Punctuation & Spelling
IN THIS LESSON
English Language Essentials
You can pick up easy marks in English GCSE and Functional Skills exams by using a range of punctuation correctly. We’ll look at two types of punctuation you can add to your toolkit here.
Further Details
Here are four types of punctuation you can use.
Colons (:)
Colons are very simple: use them to introduce extra information.
Colons can also introduce a list in any topic. These are types of lists: shopping, packing, goals and to-do lists.
Colons can introduce quotes. My teacher used to say: "The colon: when you want to pause dramatically but still sound intelligent."
Semi-Colons (;)
Semi-colons can be used instead of commas to separate items in a list. This is especially helpful if your list has words like and or requires other punctuation such as commas.
Popular flavours include: lemon and lime; sweet and sour; and salt and pepper.
We visited lots of places: London, England; Paris, France; and Valencia, Spain.
Semi-colons can also be used instead of conjunctions (words like and, or so, that join parts of sentences).
My car broke down, so I couldn’t get to work. → My car broke down; I couldn’t get to work.
I like coffee and I drink it every day. → I like coffee; I drink it every day.
Punctuation Activity
Rewrite these sentences using the punctuation discussed above.
Colons
Listening to music can help you focus. Noise-cancelling headphones are best.
I like lots of different types of films. My favourite genres are action, sci-fi and drama.
A popular saying is “life is like a box of chocolates”.
Semi-Colons
Lots of things are said in pairs, such as cats and dogs, apples and pears, and hopes and wishes.
I’d like to visit New York United States, Rome Italy, and Toronto Canada.
Bonus Activity
Pick a topic that you are interested in (e.g., a sport, hobby, favourite TV show).
Write some short sentences on your topic that use colons and semi-colons.
Knowledge Check/Review
Practice explaining to someone when you can use colons and semi-colons.
Give an example of when you should use colons vs. semi-colons?
Commit to using three of them in your writing practice and the writing tasks in your GCSE exams.
