Following our last lesson on punctuation under the Writing Pro agenda, this lesson is recommended to second the part 1 lesson on punctuations.
Now, we will be dealing with other punctuations like:
Question mark (?),
Exclamatory mark (!),
The caret (^),
The apostrophe ('),
The quotations (',)/(",,); and
Virgule, Stroke/Slash (/)
For perfect exemplification and clarification, we will take the punctuations one after the other. What are they called? How are they used? If such are your questions, don't worry because you will understand everything about them now.
The question mark is usually used in interrogative statements, that is, after statements that ask questions. Ex.: what is your name?
Exclamatory mark is used in exclamations or exclamatory statements to indicate surprise, irritation or excitement. Ex.: are you still here! Wow! What a day! What the fuck!. Although, those examples may seem questions to you, esp., example 1 yet, you must know that they aren't at all. Firstly, questions are usually directed to a person or some people; the 2nd, 3rd and 4th example didn't follow that rule of reference. The 1st example, which seems very interrogative is also actually exclamation because in that regard, the speaker isn't asking any question but rather surprised that the person who the speaker believes to have left is still at that spot.
The Caret, a funny name as some believe it to be, has been used unconsciously by many but they believe it is just a local coinage. Some don't know it to be a proper punctuation that is actually recognised. An example of caret in action is below:
isn't
George^a man enough. Here, a caret is used to indicate a word missed out but which has been written above.
The Apostrophe can be used to express possession and to contract words. See the difference in the two words: it's and its. A lot of people get confused with the use of the possessive its and the contracted it's. You can use apostrophe to show that someone owns something, as in: Lassie's hall. Johns' house. James'/James's car. In example 1, Lassie is one person and he owns the hall. In 2, that house belongs to everyone bearing John or every member of John's family. But example 3 is different. The structure of the name ends in a final "S" so it's either James' car or James's car. You can also write or say ...else' pen or ...else's pen. Meanwhile, the possessive form of an animal or a lifeless thing is generally its, nothing more.
Touch its tail. √
Don't touch it's tail. ×.
Say: A child's bicycle. Children's anniversary. Note: children is plural already. Moreover, it can be used for contraction as stated. Contraction is a grammatical technique that makes two words run together in a single voice carriage. Ex.: she isn't(= is not) a good man. We weren't (=were not) there.
It's a tail√
Its a tail×
The use of the animal and lifeless pronoun above, as you have seen, is wrong without the apostrophe, contrary to the first use of the same pronoun. It is because, now, it has been used in another sense which is no longer possessive but contractive. It's (= it is) tail.
The next in line is the quotations. They are just like the apostrophe. They are either single (',) or double (",,). You just have to be consistent about the one you choose to use. Once you open the quote with the single version, close it with the same and vice-versa. You can use the quotations to quote direct words of a scholar or friend, esp., when writing direct speech.
Examples: "all won are done. Joy's soul lies in the doing". Shakespeare.
Santana said "I want cucumber". The first example is a non-paraphrased direct words of the medieval playwright, William Shakespeare while the other is the direct words of someone written in the direct speech grammatical form. (You may look up our lessons on direct and indirect speech) An apostrophe can also be used to quote reference. Ex.: ...because "because" is a conjunction, we are free to use it as a linking word when it comes to reason. Did you see how a reference is made to the word "because" in that analytical statement? Even though the word had been used before, the quotation still helped in deciding what the second because really was.
Virgule (/) is a punctuation that is used to mean alternative. It is used in the stead of "or". Ex.: call the FBI/Army if the situation runs out of hand.
It can also be used in typing a website address, as in: http://lingualcommand.blogspot.com. The double virgule/slash can also be used to show positions of caesura in poetry. I//Okigbo// the town crier// with my bell and gong... an excerpt from an African poet's poem, Christopher Okigbo's Path Of Thunder. The use of the double slash tells you the quick rest (caesura) in the lines. You may reread the lines and notice for yourself, how rest's necessitated.
In conclusion, this second part of the punctuation lesson isn't exhaustive so a third part which contains the rest, such as: parentheses/round brackets, ellipsis and underscore is posted.