Category: IELTS Vocabulary

THE SEMICOLON

Semicolon represents a pause of greater importance as compared to comma.

1. Used to separate the clauses of compound statements when they contain comma.
   For example-: he was intelligent, strong; and we all loved him.
2. Used to separate a loosely connected clauses.
   For example-: Today we love what tomorrow we hate; today we seek what tomorrow we shun; today we desire what tomorrow we fear.

COLON

Colon marks a more complete pause when compared to semi colon. It is used after dash sometimes.

1. Colon is used to introduce quotation.
   For example-: she says:-“ reading is a good habit”.
2. Colon is used after enumerations, examples, etc;
   For example-: the principal parts of verb are : the present tense, the past tense and the past participle.
3. Colon is also used within sentences which are closely connected but are independent.
   For example-: study to acquire a habit of thinking: no study is more important.

QUESTION MARK

Question mark is used after a direct question,
For example-: Where have you been?

EXCLAMATION MARK

Exclamation mark is used after interjection or phrases or sentences showing sudden emotions.
For example-: what a terrible day this is!

INVERTED COMMAS

Inverted commas are used to enclose the exact words of a person.
For example-: Rama said,” You must work hard.”

DASH

1. Dash is used to indicate an abrupt stop or change of thought.
   For example-: I wish we were together- but why lament the past?
2. Dash is also used to resume a scattered subject.
   For example-: teachers, friends and enemies- all present here.

THE HYPHEN

Hyphen is a shorter line than dash and is used to connect parts of compound words.
For example-: man-of-war, jack-of-all-trades

PARENTHESES

Parentheses is used to put a particular phrase that may not grammatically fit in the sentence but is added because it adds more information.
For example-: She got the admissions( it was all she wished) in Harvard business school.

APOSTROPHE

1. It is used to show the omission of letters,
   For example-: don’t  do not
2. It is used to form the plurals of letters and figures.
   For example-: they make sure you dot your i’s and cross your t’s.

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Punctuation often neglected are the most important part of writing task in IELTS. It is very important that you have the punctuation marked correctly.
Punctuation means to use the points and stops in writing correctly. The principal stops are-:

1. Full stop (.)
2. Comma (,)
3. Semicolon (;)
4. Colon (:)
5. Question mark (?)
6. Exclamation mark (!)

There are some other marks as well, that are commonly used.

1. Dash (-)
2. Parentheses ()
3. Inverted commas or quotation marks (‘ ’)

FULL STOP

Full stop represent the longest pause.

1. It marks the end of an imperative or declarative sentence.
   For example-: Bombay is a big city.
2. It is used after abbreviations and initials.
   For example-: M.A , Mr. A.S. Rathore
   However, in modern English, they are often omitted.

COMMA

Comma represents the shortest pause. It is used in various cases.

1. It is used to separate a series of words of the same construction.
   For example-: It was long, exciting and lovely day.
   I bought a pen, paper, pencil and sharpener from him.
   NOTE-: comma is not used before the word and.
2. It is used to separate words connected by and.
   For instance-: pen and paper, high and low, rich and poor, are all in your mind.
3. Comma is not used after a nominative absolute.
   For example-: This done, she came back to house.
   The weather being favorable, Alexander sailed further.
4. Comma is used to mark off a noun or phrase in apposition ( the use of noun phrase immediately after another noun phrase that refers to the same person or thing).
   For example-: Mahatma Gandhi, the father of nation, died soon after independence.
   Milton, the great English poet, was blind.
5. Comma is also used to mark off words used in addressing people. For example-:
   How are you, Anmol?
   Come in the room, Paris.
6. Comma is used to separate an adverbial clause from its parent clause.
   For example-: when she was the president, she made sure that everything in office is in order.
   Although this comma is omitted if the principal clause comes first.
   For example-: she made sure that everything is in order when she was the president.
7. They are often used to mark off the direct quotation from the rest of the sentence.
   For example-: “I want the work done”, said the teacher.
8. Comma is used to avoid repetition of words.
   For example-: Anmol is a kumaoni; Arthur, a Christian.
9. Comma is used to separate short coordinate clauses of a compound sentence.
   For example-: I came, I saw, I conquered.

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