English Punctuation and Capitalisation — The Comma, Semicolon, Apostrophe and Capital-Letter Rules

The Marks Nobody Revises

Most candidates revise tenses twenty times and punctuation never. Examiners know this, which is why a punctuation item quietly sits in almost every English paper — and why it is among the cheapest marks available.

Punctuation is not decoration. It carries meaning:

• ›*Let's eat, Grandma.* — an invitation.
• ›*Let's eat Grandma.* — something else entirely.
• ›*The students, who had studied, passed.* — all of them studied, and all passed.
• ›*The students who had studied passed.* — only that group passed.

One comma changed the fact being stated. That is exactly the distinction papers test.

Four marks do almost all the work: the comma, the semicolon, the colon and the apostrophe. Add the capital letter, which is a punctuation decision in English even though it looks like spelling.

The next three cards give you every rule an exam has ever asked, with the sentence that proves it.

1. Which of the following sentences is correctly punctuated?

2. Which of the following is free of the comma-splice error?

3. Ravi has only one brother. Which sentence punctuates that fact correctly?

4. Which sentence uses the colon correctly?

5. A hostel houses many students. How should "the hostel of the students" be written?

6. In the sentence "we visited north india last winter", which words must begin with a capital letter?

7. Which sentence ends with the correct mark of punctuation?

8. A fruit seller wants to write a sign meaning that fresh mangoes are on sale. Which version is correct?