PUNctuate or not PUNctuate?

How can punctuation marks influence the meaning of a sentence? How can an Oxford comma help you avoid embarrassment? These questions make many of us curious, that is why we started the new semester with a workshop on punctuation “Traffic signals for safe driving,” which gathered more punctuation geeks than we expected.

The workshop was held by the AWC director Svetlana Suchkova. Through trial and error, participants came to a better understanding of:

• what makes English punctuation different from Russian 

• which punctuation marks present difficulty for Russian authors

• what variations exist in the British and American language variants; and

• what strategies can help writers master punctuation in English.

These are some comments workshop participants voiced over: 

• “Very helpful information. Essentials of the whole punctuation in two hours!”

• “The content was amazing, so much material was covered that I felt focused all the time. The speaker is wonderful. This is a great example of what a webinar should be like - intense and fun at the same time.”

• “Cosy atmosphere and encouraging speaker; relevant data and detailed information on the topic; excellent, memorable examples.”

If you’ve missed the workshop, see the recording. Commas, double marks, capitals, quotes – what is your favorite punctuation mark?