English Punctuation Guide

Abbreviation

1. . full stop after a full sentence, do not put a space neither before full stop, or after one.
2. , comma has three functions: 第一种列举 seperate items in a list, e.g. This house has two bedrooms, a large living room, two bathrooms, and a terrace.(记住在最后两个事项之间加连词and） 第二种在连词前面加逗号 have a comma with certain conjunctions, including "and", "but", "so", and "or" 最后一种插入语，use a pair of commas to add non-essential information to your sentence.
3. : colons introduce exaples, explainnation, details, 可以举例子的时候用，不要总是用like，e.g. Rapid urbanisation has led to mutiple problems(general ideas): congestion, air pollution and a shortage of affordable housing for families(details).
4. ; semicolon 分号 using a semicolon shows that your idea before and after the semicolon are connected, and do not need a conjunction and linking phrases. In addition, some linking words, like however, can be used with a semicolon. e.g.1 He is so stubborn; it is impossible to convince him to change his idea even a little.(Two sentences both talk one idea: his stubborn character.) e.g.2(semicolons with however) I do not regret it; however, I would do things differently if had another chance.
5. ‘ aspostrophes one is 缩写比如I'm，or another is to show possesstion表示所属关系
6. - hyphens make compound words(made of two or more other words), like 复合形容词（six-hour）, 带数字的（six-year-old), 带前缀的（ex-, self-, and non-; ex-wife, self-control, and non-government), 前缀带数字或者名词(anti-violence, post-1950), 复合数字或者分数（twenty-three, three-quarters)
7. dash, "-" have a space both before and after "-", 增添补充成分相当于插入语，也就是双逗号，所以插入语用双逗号或者破折号根据个人习惯，在这里他建议插入语用破折号
8. ",' speech marks quoting what someone said 引用某人说的话， 引号前面可以用",",":"和什么都不用，只要前后保持一致就好。句号在引号的里面或者外面同样也不重要，只要保持前后一致就好。 单引号可以指代单词本省或者还可以表达讽刺，挖苦和怀疑的意思
9. （) parentheses, add some extra, non-essential information, 使用括号增加统计信息和数字是在图标写作中常用的添加数字的方式， e.g. The percentage of under-30s doing regular excercise was lower(45%) than that of people over 45(52%).
10. ? question marks 问题的结尾用问号
11. ！ exclamation marks 感叹号，最好不要用