Punctuation and Capitalisation

Punctuation and Capitalisation (যতিচিহ্ন ও বড় হাতের অক্ষর)

Punctuation কেন দরকার?

Punctuation sentence-এর boundary, pause, relationship, quotation, possession এবং emphasis স্পষ্ট করে। ভুল punctuation অর্থ অস্পষ্ট বা সম্পূর্ণ বদলে দিতে পারে।

• Let's eat, Grandma.
• Let's eat Grandma.

প্রথম sentence-এ Grandma-কে ডাকা হচ্ছে; দ্বিতীয়টির অর্থ অস্বাভাবিক ও ভিন্ন।

Full Stop / Period (.)

Declarative sentence, mild command এবং অনেক abbreviation-এর শেষে।

• The school opens at ten.
• Please take your seat.
• Dr. Sen arrived.

British style-এ abbreviation punctuation ভিন্ন হতে পারে; একটি document-এ style consistent রাখুন।

Question Mark (?)

Direct question-এর শেষে।

• Where do you live?
• Are you ready?

Indirect question সাধারণত question mark নেয় না যদি পুরো sentence statement হয়।

• I wonder where she lives.
• Tell me why you were absent.

কিন্তু পুরো sentence প্রশ্ন হলে:

• Do you know where she lives?

Exclamation Mark (!)

Strong emotion, warning, emphatic command বা interjection-এর পরে।

• Hurrah! We have won.
• What a beautiful view!
• Stop!

Formal writing-এ অতিরিক্ত exclamation marks এড়ানো উচিত।

Comma (,): Items in a Series

তিন বা ততোধিক item আলাদা করতে।

• We bought books, pens, pencils and paper.

শেষ and-এর আগে Oxford comma style-dependent:

• books, pens, and pencils

Ambiguity এড়াতে Oxford comma উপকারী হতে পারে।

Comma after Introductory Elements

Introductory clause, long phrase বা connector-এর পরে।

• When the bell rang, the students left.
• After completing the work, she went home.
• However, the result was unexpected.

Short introductory phrase-এ comma optional হতে পারে, তবে clarity প্রধান।

Comma with Coordinating Conjunctions

দুটি independent clause and, but, or, so, yet ইত্যাদি দিয়ে যুক্ত হলে conjunction-এর আগে comma।

• She studied hard, but she did not pass.
• It was raining, so we stayed home.

শুধু words/phrases যুক্ত হলে সাধারণত comma নয়:

• She bought a pen and a notebook.

Comma with Non-defining Information

অপ্রয়োজনীয় অতিরিক্ত তথ্য comma দিয়ে আলাদা হয়।

• My brother, who lives in Delhi, is a doctor.
• Rabindranath Tagore, a great poet, wrote Gitanjali.

Defining information comma নেয় না:

• Students who work hard usually improve.

Comma in Direct Address

যাকে সম্বোধন করা হচ্ছে তাকে comma দিয়ে আলাদা করুন।

• Rina, please open the door.
• Thank you, sir.
• Let's begin, children.

Comma with Tag Questions

• She is ready, isn't she?
• Let's begin, shall we?

Comma with Direct Speech

• Rina said, “I am ready.”
• “I am ready,” Rina said.
• “Are you ready?” Rina asked.

Quotation-এর punctuation sentence type এবং chosen style অনুযায়ী।

Comma with Dates and Addresses

• On 15 August 1947, India became independent.
• He was born on August 15, 1990.

Month-day-year style-এ year-এর চারপাশে comma; day-month-year style-এ প্রায়ই নয়।

Comma Splice

শুধু comma দিয়ে দুটি independent clause যুক্ত করা ভুল।

• Incorrect: She studied hard, she passed.
• Correct: She studied hard, and she passed.
• Correct: She studied hard; she passed.
• Correct: She studied hard. She passed.

Semicolon (;)

ঘনিষ্ঠ সম্পর্কযুক্ত independent clauses conjunction ছাড়া যুক্ত করতে।

• The road was blocked; we took another route.

Conjunctive adverb-এর আগে semicolon এবং পরে comma:

• It was raining; however, we continued.
• She worked hard; therefore, she succeeded.

Internal commas থাকা complex list আলাদা করতেও semicolon ব্যবহার হয়।

Colon (:)

Complete clause-এর পরে list, explanation, example বা elaboration শুরু করতে।

• Bring three things: a pen, a notebook and an identity card.
• She had one goal: to become a teacher.

Verb বা preposition-এর ঠিক পরে colon বসানো উচিত নয় যদি আগের অংশ complete clause না হয়।

• Incorrect: The items are: a pen and a book.
• Better: The items are a pen and a book.
• Correct: You need two items: a pen and a book.

Apostrophe (') for Possession

Singular noun + 's

• the girl's bag
• Rina's book

Regular plural ending in s + '

• the girls' hostel
• the teachers' room

Irregular plural + 's

• children's books
• men's shoes

Joint possession

শেষ noun-এ 's:

• Rina and Mina's house — shared house

Separate possession

দুজনের নামেই 's:

• Rina's and Mina's bags — separate bags

Apostrophe in Contractions

Omitted letters বোঝায়।

• do not → don't
• cannot → can't
• it is → it's
• they are → they're
• who is → who's

Possessive pronoun apostrophe নেয় না:

• its, yours, hers, ours, theirs, whose

Compare:

• It's raining. = It is
• The dog wagged its tail. = possession
• Who's there? = Who is
• Whose bag is this? = possession

Apostrophe and Plurals

সাধারণ plural তৈরি করতে apostrophe নয়।

• Incorrect: apple's for plural
• Correct: apples

Letters/symbols-এর clarity-তে style অনুযায়ী apostrophe দেখা যায়:

• Mind your p's and q's.

Quotation Marks

Exact words, dialogue বা short-work titles বোঝাতে।

• She said, “I am ready.”
• We read the poem “Daffodils.”

Quotation-এর ভিতরে quotation হলে alternate single/double marks style অনুযায়ী।

• “She said, ‘I am ready,’ and left,” he explained.

Direct quotation-এর wording বদলানো উচিত নয়। Indirect speech quotation marks নেয় না।

Single Quotation Marks

British style-এ primary quotations-এ single marks ব্যবহার হতে পারে; American style-এ সাধারণত double marks। Consistency জরুরি।

Hyphen (-)

Compound words বা noun-এর আগে compound modifier-এ।

• mother-in-law
• a ten-year-old child
• a well-known writer
• a five-minute break

Modifier noun-এর পরে এলে hyphen প্রায়ই বাদ যায়:

• The writer is well known.

Adverb -ly + adjective-এর মধ্যে সাধারণত hyphen নয়:

• a highly respected teacher

Dash (—)

Strong break, interruption, emphasis বা parenthetical information।

• She opened the box—and screamed.
• Three students—Rina, Mina and Tara—were selected.

Dash ও hyphen-এর কাজ আলাদা। Formal writing-এ dash সংযতভাবে ব্যবহার করুন।

Parentheses ( )

অতিরিক্ত, explanatory বা less central information।

• The programme begins at 10 a.m. (Please arrive early.)

Sentence-এর punctuation parentheses-এর ভিতরের content complete sentence কি না তার উপর নির্ভর করে।

Square Brackets [ ]

Quotation-এর মধ্যে editor-এর explanation বা পরিবর্তন বোঝায়।

• The report states, “They [the students] completed the task.”

Ellipsis (…)

Omitted words, trailing thought বা hesitation বোঝায়।

• “I thought you might…” she began.

Academic quotation-এ omission-এর অর্থ যেন বদলে না যায়।

Slash (/)

Alternatives, fractions বা certain abbreviations-এ সীমিত ব্যবহার।

• and/or
• 2025/26

Formal prose-এ clear words ব্যবহার বেশি ভালো।

Capital Letter: Sentence Beginning and I

• Sentence-এর প্রথম word capital।
• Pronoun I সবসময় capital।

• She is ready.
• Rina and I are friends.

Proper Nouns and Proper Adjectives

ব্যক্তি, স্থান, দেশ, প্রতিষ্ঠান, ভাষা, জাতীয়তা এবং proper noun থেকে গঠিত adjective capital।

• Rabindranath Tagore
• India, Kolkata
• Bengali, English
• Indian culture
• Shakespearean drama

Common noun সাধারণত lower-case:

• city, river, teacher

Days, Months and Festivals

Capital:

• Monday, January
• Durga Puja, Christmas, Eid

Seasons সাধারণত lower-case, title-এর অংশ না হলে:

• summer, winter

Titles of People

নামের আগে official title capital:

• President Murmu
• Professor Sen
• Principal Roy

Generic use lower-case:

• The principal addressed the students.
• The president spoke at the meeting.

Book and Work Titles

Major words capital; articles, short prepositions এবং conjunctions সাধারণত lower-case, যদি প্রথম word না হয়।

• The Old Man and the Sea
• A Tale of Two Cities

Chosen style consistent রাখুন।

Historical Periods, Events and Documents

Specific names capital:

• the Renaissance
• the French Revolution
• the Constitution of India

Generic description lower-case:

• a revolution
• a constitution

Directions and Regions

Compass direction lower-case:

• travel east
• the northern part of the state

Recognised region capital:

• the Middle East
• South Asia
• West Bengal

School Subjects and Academic Degrees

General subjects lower-case, language/proper name exception:

• mathematics, history
• English, Bengali

Course title capital হতে পারে:

• History 101

Degree abbreviations capital:

• B.A., M.A. — style varies

Nationalities, Languages and Religions

সবসময় capital:

• Indian, French
• English, Bengali
• Hinduism, Islam, Christianity

Colon and Capitalisation

Colon-এর পরে single phrase/list হলে lower-case; complete formal sentence বা multiple sentences হলে style অনুযায়ী capital হতে পারে। Consistency এবং house style অনুসরণ করুন।

Common Errors

• Incorrect: i live in kolkata.

Correct: I live in Kolkata.

• Incorrect: Lets eat, children.

Correct: Let's eat, children.

• Incorrect: The dog wagged it's tail.

Correct: The dog wagged its tail.

• Incorrect: These book's are useful.

Correct: These books are useful.

• Incorrect: She asked, where I lived?

Correct indirect form: She asked where I lived.

• Incorrect: Although tired, but she continued.

Correct: Although tired, she continued.

• Comma splice: It rained, we stayed home.

Correct: It rained, so we stayed home.

• Incorrect: My Favourite Subjects are english and History.

Correct: My favourite subjects are English and history.

Editing Checklist

1. প্রতিটি sentence-এর boundary স্পষ্ট কি না দেখুন।
2. Direct question ও indirect question আলাদা করুন।
3. Comma splice বা run-on আছে কি না দেখুন।
4. Possession, contraction ও plural-এ apostrophe ঠিক কি না দেখুন।
5. Direct speech-এর quotation marks ও reporting punctuation পরীক্ষা করুন।
6. Proper noun এবং sentence beginning capital করুন।
7. Unnecessary capitals ও repeated exclamation marks বাদ দিন।
8. Hyphen compound modifier-এর meaning স্পষ্ট করছে কি না দেখুন।