A hyphen is a very short horizontal line between words.

Note that there is no space between a hyphen and the character on either side of it.

Do not confuse a hyphen (-) with a dash (-), which is longer.

The slash (/) is also known as: forward slash, stroke, oblique. You should use the slash with care in formal writing.

1. A slash is often used to indicate "or":
Dear Sir/Madam (Sir or Madam)
Please press your browser's Refresh/Reload button. (Refresh or Reload)
The speech will be given by President/Senator Clinton. (President Clinton or Senator Clinton)
Mary will eat cake and/or fruit. (Mary will eat cake, or Mary will eat fruit, or Mary will eat cake and fruit.)

Do not over-use the slash to indicate "or". It can suggest laziness on the part of the writer. The "and/or" construction is widely considered to be very bad form.

2. Use a slash for fractions:
1/2 (one half)
2/3 (two thirds)
9/10 (nine tenths)

3. Use a slash to indicate "per" in measurements of speed, prices etc:
The speed limit is 100 km/h. (kilometres per hour)
He can type at 75 w/m. (words per minute)
The eggs cost $3/dozen. ($3 per dozen)
They charge £1.50/litre for petrol. (£1.50 per litre)

4. People often use a slash in certain abbreviations:
This is my a/c number. (account)
John Brown, c/o Jane Green (care of)
n/a (not applicable, not available)
w/o (without)

5. A slash is often used in dates to separate day, month and year:
On credit card: Expires end 10/15 (October 2015)
He was born on 30/11/2007. (30th November 2007 - BrE)
It was invented on 11/30/2007. (November 30th, 2007 - AmE)

6. The slash is used to separate parts of a website address (url) on the Internet, and to separate folders on some computer systems:
http://www.englishclub.com/writing/punctuation-slash.htm
file:///Users/mac/tara/photos/image.jpg

1. We sometimes use a semi-colon instead of a full stop or period. This is to separate sentences that are grammatically independent but that have closely connected meaning.
Josef likes coffee; Mary likes tea.

Tara is a good speaker; she speaks very clearly.

You did your best; now let's hope you pass the exam.

Ram wants to go out; Anthony wants to stay home.

Note that in the above examples it is not correct to use a comma instead of the semi-colon.

2. Use a semi-colon as a kind of "super comma". When we have a list of items, we usually separate the items with commas. If the list is complicated, we may prefer to use semi-colons in some cases.
ABC Investments has offices in five locations: Kensington, London; Brighton & Hove; and Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester.

Rental cars must be returned on time; with a full tank of petrol; in undamaged condition; and at the same location as they were collected from.

http://www.englishclub.com/writing/punctuation-semi-colon.htm

An exclamation mark usually shows strong feeling, such as surprise, anger or joy. Using an exclamation mark when writing is rather like shouting or raising your voice when speaking. Exclamation marks are most commonly used in writing quoted speech. You should avoid using exclamation marks in formal writing, unless absolutely necessary.

Quotation Marks
(double, single)


We use quotation marks to show (or mark) the beginning and end of a word or phrase that is somehow special or comes from outside the text that we are writing. Quotation marks can be double ("...") or single ('...') - that is really a matter of style (but see below for more about this).

This guide provides instruction on the basic rules of using a period, comma, colon, semicolon, question mark and exclamation point. Each type of punctuation is followed by an explanation and example sentences for reference purposes.