Punctuation and Speech

Accurate punctuation makes your writing clear and professional. In the SET Stage 1 comprehension, questions may test your understanding of how punctuation affects meaning. In Stage 2, examiners award marks for correct and varied punctuation in your extended writing. This lesson covers the punctuation you need to master for the Sutton Selective Eligibility Test.

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Essential Punctuation Marks

Mark	Name	Main Use
.	Full stop	Ends a statement
?	Question mark	Ends a question
!	Exclamation mark	Ends an exclamation or a strong command
,	Comma	Separates items in a list, marks pauses, separates clauses
:	Colon	Introduces a list, explanation, or example
;	Semicolon	Joins two closely related main clauses without a conjunction
-	Hyphen	Joins compound words (well-known, ice-cream)
--	Dash	Adds extra information or creates emphasis
...	Ellipsis	Shows a pause, trailing off, or words left out
( )	Brackets (parentheses)	Enclose extra information

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