Punctuation Rules

11+ English · Punctuation

Why punctuation matters

Punctuation marks tell the reader when to pause, stop, or notice something. Correct punctuation makes writing clear — and 11+ papers often test it directly.

The full stop, capital letters and sentences

Every sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!).
A question mark ends a question: Where are you going?
An exclamation mark shows strong feeling: What a goal!

Commas

Commas create small pauses. Use them to:

Separate items in a list: We bought apples, pears, bananas and grapes. (No comma before the final "and" in a simple list.)
After a connective or opener: Suddenly, the door opened.
Around extra information: My brother, who is ten, loves football.

Apostrophes

Apostrophes have two jobs:

1. Contraction (missing letters): do not → don't, it is → it's.

2. Possession (belonging):

Singular: add 's — the dog's bone.
Plural ending in s: add just ' — the girls' team.

Careful: its (belonging) has no apostrophe; it's always means "it is".

Speech marks (inverted commas)

Put " " around the exact words someone says, with punctuation inside:

"Come here," said Mum.

Start a new line each time a new person speaks.

Colons and semicolons

Colon (:) introduces a list or explanation: Bring these: a pen, a ruler and paper.
Semicolon (;) joins two closely linked sentences: It was late; everyone was tired.

Worked example

Punctuate: the cat said tom is hungry

"The cat," said Tom, "is hungry." — capital letters, speech marks around Tom's words, commas separating the speech. ✓

Common mistakes

Confusing its (belonging) and it's (it is).
Putting an apostrophe in ordinary plurals (apple's for more than one apple — wrong).
Forgetting the capital letter after a full stop.

Top tips

Read your sentence aloud — a natural pause often needs a comma.
Check every apostrophe: is it a missing letter or possession?
Put speech punctuation inside the speech marks.

Quick recap

Sentences: capital letter to start, full stop / ? / ! to end.
Commas separate and pause; apostrophes show contraction or possession (its = belonging, it's = it is).
Speech marks surround spoken words (new speaker, new line); colons introduce, semicolons join.