Hello, everyone, and welcome back to my channel, Sparkle English, where I teach you how to improve
your level of English. This is a new lesson in my English writing essential series. In today's
lesson, I'm going to talk to you about ending punctuation. There are three different ways to end
sentences in English. At the end of the lesson, we will have a short quiz. So let's get started.
So how do we end a sentence in English? We must end sentences in English with a punctuation
mark. There are three types of end punctuation: periods, question marks, and exclamation marks.
So this here is a period. In British English, they call it a full stop.
This is a question mark. And this is an exclamation mark or an exclamation point.
We're going to talk about each punctuation mark separately. First, let's talk about periods or
full stops, periods and complete sentences. Periods are the most common type of ending
punctuation. And periods are quite neutral, like this emoji here. For example, I have to go to the
bank tomorrow. This is a statement; it's a neutral statement. There's not a lot of excitement;
we are just stating something. Here's another example. Mom loves gardening in the spring.
They ate pizza for dinner last night. Taylor is working today.
We can also use periods or full stops to end commands. For example,
imagine a teacher says "take out your books." That is
a command: an imperative sentence. So we can use periods or full stops for commands as well.
But again, there's not a lot of emotion.
Periods can also be used to end indirect questions. Direct questions ask questions,
while indirect questions report questions. This might seem complicated,
but I will explain and show you some examples. Karen asked if she could borrow my car.
This ends in a period. It does not end in a question mark. This is an indirect question.
I am telling about a question that Karen asked. But I am not asking a question.
So I don't end this statement with a question mark. I wonder who will win the race. Again,
I am not asking a question. I am stating that I am wondering something. She wants to know if she
can come to our party. Again, all of these end in periods because they are indirect questions.
I'm going to compare these three indirect questions with
direct questions so you can see the difference.
In our first example, we had "Karen asked if she could borrow my car."
This is an indirect question. A direct question would be "Can I borrow your car?" And when we ask
a direct question, we are looking for an answer. Like yes, you can borrow my car, or no you can't.
The next indirect question: I wonder who will win the race.
I am not looking for an answer. I am just stating that I am wondering.
A direct question would be: who will win the race? Or who do you think will win the race?
And here we would answer. I think Jason will win the race or Emily.
And the final indirect question. She wants to know if she can come to our party.
Again, this is not a direct question. A direct question would be: can I come to your party?
We would say yes, you can, or no, you can't.
Or can she come to our party? Yes, she, can or no, she can't.
So just remember that with indirect questions,
we are not looking for an answer. And so they end in periods or full stops.
So now let's talk more about question marks. We use question marks to end sentences
that ask a direct question. Question marks indicate that a sentence is a question
and that we are looking for an answer. For example, do you have to go to the bank tomorrow?
Does your mom like gardening? What did they eat for dinner last night?
Where is Taylor? When a sentence begins with who, what, where, why, which, or how, it usually
ends in a question mark. And all of these questions end in a question mark, and they
do not end in a period after the question mark. I see many subscribers ask questions on my channel,
and they end the question with a question mark and a period. For example, is this correct? And this
is not correct. We do not add a period after a question mark. The question mark is enough.
So now let's talk about exclamation marks. Or you can call them exclamation points.
Exclamation marks indicate surprise or strong emotion. We use exclamation marks to show
strong feelings such as joy, surprise, shock, and anger.
Try to avoid using exclamation marks in formal writing. If you are writing an essay,
or a letter or a formal email, try not to use exclamation marks. And if you do, do not use
many. They are very common in informal writing. I use exclamation marks all the time when I am
responding to comments on my YouTube channel. Or when I am texting my friends and family.
For example. Be careful! Your new swimming pool is amazing! The first one, be careful, you know maybe
we are scared that someone is going to get hurt. So we use an exclamation mark. Your new swimming
pool is amazing! We are expressing surprise and joy, and how amazing the swimming pool is.
Stop talking to me! Here, maybe we are angry. Congratulations! Again, joy.
And now I want us to compare these sentences. In the first one, we have this command: come here.
If I say come here, and end it with a period, it's not urgent. It's a command, but it's not urgent.
Come here. If I say come here, with an exclamation mark, there's a sense of
urgency. Come here! It's important that you come now. It's an exclamation.
And the second statement: your house is so beautiful!
Whereas if I write it with an exclamation mark, it sounds more like "Your house is so beautiful!"
There's much more emotion with an exclamation mark. And both of these are correct. However,
it changes the emotion of the sentence when we add an exclamation.
When you are reading a novel in English,
you will see a lot of exclamation marks to express strong emotion.
Okay, so now we're going to have a quiz. You have to use the correct punctuation at the end of each
sentence. So you either use a period, a question mark, or an exclamation mark.
I also want you to listen to how I say the sentence to let you know if we should use
an exclamation mark, a question mark, or a period. Number one: We are so excited
Number two: Should we go to the cinema tomorrow night
Number three: I enjoy listening to classic music
Number four: She is learning how to play the guitar
Number five: Where's the new dress I bought
Number six: I wonder if Gary will be at the party tonight
Number seven: Watch out.
And finally, number eight: Do you have any pets
Okay, so now let's answer these together. The first one, we end with an exclamation mark.
We are so excited! You can answer this with a period. It is correct.
But I said it with a lot of excitement. So we end it with an exclamation mark. Number two is
a question, a direct question. Should we go to the cinema tomorrow night? I'm looking for an answer.
I'm looking for someone to say yes, we should or no, we shouldn't. So we end that with a question
mark. Number three is a statement. So we end it with a period. I enjoy listening to classic music.
Number four, we also end in a period. She is learning how to play the guitar. Number five
is a question. Where is the new dress I bought? We end it with a question mark. Again,
I'm looking for an answer. Oh, your dress is in the laundry, or your dress is in the closet.
Number six is an indirect question.
I wonder if Gary will be at the party tonight. We end this with a period.
It is not a direct question. Will Gary be at the party tonight?
That would be a direct question. This is an indirect question. So we end it with a period.
Number seven, watch out! Again. I said it with a lot of emotion. So we end this with an exclamation
mark. And finally, number eight, do you have any pets? We end this with a question mark
because it's a question, a direct question. Yes, I do have pets. No, I don't have pets.
Okay, so let me know in the comments section how many you got correct out of eight.
If you want me to have another quiz on ending punctuation, also, let me know in the
comments section. I have lessons on each of these punctuation marks on period and full stop rules,
on question mark rules, and on exclamation mark rules. If you need more help on any of these
punctuation marks, I will link you to these videos in the description below this video.
So thank you guys so much for watching. Make sure to subscribe to sparkle English for more
videos on how to improve your English writing skills. I will see you in my next lesson.