1. 逗号表示最短的停顿。
　　　a. 用于表示并列的词语、结构或句子之间，如：
　　　Solids, liquids and gases can be changed from one to another.
　　　He came in, took his bag, and then hurried away.

　　　b. 不属于句子组成部分的词或词组，如称呼语、插入语、well、yes、no 等，须用逗号与句子的其它成分隔开，如：
　　　Tom, take care!
　　　No, I don’t think so.
　　　Tomorrow, I suppose, it will clear up.

　　　c. 状语置于句首时，须用逗号把它和主句隔开，如：
　　　Actually, I’ve had enough.
　　　On July 2, 1995, I graduated and found a teaching job in a college.
　　　If it rains tomorrow, our party will have to be postponed.

　　　d. 非限制性定语从句前一般用逗号，如：
　　　She said she had been waiting for 2 hours, which was true.

　　2 句号表示一句话的结束，如：
　　　Knowledge is power.
　　　All that glitters is not gold.

　　3. 问号表示一句问话的结束，如：
　　　Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to the railway station?
　　　Are you sure?

　　4. 感叹号用于感叹句或表示情感的句子或词的结尾，如：
　　　What a beautiful garden!
　　　Look out!
　　　Freedom!

　　5. 分号表示比逗号较长的停顿，如：
　　　Tomorrow he will set out to another country; there he will spend 3 years’ studying, researching, and cooperating with his foreign colleagues.

　　6. 冒号用来列举事物或解释前文，如：
　　　I can’t go on my vacation this summer. There are two reasons: first, I have no money; second, I have no time.
　　　Here you can do whatever you want: read books, play tennis, take a walk after supper, and so on and so forth.

　　7. 破折号表示解释或意思的进展，如：
　　　Man still has a lot to learn about the most powerful and complex part of his body—the brain.
　　　He is modest, considerate, warm-hearted—he is a good man.

　　8. 括号用法如下：
　　　a. 用在表示解释说明的插入语或同位语前后，如：
　　　The book (I can’t remember the title) was about Shakespeare.
　　　I spoke to Mary (Henry’s wife) and told her what we had decided at the meeting.

　　　b. 用来表示句中不重要的可省去的部分，如：
　　　What a fine day (it is)!

　　　c. 用来标明句中可换用的部分，如：
　　　My computer is as (so) expensive as yours.

　　d. 注明序号等，如：
　　　Do the following exercises: (1) Answer the question; (2) Translate the sentences into Chinese.

　　9. 引号主要用来表示文中的直接引语，如：
　　　“What the hell are you doing here?” he shouted.

　　10. 省略号代替句中被省略的部分，如：
　　　“Not only ... but also ...” is a correlative conjunction.

　　11. 连字号用于一个词的内部，不表示停顿，其用法如下：
　　　a. 用于部分复合词的各组成部分之间，如：
　　　sister-in-law five-year-old

　　　b. 用于派生词的前缀和词根或首字母缩略词之间，如：
　　　re-collect anti-fascist H-bomb（氢弹） V-day（胜利日）

　　　c. 用于数词的个位数和十位数之间，如：
　　　twenty-two thirty-third

　　　d. 双音节和多音节需要移行时，用于一行的末尾，表示这个词没有完。

　　12. 撇号用在一个词的内部或末尾，不表示停顿，而表示名词的所有格和字母省略，如：
　　　a student’s bag the students’ books
　　　I’m not a teacher.
　　　He didn’t go there.