How Simple Punctuations Can Change What You Mean

Form of Communication

Since letters were invented and writing became a major form of communication from stone tablets to papyrus reeds to animal skins to the paper we know today then eventually through electronic means (Were you out of breath?) people understood each other even without face to face interaction. But did people really understand what you mean through your writing? You may have been misunderstood.

Image by TheCreativePenn via Flickr

Almost always, we tend to omit the important punctuations that not only make our ideas clear to the reader, but also provide them rest from your long sentences. Also, arranging letters in their proper sequence can tell something about an author’s skills as a writer. Some writers were not keen enough in the way they spell words, and this impacts on their articles’ quality or their reputation as a writer.

Proofread Your Work

To prevent these things from happening to you, it always pays to proofread your work before submitting it to your publisher. Much more care should be given especially in online writing sites because many of the articles submitted are unedited before publication due to the high volume of author traffic. Aside from the fact that many online authors complain if their articles are in the pending section even for a day.

Proofreading may have been possible during those few, initial articles in a growing online writing site, but hundreds of thousands of article submissions per day would make this impossible. Some writers turn to proofreading services, employ proofreading software or grammar software to ensure that they turn out quality articles. This may be the reason why there are many websites that provide proof reading services at a fee.

I illustrate a case where correct punctuation does matter in a short episode below.

Correct Punctuation Marks

In an English class, a professor wrote something on the board: “A woman without her man is nothing.” He asked his students to place the correct punctuation marks to make the sentence grammatically correct and to provide the desired rhetorical expression. A boy volunteered and placed the appropriate punctuation marks, thus: “A woman, without her man, is nothing.” The professor said, “Yes, that is correct”. A girl, however, raised her hand and told everyone that there’s another correct way of placing the punctuation marks. The professor nodded his head and let the girl do her thing on the board. She placed the punctuation marks thus: “A woman, without her, man is nothing.” Everybody applauded her.

See how statements could have different meanings just by placing the comma in different places. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

Mispelled Words

To illustrate that the mere placement of letters in their correct sequence matters, I use the commonly mispelled words “receive” and “their”. Many writers are not so attentive about how they spell these words. I usually notice these words written as “recieve” and “thier”. Once I see these mispelled words I tend to see other errors too. Thus, it reflects on the writer’s keenness about words which impacts on their articles’ overall quality.

I would be wise then to check your articles, or comments,  at least several times before submitting them for publication. There are many applications offering software grammar checks. Even here at Triond’s online editor, a spell checker is available. Make full use of it.