- NEW!
by Jodie44 on April 1st, 2008
Have you ever seen this? Compare the two sentences, keeping in mind that the only difference is in the punctuation. The two sentences have opposite meanings, however.
Woman without her man is nothing.
Woman: without her, man is nothing.
by American idle on April 1st, 2008
Yes, how will anyone know what you are really saying or feeling? Besides, all your sentences would run together, which is quite annoying. :)
by Who? on April 1st, 2008
Yes. Language is precise. In order to effectively (and legally) communicate, punctuation is important.
by Frankster PartyMaestro Of Sillyville on April 1st, 2008
If ,,: You ''" don )t punctu-at pro-per-ly, It is_ har-d to?-- to un,der:stand;)
by maesterthief on April 1st, 2008
YEAH! Punctuation IS writing, for without it, you get too relaxed, and in addition to letting other things slip and go down a bad road, many things will definitely be lost in translation. However, you might only mildly confuse them, assuming that they had decent grades in english!
by Anne_On_A_Mouse on April 1st, 2008
i think punctuation is important without punctuation its hard to tell where on sentence starts and the next leaves off id give up trying to read something without punctuation wouldnt you
by Kevisaurus is a Carnotaurus today on April 1st, 2008
The more the merrier.
Just make sure it is appropriate.
For formal writing, it is crucial but in
informal writing such as emails and chatting, it is not as important.
by Jack wears love COAT on April 2nd, 2008
Yes,Always.Many a times I have struggled hard to find the exact make up of a paragraph, written by my friends without punctuation.It does make a lot of difference:)
by BigDaddyBS on April 1st, 2008
Look at some of the questions on AB... For some, you have to figure out where the end of the phrases and sentences are so you can understand what's being asked!
If you haven't complained about punctuation missing in questions, you probably are new to AB! LOL
by Anon y mouse on April 1st, 2008
Yes. Language after all is used in order to communicate. In order to communicate, there has to be some measure of structure, which is what elements such as grammar and punctuation provide. Otherwise language would not be language but simply a collection of noises signifying not very much. The only exception to this is poetry, which at times deviates in order to communicate in a different way but assumes that familiarity with structure is already known to the reader or listener.
by WoOZackWoO on April 1st, 2008
Because otherwise there is no breaks, in a book you'de have to guess when people are talking and narrating. Give it form and indistincly lets you know whats happening.
by Galeanda on April 1st, 2008
I think it is very important as people can't hear when you pause, your voice inflections, some many things are clear with punctuation. Why leave your readers guessing as to what you meant. Give them help to understand if you really want to be clearly understood.
by miRi hates social norms and regulations on April 1st, 2008
as long as i understand it i really don't care
by DA BEN DAN yanggui zi on April 1st, 2008
Yes. It's sole purpose is to make your writing understandable.
by curious on April 1st, 2008
What is important to me is if I can read, and understand what I am reading, perfect grammer doesnt matter to me.
by Razzle-Fratchit on March 15th, 2009
ALLANCIENTLANGUAGESWEREWRITTENLIKETHISWITHOUTANYPUNCTUATIONOREVENSPACESBETWEENTHEWORDS OHYEAHTHEYALSODIDNOTINVENTLOWERCASELETTERSUNTILTHEMIDDLEAGES TODAYTHAIANDKHMERARESTILLWRITTENMUCHLIKETHIS THOUGHTHEYATLEASTPUTASPACEBETWEENCLAUSES ITMAKESREADINGVERYSLOWANDMONOTONOUSFIVEMINUTESOFREADINGSCRIPTLIKETHISYOUWILLUNDERSTANDWHYSAINTAUGUSTINEWASCONSIDEREDANAMAZINGGENIUSBECAUSEHECOULDREADQUICKLYWITHOUTMOVINGHISLIPS
by Alone on October 20th, 2008
Sometime but very few and esspecially if you knew. your friend was very clever that you send your message to him. Meaning important is that there was understanding between each other.
by Brian on September 28th, 2008
I think it's usually important, e.g. when it means the difference between cannibalism and requesting that your mother serve you a meal: "Let's eat Mom!" and, "Let's eat, Mom!".
Another example is the difference between a question about who's going to accompany you and an unintelligible insult: "Who're you going with?" and "Whore, you going with?".
There are other times when I think "proper" punctuation is superfluous. E.g., I'd have no trouble understanding either of the following sentences: He said, "Wait here.".
He said, "Wait here".
by Lilly on April 2nd, 2008
punctuation gives sense to a sequence of words i believe that it s a very important factor in good writing you see
Punctuation gives sense to a sequence of words. I believe that it's a very important factor in good writing! You see?
by Kal-El on April 2nd, 2008
Yes I think so. I let it a few things slide every now and then, but for the most of it, I punctuate correctly. I'm a bit of a writer, so it comes naturally.
by iwnit on April 2nd, 2008
Not *always*, but usually.
1a) The goal of: punctuation is not, just to respect? the punctuation rules it - is to? help for / the understanding: of texts Suppose) that you have (just to communicate" a single sentence} and that the; sentence with, the correct "punctuation contains only a! point, at the end In? this case you, could also omit, that, point it would! not "be a big" problem for, understanding However the more, punctuation elements; are - used when? you write a text with, the correct punctuation the more; difficult it will be, to understand, it with bad, punctuation or: lack of punctuation.
1b) the goal of punctuation is not just to respect the punctuation rules it is to help for the understanding of texts suppose that you have just to communicate a single sentence and that the sentence with the correct punctuation contains only a point at the end In this case, you could also omit that point it would not be a big problem for understanding however the more punctuation elements are used when you write a text with the correct punctuation the more difficult it will be to understand it with bad punctuation or lack of punctuation
(not that if you don't use majuscules, it is even more difficult here)
1c) The goal of punctuation is not just to respect the punctuation rules it is to help for the understanding of texts Suppose that you have just to communicate a single sentence and that the sentence with the correct punctuation contains only a point at the end In this case, you could also omit that point it would not be a big problem for understanding However the more punctuation elements are used when you write a text with the correct punctuation the more difficult it will be to understand it with bad punctuation or lack of punctuation
1d) The goal of punctuation is not just to respect the punctuation rules, it is to help for the understanding of texts.
Suppose that you have just to communicate a single sentence, and that the sentence with the correct punctuation contains only a point at the end. In this case, you could also omit that point, it would not be a big problem for understanding.
However, the more punctuation elements are used when you write a text with the correct punctuation, the more difficult it will be to understand it with bad punctuation or lack of punctuation.
2) "Punctuation is everything in written language other than the actual letters or numbers, including punctuation marks (listed at right), inter-word spaces and indentation.
Punctuation marks are symbols that correspond to neither phonemes (sounds) of a language nor to lexemes (words and phrases), but which serve to indicate the structure and organization of writing, as well as intonation and pauses to be observed when reading it aloud. See orthography.
In English, punctuation is vital to disambiguate the meaning of sentences."
Source and further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuation
by scubaduba on April 2nd, 2008
Yes, depending on how you punctuate a sentence can have different meanings. There is a book calld "Eat, Shoots and Leaves" that gives brilliant and humorous examples of this.
by Zack on April 1st, 2008
In a setting like AB, I would say its not so important. In any other setting like business writing, essays and term papers, its very important.
by Anonymous on October 15th, 2009
Always.
by Sokoot on October 9th, 2009
Baby don't kill him.
Baby don't, kill him.
The punctuation took a man's life!
by johngo on March 20th, 2009
I remember reading an article about alphabets by de Kerkhove some twenty years ago. He did a statistical analysis of alphabets that marked vowels explicitly such as Greek, and alphabets such as Hebrew that did not. He discovered that most alphabets that marked vowels explicitly were written left to right, and most without were written right to left. He suggested that the process of reading the different alphabets was related to the hemispheres of the brain which were differently involved when reading the two different kinds of alphabet. The big difference between the two types of alphabet is that to read say, German, a language I have a sketchy knowledge of, if you know German pronunciation, you can read aloud German words that you don't know the meaning of, and a German will understand the words, so the sound of the words can be recognized and by listening to the sounds the meaning can be extracted. De Kerkhove claimed that without explicit marking of the vowels, an understanding of the meaning of the text precedes the pronunciation of the words.
In the case of Greek, he pointed out that the alphabet inherited, if I recollect correctly, one explicit semi-vowel from the Phoenician alphabet, and that with the addition of the familiar vowels that we retain in the Latin alphabet, neurophysiological considerations forced the Greeks to change from writing right to left, via boustrophedonic, to writing left to right. I don't know if his views are widely accepted, but they seem plausible to me.
If it is true that reading Hebrew requires construal of the text before utterance it would be interesting to find out if, when, silent reading was invented by the speakers of this language. Of course other social processes would intervene, but I imagine silent reading would have arisen almost automatically in readers of Hebrew and similar alphabets.
by ILoveLois on March 19th, 2009
Yes - it clarifies the meaning. Read the book 'Eats Shoots and Leaves'.
by johngo on March 19th, 2009
I was made aware of the importance of punctuation when I was in China. Question and exclamation marks have found there way into informal Chinese writing, I suppose because there were no Chinese equivalents.
by DudeLer 2 on November 7th, 2008
punctuation is important. yet, in many instances especially on the internet and blogging and chatting, punctuation is not important. in an email to someone important, punctuation is important. an email to a friend, not important. it is difficult to fix an email to the boss when it was already sent. so not always, just most of the time.
by Prunesquallor on September 28th, 2008
Yes. For most people. If you happen to be a genius, and have spent years of graft in getting to the limit of your potential, then you might have the skill necessary to write with unconventional punctuation in order to convey your meaning better. But for the rest of us, I'm afraid it's vital if we are to be understood.
by frequentuser on September 28th, 2008
In school, yeah, but here on ab? No.
by -O-uknow on September 28th, 2008
When you are being graded.
by pink flower on September 28th, 2008
My professor say so,,
by king of ellipses on April 6th, 2008
it's very important sometimes. Not always. If you read "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynn Trusse, you'll have a laugh and also learn the imprtance of it in everyday life. One little comma on the wrong place can change the meaning of a sentence entirely. hence the title of her book.
Now, Kerouac, his used very little. He wrote in a way that begged to be read aloud like jazz music, and I've read a lot of Kerous...I never heard it better than hearing Jack read his own stuff on (I think) the Mike Douglas Show.
by American-In-Training on April 6th, 2008
Punctuation is a part of a language and language is one of those humans things that has rules.
Break those rules and you are no longer part of that language, that culture or those who follow it and understand it - and equally, they won't follow or understand you.
You are free to invent and pursue a new language whenever you wish to, but people shouldn't try and destroy or abuse something existing because they don't like it or because they are just plain old lazy.
by Jen-Jen on April 6th, 2008
As my teacher told me..."It is if you want
people to be able to understand what you've
written"
by Roselynn...unregistered text offender... on April 6th, 2008
yes it is or else people will just keep on writing a huge string of thoughts without a pause to let you keep your breath and let you have time to ponder about what they are saying when people dont use punctuation it seems like everything they have to say is one long run on sentence that doesnt really make sense or have a purpose and then it seems to just keep going and going and going
by notquitered on April 6th, 2008
William Faulkner never thought so
by Sixty B - Commander Topcoat on April 6th, 2008
A writer's punctuation usage can be one of the most expressive aspects of the text. Joyce and Faulkner are so "difficult" because of how they use stream of consciousness writing. Punctuation often serves as its own subtext.
by qweasd on April 1st, 2008
If it's for a formal purpose such as a business letter or memo.
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Comments
Have always really liked that one :)
by Tinkerbell on April 1st, 2008
The perfect illustration, isn't it?
by Jodie44 on April 1st, 2008
It is indeed. :)
by Tinkerbell on April 1st, 2008
true
by Esteban-- Smartest Pumpkin on April 1st, 2008
heh heh, clever. +
by Kal-El on April 2nd, 2008
Excellent.
by Barcaluv on April 2nd, 2008