When you reach the end of a sentence, you need a period, question mark, or exclamation point. Phrases or subordinate clauses standing alone are missing a subject or a verb or are stated in such a way ...

While in a master’s program in English, Mary Norris started reading The New Yorker and realized that academe was not for her. She jumped off the academic hamster wheel and entered an alt-ac career ...

One of my students once told me that when she writes something she always puts a comma wherever she thinks someone should take a breath. She defended this by saying this is what they do in a musical ...

Punctuation plays a vital role in shaping how writing is understood. From full stops to semicolons, each mark helps guide meaning, structure, and emotion in a sentence. Misuse can lead to confusion, ...

Young woman writing on diary while chilling at the park. (Leonardo Patrizi/Getty Images/iStockphoto) My favorite bumper sticker I’ve never seen: Commas matter. So I’ve always thought, and do still ...

We often focus on choosing the right words when we write—but how often do we think about punctuation? These small symbols—dots, commas, dashes, and more—do more than decorate our sentences. They guide ...