Language Worksheet 3: Punctuation
Hyphen (-) Can be used in compound words, to link words to
prefixes, and to show word breaks.
The hyphen rules and examples:
1.. To indicate word breaks.
• These things happened before the pre-enlightenment era.
2. To join two or more words together into a compound term.
• My eight-year-old boy loves reading.
3. To link prefixes to words
• Unlike what some people might think, the twentieth-century was very
different.
Dash (–) Longer than the Hyphen. Can be used to:
• add in additional information, in the same way as a comma or parentheses
(Brackets)
o Nobody knew who – or what – to blame for the accident.
• indicate a pause or an interruption in thought
o What the—
o That’s why I was—wait, who are you?
• Replace a colon
o I have three favourite ice cream flavours — chocolate, strawberry,
and caramel.
Colon (:) Can be used to introduce a quotation, an example, a
series/list, or an explanation, to separate two independent clauses,
to show emphasis.
Hyphen (-) Can be used in compound words, to link words to
prefixes, and to show word breaks.
The hyphen rules and examples:
1.. To indicate word breaks.
• These things happened before the pre-enlightenment era.
2. To join two or more words together into a compound term.
• My eight-year-old boy loves reading.
3. To link prefixes to words
• Unlike what some people might think, the twentieth-century was very
different.
Dash (–) Longer than the Hyphen. Can be used to:
• add in additional information, in the same way as a comma or parentheses
(Brackets)
o Nobody knew who – or what – to blame for the accident.
• indicate a pause or an interruption in thought
o What the—
o That’s why I was—wait, who are you?
• Replace a colon
o I have three favourite ice cream flavours — chocolate, strawberry,
and caramel.
Colon (:) Can be used to introduce a quotation, an example, a
series/list, or an explanation, to separate two independent clauses,
to show emphasis.
