Accurate punctuation makes your meaning clear to the reader, and is essential to good writing.
1. Don't be afraid of the rules. If you're not confident in this area you can certainly improve. The main purpose of punctuation is to ensure that your sentences are clear and that your writing says what you want it to say. It is therefore worth taking the time to get it right.
Full stops: Sentences should start with a capital letter and end with a full stop. Doing this consistently makes it much easier for your reader. If you tend to write long sentences that run on, read this BBC Bitesize advice on full stops.
Commas separate clauses within a sentence, and items in a list. Commas are often used when a full-stop is required. Read more about commas and how to use them here.
Apostrophes can do two jobs: they demonstrate possession and they show when letters have been omitted / left out.
The cat's fur is soft' is an example of a possessive apostrophe.
'I can't go out tonight' is an example of an apostrophe indicating omission - the full version would be can not: the apostrophe replaces the 'no' that is left out.
Read more about apostrophes here.
Apostrophe tip: you are likely to only need apostrophes to indicate possession in an academic essay. Use of contractions is not accepted in academic writing!
2. Not sure if you need to improve? Working with new punctuation marks in order to enhance your academic work? Try a punctuation quiz from a credible source to check your understanding.
3. When checking the punctuation in your work, read your draft aloud at a steady speed (don't race). This should help you to identify any errors in your punctuation or sentence construction. For example, incomplete or overly long sentences are often more obvious when read aloud. You may also wish to use an online text read or other digital tools so that you can listen to your work.
4. There are many resources available to help you if you feel this is an area of your writing that needs improvement. For example, this English Punctuation Guide from Oxford Online English (below) covers the most common punctuation that you will need to use, and how to use them.
