Type: Portfolio

1.Capital letters (A) and full stops (.)
We use capital letters to mark the beginning of a sentence and we use full stops to mark the end of a sentence:
We went to France last summer. We were really surprised that it was so easy to travel on the motorways.
2.Question marks (?) and exclamation marks (!)
We use question marks to make clear that what is said is a question. When we use a question mark, we do not use a full stop. We use exclamation marks to indicate an exclamative clause or expression in informal writing. When we want to emphasise something in informal writing, we sometimes use more than one exclamation mark

• 
  Why do they make so many mistakes?
  
• 
  Oh no!!! Please don’t ask me to phone her. She’ll talk for hours!!!
  

3. Commas (,)
We use commas to separate a list of similar words or phrases. We use commas to separate words or phrases that mark where the voice would pause slightly.

• 
  We took bread, cheese, and fruit with us
  
• 
  I can’t tell you now. However, all will be revealed tomorrow at midday.
  

4.Colons (:) and semi-colons (;)
We use colons to introduce lists:
There are three main reasons for the success of the government: economic, social and political.
We also use colons to indicate a subtitle or to indicate a subdivision of a topic:
Life in Provence: A Personal View
We often use colons to introduce direct speech:
Then he said: ‘I really cannot help you in any way.’
We commonly use a colon between sentences when the second sentence explains or justifies the first sentence:
Try to keep your flat clean and tidy: it will sell more easily.
We use semi-colons instead of full stops to separate two main clauses. In such cases, the clauses are related in meaning but are separated grammatically:
Spanish is spoken throughout South America; in Brazil the main language is Portuguese.
Semi-colons are not commonly used in contemporary English. Full stops and commas are more common.