The Power of Punctuation

Punctuation marks are like traffic signals for your writing—they guide readers and prevent accidents! Mastering punctuation will help you ace the ACT English section.

Commas, Semicolons, and Colons

• Use commas to separate items in a list or before conjunctions in compound sentences.
• Semicolons join closely related independent clauses.
• Colons introduce a list or explanation.

Apostrophes and Quotation Marks

• Apostrophes show possession ("the cat's toy") or form contractions ("don't").
• Quotation marks enclose dialogue or direct quotations.

Capitalization

Always capitalize the first word of a sentence, proper nouns, and titles.

Real-World Application

Proper punctuation makes your messages clear and professional—no more confusion in texts or emails!