Aside from the usual spelling and grammar mistakes I unintentionally do when writing, I often incur punctuation mistakes too. Listed below are common punctuation mistakes which I often encounter.
1. The abused apostrophe
Apostrophes while simple in form confuse many of its users. It would help to always remember that punctuation rules for an apostrophe first is to imply ownership; second is to turn possessive noun words that commonly end in “s” into their plural form by adding an apostrophe after the letter “s”; and to abbreviate the word “is”.
Example:
It is my sister’s car.
My sisters’ own that car.
It’s a grand party. (The word “is” has been shortened making it “‘s”)
2. The chronic exclamation mark (!)
An …show more content…
You don’t know what you are doing!
3. The pervasive comma
Commas are the most common punctuations marks aside from periods. The standard punctuation rules for commas are: to segregate words or divide a group of succeeding words in a given sentence and to isolate two identical adjectives or any contrasting clauses and phrases.
Example: The supplies went to Nancy, Jim, Charlie, and the office.
4. The out-of-place semicolon
Common punctuation mistakes include semicolons, which are often confused with commas. Semicolons are used to segregate two independent clauses and a series of succeeding commas in a …show more content…
Although the history of punctuation shows how punctuations came into modern form, punctuation rules are often regarded as unconventional, which is why using a punctuation checker to check my punctuation is a must.
Let’s take a look below to know more about the history of punctuation.
Humble Beginning of Punctuations
Punctuations started from the oratory that has its ties with the classical rhetoric art. Back then, when speech was used to do writing, symbols were used to guide speakers when they should pause, where they must stop and how long their pauses should be.
The pauses were termed based on the sections they separated. Longest pauses were called period, whereas the shortest pauses were called comma, and in between the period and comma is the colon.
Identifying the Marks or Symbols by Beat
The period, colon and comma were graded according to geometric progression. One beat indicates a comma, two beats imply a colon and four beats to signify a period. The marks along with their beats are physically essential in the scripts or oratory. However, they are also necessary for the phrasing and emphasis of