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Punctuation made easy

Full stops, commas, question marks, apostrophes and speech marks make writing clear. Learn when to use each one.

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Let us begin

The big idea

Punctuation marks are the road signs of writing. They tell the reader when to stop, pause, wonder or listen to someone speak. With the right marks, your writing becomes easy to read.

Use a capital letter at the start of a sentence, for names of people and places, for the days and months, and for the word I. Use a full stop (.) at the end of a telling sentence. Use a question mark (?) at the end of a question and an exclamation mark (!) to show strong feeling or surprise.

A comma (,) separates the items in a list: I bought apples, bananas and grapes. It also marks a short pause, for example after words like first or however at the start of a sentence.

An apostrophe (') has two jobs. It shows that something belongs to someone: Ria's bag. It also shows that letters are missing in a short form: don't is do not, it's is it is, we're is we are.

Speech marks (inverted commas) go around the exact words a person speaks. The first spoken word starts with a capital letter, and the mark that ends the speech goes inside the closing speech mark.

Six punctuation marksA table has six rows. Each row shows a mark, its name and its job: full stop, comma, question mark, exclamation mark, apostrophe and speech marks. . full stop ends a telling sentence , comma separates items in a list ? question mark ends a question ! exclamation mark shows strong feeling ' apostrophe belonging, or a short form " " speech marks go around spoken words
Each mark has its own job in a sentence.

Worked examples

See how it works

  1. Full stop and question mark

    Ria has a new bag. (a telling sentence, so a full stop) Where did she buy it? (a question, so a question mark)

  2. Commas in a list

    I bought apples, bananas and grapes. The commas keep the items apart. There is no comma before the and.

  3. Apostrophes

    Ria's bag is red. (the bag belongs to Ria) We don't have school today. (don't is short for do not)

  4. Speech marks

    Mum said, “Come and eat.” The words Mum spoke are inside the speech marks. Come starts with a capital letter and the full stop is inside the speech marks.

Try it at home

Punctuation detective

You will need

  • A page from a story book or a newspaper
  • Pencil
  • Coloured pens

What to do

  1. Choose one page of writing.
  2. Circle every full stop in blue.
  3. Circle every comma in red and every question mark in green.
  4. Find any apostrophes and write down whether each one shows belonging or a short form.
  5. Find a sentence with speech marks and copy it into your notebook.
  6. Write three sentences of your own that use at least three different marks.

Ask a grown-up: Choose a page together. A grown-up can check your answers.

Practice sheet

Check what you learned

Write your answers in a notebook, or print this sheet and write on it. When you finish, mark your work with the answer key.

Practice sheet: Punctuation made easy (Classes 6-8, English)

  1. Which mark do we put at the end of a question?
  2. Add the correct end mark: Do you like mangoes
  3. Add the correct end mark to show surprise: Wow, what a lovely painting
  4. Rewrite with correct capital letters: we visited agra in december.
  5. Add commas: I bought pencils erasers and a ruler.
  6. Write the short form of do not.
  7. Write with an apostrophe: the bag belonging to Ria.
  8. What does it's stand for in the sentence It's raining?
  9. Punctuate this sentence: mum said come here
  10. Rewrite correctly: Whats your name
  11. Write your own sentence that ends with a question mark.

Answer key

Answers: Punctuation made easy

Do the practice sheet first, then check here. If an answer is different from yours, read the lesson again and try once more.

  1. A question mark (?).
  2. Do you like mangoes?
  3. Wow, what a lovely painting!
  4. We visited Agra in December.
  5. I bought pencils, erasers and a ruler.
  6. don't.
  7. Ria's bag.
  8. It is.
  9. Mum said, “Come here.”
  10. What's your name?
  11. Any question, for example: Where is my book?

What next

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English for classes 6 to 8

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