PUNCTUATION MARK


Meaning of PUNCTUATION MARK in English

ˌpunctuˈation mark BrE AmE noun [countable]

a sign, such as a ↑ comma or ↑ question mark , used to divide a piece of writing into sentences, phrases etc

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THESAURUS

■ types of punctuation mark

▪ apostrophe the sign ' that is used to show that one or more letters or numbers have been left out, as in don’t , or used before ‘s’ to show that something belongs to someone or something, as in Mark’s dog

▪ brackets British English , parentheses AmE and BrE formal a pair of signs used for enclosing information that interrupts a sentence

▪ colon the sign : that is used to introduce an explanation, example, quotation etc

▪ semicolon the sign ; that is used to separate words in a list, or different parts of a sentence that can be understood separately

▪ comma the sign , that is used to separate things in a list, or between two clauses in a sentence

▪ hyphen the sign – that is used to join words or syllables

▪ dash the sign — that is used to separate two closely related parts of a sentence, especially in more informal English

▪ full stop British English , period American English the sign . that is used to mark the end of a sentence or the short form of a word

▪ exclamation mark British English , exclamation point American English the sign ! that is used after a sentence or word that expresses surprise, anger, or excitement

▪ question mark the sign ? that is used at the end of a question

▪ quotation marks ( also inverted commas British English ) a pair of signs ‘ and ’ that are put around words, especially to show that you are quoting what someone has said

■ other marks used in writing

▪ angle brackets British English a pair of signs <> used for enclosing information

▪ slash a line / that is used to separate words, numbers, or letters

▪ backslash a line that is used to separate words, numbers, or letters

▪ asterisk the sign * that is used especially to mark something interesting or important

▪ at sign the sign @ that is used especially in email addresses

▪ ampersand the sign & that means ‘and’

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.