One
of the things I find most valid about correct use of punctuation is its
unobtrusiveness. With the mechanics hiding behind the scenes, the work itself
shines in the limelight. The adage that you have to know the rules to break the
rules holds true. There are of course instances a writer breaks punctuation,
spelling, and grammar conventions to purposefully draw attention to such
diversions, but there is typically a good reason for doing so. It takes a lot
of precision to say what is meant through carefully selected, or omitted, punctuation.
Even
though there is much to be learned and recalled with the more tricky aspects of
proper quotation mark, comma, semicolon, possessives and such, I find even the
basic innocuous period can trip me up sometimes.
Obviously
it is used to end a sentence that does not form a question or end as an
exclamation. One thing I have to verify every time is how to punctuate the
abbreviations a.m. and p.m. Particularly notice how the previous sentence does
not end with two periods as in:
I wake up at 5 a.m..
However,
question marks and exclamation points end the sentence as follows:
I
wake up at 5 a.m.! Or
I
wake up at 5 a.m.?
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I think the following picture speaks for itself. We must cultivate high regard for punctuation to get our intended messages across. Remember: you're is you are / your is the possessive form or the pronoun you.
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