The web's most comprehensive guide to American punctuation.

There are two schools of thought on how best to lighten the punctuation of such a sentence. The traditional approach, advocated by William Strunk Jr. in The Elements of Style, removes the comma …

The em dash is perhaps the most versatile punctuation mark. Depending on the context, the em dash can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons ⁠—in each case to slightly different effect.

Semicolon The semicolon is sometimes described as stronger than a comma but weaker than a period. In certain uses, this is a reasonably accurate definition. Yet there is more to the semicolon than that. …

After searching the web for a comprehensive guide to American punctuation and not finding one, I decided to create my own. In the early years of written English, punctuation served to mark pauses …

Terminal punctuation chart Use of the question mark with other punctuation, including quotation marks, is explained in the section on terminal punctuation.

Hyphen and dashes The hyphen ( - ), en dash ( – ), and em dash ( — ) look similar but are of different lengths. They also perform different functions. Only the hyphen receives a dedicated key on most …

The easiest way to solve a vexing punctuation problem is to avoid it. If you aren’t sure how to properly punctuate a sentence⁠—or if the proper punctuation results in a convoluted, confusing, or inelegant …

Slash The slash ( / ), also known as the virgule, has several uses, most of which should be avoided in formal writing. Never use a backslash ( \ ) in place of a slash. Poetry The one inarguably acceptable …

Though not necessarily logical, the American rules for multiple punctuation with quotation marks are firmly established. (See here for a brief explanation of the British style.)