Punctuation I.
In Spanish, as in other languages, punctuation is an important feature of written language. Using punctuation is a means of making up for the lack of intonation typical of speech. There are different punctuation marks; among others: period, comma, colon and semicolon.
1. Usage Rules for the period
The period is a mark that is used to close parts of speech that make sense in themselves, for example:
• “Cuando fui a la playa me bañé en el mar.”
Within the same paragraph, periods are used to separate sentences that are related to each other, ie. they develop the same idea, for example:
• “Cuando fui a la playa me bañé en el mar. El agua estaba muy fría.”
Periods are also used at the end of a paragraph. A paragraph is a unit of thematic meaning and a new paragraph after a period marks the development of a new idea.
• “Cuando fui a la playa me bañé en el mar. El agua estaba muy fría.
Más tarde, cuando vino mi amiga nos fuimos a comer un helado al bar.”
2. Rules for using the comma.
There are some general rules for using the comma; it can be used:
- To isolate the vocative occurring in statements: "Luchad, niños, hasta ganar"
- To separate the words of an enumeration: " La gula, la lujuria, la ira, son pecados capitales."
- To separate very short meaningful sentences: " Llegué, comí, me marché"
- To separate some clarification or explanation from the rest of the sentence: " El niño, que tenía el pelo negro, tocaba la guitarra"
- To separate such expressions as “es decir”, “por último”, “esto es” … " Por último, me metí a la cama"
- To show that a verb is missing: " Unos van al cine; otros a la playa"
The Spanish Royal Academy gives more guidance for using commas:
- Interjections are written between commas: "Bah, no me interesa"
- Commas are used before conjunctions or conjunctive phrases that link sentences included in a compound sentence, such as “pero”, “aunque”, “sino”, “con que”, “así que”, “de manera que”… ("Dijiste que venías, así que no digas ahora que no.")
- The word etcetera (or its abbreviation etc.) is separated by a comma from the rest of the statement: "Los helados de vainilla, chocolate, etcétera, me encantan".
- The use of the comma is incompatible with the conjunctions “y”, “e”, “ni”, “o”, “u” when the sign is used to separate elements of the same series or grammatically equivalent members within the same sentence: "Compré pan, tomate, y sal"
- But commas are acceptable before these conjunctions when the sequence at the top of the predicate refers to all this, and not the last of its members coordinated: "Compré pan, tomate, sal, y salí de la tienda".
- Commas are most useful in compound sentences for two reasons: length and complexity. If we take relative sentences, commas must be used in those labeled as “non-defining” or “not restrictive” (“Los aviones, que estaban averiados, no pudieron despegar”); “defining” also called “restrictive” relative sentences never feature commas (“Los aviones que estaban averiados no pudieron despegar.”)
More rules on the use of the comma can be found in http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltConsulta?lema=coma
3. Rules for using the colon.
This punctuation mark is used to enter a sentence in cases such as:
- Before a direct quote: The child said, El niño dijo: " Quiero ir a los columpios"
- Before a list: "Hace falta: manzanas, peras, alubias y tomates"
- Before an explanation: "Era una casa enorme: tenía dos balcones, un jardín, una piscina y una chimenea".
4. Rules for using the semicolon.
The semicolon is used in several cases:
- To separate sentences containing commas: " Llegaron los abuelos, los niños y los padres; se quedaron hasta las siete"
- Before the conjunctions “mas”, “pero”, “aunque”... If the sentence is long: "Todo en el mundo es difícil; aunque difícil es nuestro mundo."
- When used to summarize: " Los gritos, los lloros y los nervios; todo me hace ver que es el primer día de clase."
- To separate juxtaposed sentences: " Tendremos que marcharnos; la tienda cierra."
For more on punctuation wait for a next post.