Lee's Home and Business Instructor

USE OF PUNCTUATION MARKS.

[,] The Comma marks the shortest pauses in reading aloud and the smallest divisions in writing.

[:] The Semicolon divides simple sentences when the comma does not render the meaning of simple sentences clear enough. [:] The Colon announces something further coming, like a speech, a description.

[.] The Full Stop or Period is used at the end of every complete sentence.

[?] The Interrogation mark is used when a question is asked.

[!] The Exclamation point follows words or sentences that express sudden emotions.

[""] The Quotation marks indicate that some one is speaking, and are used also to enclose words taken from other writings.

[()] The Parentheses include some explanatory clause not essential to the sentence.

[] The Brackets include a word or sentence to supply some deficiency.

[-] The Dash marks a break in the sentence.

It is quite impossible to give any precise rules for the use of these several points. Much must be left to the taste; something must depend upon the weight which we may wish to give to particular words or phrases.

Good, correct punctuation is essential to the clearness of the sentence. The absence or the wrong insertion of a comma has been known to affect a man's whole fortune.

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This Collection of Synonyms has been carefully prepared for the use of letter-writers and for the general reading public. It will be of the greatest value to all who desire to avoid in their correspondence those repetitions of words which sound so ill and denote a lack of education on the part of the writer.

"In the popular literary acceptation, and as employed in special dictionaries of such words," writes the famous professor George P. Marsh, "synonyms are words sufficiently alike in general signification to be liable to be confounded."

Their use, as stated above, is to allow a speaker or writer to keep clear of tautology, i.e., repetition of words.

Here is an example, somewhat exaggerated in form, that will serve to show the value of synonyms:

"In an absolute monarchy, the absolute rulings of the sovereign are an absolute drawback to any absolute enjoyment of life." Instead of using the word absolute four times in this sentence, we employ the synonyms "arbitrary," "positive" and "real," thus:

"In an absolute monarchy the arbitrary rulings of the sovereign are a positive drawback to any real enjoyment of life."