Video: Common Punctuation Mistakes

Proper punctuation impresses potential employers. Learn about the misuse of some common punctuation marks in this free self-editing lesson for writers and job seekers.

Video Transcript

In addition to reviewing all the rules about commas and all the other niddy gritty rules about punctuation, it's really important to remember the basic rules about using question marks, periods and exclamation points. These are things that surprisingly show up in people's emails and business documents a lot. And it's an easy way to look polished if you get the rules right. Remember not to use exclamation points too much because it can look kind of silly. And to use question marks when you are asking questions. Here we have a couple of examples. Here are three examples of common problems in people's writing.First we have: Do you have time on Thursday to meet and discuss our upcoming presentation? Clearly, you are going to want a question mark here instead of a period because you are asking someone if they have time to meet with you. You want an answer from them. Second example we have: How are you Linda? We're going to need a comma before Linda because you are addressing her. We are also going to want a question mark because you're asking her a question. How are you? And you want a response. The third one you have an intro to a business letter and it says: Mr. Smith, it was nice to meet you on Saturday. Thanks for the interview. This exclamation point here could work but since we're talking about an interview and it is probably someone you don't know very well, it's a little over eager. You're going to probably want to change that to a period and maybe rework the whole intro itself so that it's more professional.

Common Punctuation Mistakes

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