Punctuation can sometimes seem a little cloudy. These guides can help clear things up.
Commas
What is it about this little guy that drives people crazy? The comma is such a useful tool in a writer’s arsenal of punctuation marks, but knowing when to use it and when to lose it can try anyone’s patience.
When learning to use the comma correctly, people invariably either use it too little or too much. That’s why I compiled comma rules into a comma guide and created the comma flow chart—to help writers, like yourself, out.
Semicolons
The semicolon has a couple of basic uses but is often misused where a comma or colon belongs.
The best way to remember its main purpose is to know that it cannot be used to separate unequal parts of a sentence (for instance, an independent clause from a dependent clause).
Colons
The colon can be used after an independent clause to draw the reader’s attention to the list, appositive, or quotation that follows.
Use a colon only if it is preceded by an independent clause.
Hyphens & Dashes
Hyphens and dashes (en dashes and em dashes) are often mistakenly used interchangeably. This handy guide will help you determine which to use in your sentence.