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Writing Advisory: Punctuation |
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Written by David Brown
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Tuesday, 15 May 2007 |
A brief primer on punctuation and using English grammar software to assist you in correcting it. Poorly used punctuation turns a love letter bad!
It’s no secret that you need to have correct English grammar and spelling in your writing; without these parts of language, people wouldn’t understand what you’re saying. But what about punctuation? A comma here, hyphen there, or question mark at the end of a sentence may not seem important, but indeed, punctuation marks can change the whole meaning of your writing!
Take a look at this letter from “Jane” to “John” to see for yourself. This well-known letter contains the exact same text in both versions, just different sentence punctuation:
Letter 1
Dear John: I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy -- will you let me be yours? Jane
Letter 2
Dear John: I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be? Yours, Jane
What’s Jane’s message in the first letter? Love! She wants to be John’s forever.
But the punctuation marks used in the second letter send the opposite message. Here, the English punctuation turns the letter into a nasty one. Jane accuses John of ruining her, and wants to get rid of him forever.The two ways of punctuating this “love” letter from Jane demonstrate the power of punctuation in your English writing. Jane follows punctuation rules in both letters, but sends opposite messages.
Make sure that you send the message you need in your essay, medical report, legal document, business plan, or creative story by using proper punctuation.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Brown has many years experience as a professional writer, teacher, and editor. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 15 January 2008 )
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