation when a word is broken across two lines; (2) to apply a prefix to a word for which there is no canonical compound word; (3) as a replacement for a comma, when the subsequent clause significantly shifts the primary focus of the preceding text.
  • Question mark - The question mark ( ? ) is used to mark the end of a sentence which is a question.
  • Colon - The colon ( : ) is used to start an enumeration, as in Her apartment needed a few things: a toaster, a new lamp, and a nice rug. It is used between two clauses when the second clause clarifies the first, as in I can barely keep my eyes open: I hardly got a wink of sleep. It is also used between two clauses when the second clause describes the object of the first clause, as in Bob gave me a slice of the worst pizza I ever had: anchovies, pineapple and olives.
  • Exclamation mark - The exclamation mark ( ! ) is used to mark an exclamation.
  • Semicolon - The semicolon ( ; ) is used to separate two independent but related clauses: My wife would like tea; I would prefer coffee. The semicolon is also used to separate list items when the list items contain commas: "She saw three men: Jamie, who came from New Zealand; John, the milkman's son; and George, a gaunt kind of man."
  • Ellipsis - An ellipsis ( ..., …, . . . ) is used to mark omitted text. Used often to show uncertainty or ‘trailing off’.
  • Slash – often used to indicate alternatives, such as "his/her", or two equivalent meanings or spellings, such as "grey/gray". The slash is used in certain set phrases, such as the conjunction "and/or".

While knowing punctuation is great, it’s important to see it applied.

Let's look at these types of questions in the examples below. We'll also put into practice the approach to answering questions learnt in previous checkpoints.

Example Question/s

Watch video for explanation of the following question/s:

1 Which one is more open-ended?

I'm heading out to school now.
I'm heading out to school now

2 Which one demonstrates a lighter tone, excitement or interest?

Sounds good. Not sure if we're going but I might see you at school. If you leave, let me know

Sounds good. Not sure if we're going but I might see you at school. If you leave, let me know!

3 Analyse the punctuation below.

"Hello, Nick," said Harry.

"Hello, hello," said Nearly Headless Nick, starting and looking round. He wore a dashing, plumed hat on his long curly hair, and a tunic with a ruff, which concealed the fact that his neck was almost completely severed. He was pale as smoke, and Harry could see right through him to the dark sky and torrential rain outside.

"You look troubled, young Potter," said Nick, folding a transparent letter as he spoke and tucking it inside his doublet.

"So do you," said Harry.

"Ah," Nearly Headless Nick waved an elegant hand, "a matter of no importance. . . . It's not as though I really wanted to join. . . . Thought I'd apply, but apparently I 'don't fulfill requirements' -"

In spite of his airy tone, there was a look of great bitterness on his face.

"But you would think, wouldn't you," he erupted suddenly, pulling the letter back out of his pocket, "that getting hit forty-five times in the neck with a blunt axe would qualify you to join the Headless Hunt?"

"Oh - yes," said Harry, who was obviously supposed to agree.

"I mean, nobody wishes more than I do that it had all been quick and clean, and my head had come off properly, I mean, it would have saved me a great deal of pain and ridicule. However -" Nearly Headless Nick shook his letter open and read furiously: "'We can only accept huntsmen whose heads have parted company with their bodies. You will appreciate that it would be impossible otherwise for members to participate in hunt activities such as Horseback Head-Juggling and Head Polo. It is with the greatest regret, therefore, that I must inform you that you do not fulfill our requirements. With very best wishes, Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore.'"

Extract from Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) by J.K. (Joanne) Rowling.

Key Rules to remember

  • Punctuation has two main purposes: for speech (pausing) and sentence structure.
  • Punctuation can create tone e.g. finality, excitement, hesitation.
  • Know the common punctuation (listed in this checkpoint).

Practice time!

Now, it's your turn to practice.

Click on the button below and start your practice questions. We recommend doing untimed mode first, and then, when you're ready, do timed mode.

Every question has two solutions videos after you complete the question. The first is a quick 60 second video that shows you how our expert answers the question quickly. The second video is a more in-depth 5-steps or less explainer video that shows you the steps to take to answer the question. It's really important that you review the second video because that's where you'll learn additional tips and tricks.

Once you're done with the practice questions, move on to the next checkpoint.

Now, let’s get started on your practice questions.


10 questions

Take a Timed Test Take an Untimed Test

Next checkpoint
<< Back to table of contents

Have A Question?

Get in touch!