Punctuation marks are different signs of stops used for the purpose of dividing or separating sentences or words/groups of words in a sentence. The following are the marks of punctuation:
1. The full stop (.)
2. The comma (,)
3. The semi-colon (;)
4. The colon (:)
5. The note of interrogation (?)
6. The note of exclamation (!)
7. The apostrophe (')
8. Inverted commas (' ') (for quotations)
9. The dash (-)
10. The brackets ()
11. The hyphen (:-)
12. The capital letters (L)
The full stop is denoted by "."
(i) It marks the end of a sentence and separates one sentence from the other.
I live in Calcutta (.) it is a beautiful city.
(ii) It is also used to mark the abbreviation and initials.
M.A, P.T.L, Mr.L.M. Thapar
The comma "," is a punctuation mark that represents the shortest pause. Its main uses in sentence are as follows:
(i) It is used between three or more words of the same parts of speech. But the last two are connected by 'and'.
Ram, Laxman and Sita went to an exile. (Nouns)
The man is honest, sincere and hard-working. (Adjectives)
(ii) It is used before and after the person/persons, addressed:
Today I shall come back late, Mother.
Ladies, gentlemen, teachers, we have assembled here today to discuss some major problems of the school.
(iii) It is used to separate words of the same class or rank that go together in pairs.
By night or by day, at home or abroad, asleep or awake, his behavior always remains a matter of great concern for his father.
(iv) It is used to mark off a Noun, Noun Phrase, or Non Clause in apposition to a Noun or Pronoun.
Mr.Sinha, an engineer, lives near our house.
We, the people of India, can take pride of our past.
The fact, that Rajan has solved the difficult sum, made his friends very happy.
(v) It is used after a Nominative Absolute construction of a sentence.
The train having fallen, the crops revived.
(vi) It is used after an Adverb Phrase at the beginning of a sentence.
In fact, I do not believe in his words.
According to the teacher, Ravi may be successful in the entrance examinations for medical colleges.