You punctuation marks (scoring signs) in Spanish are part of orthographic signs (orthographic signs), which are subdivided into scoring signs and auxiliary signs.
You scoring signs they have the function of marking the intonation and pauses for the correct reading of utterances; organize the discourse and its different elements to facilitate its understanding; avoid ambiguities in texts that, without their use, could have different interpretations; and to highlight the special character of some text fragments, such as quotes, paragraphs and interventions by different interlocutors in a dialogue.
In turn, the auxiliary signs have functions such as marking the stressed syllable and separating or expressing relationships between words. In this article, we will look at all punctuation marks and some auxiliary signs with similar functions as punctuation marks.
You punctuation marks in Spanish are:
point (Score) –.
with the (comma) - ,
point and coma (semicolon) - ;
of the points (two points) - :
suspension points (ellipsis) - ...
parentheses (parentheses) – ( )
raya (dash) – —
comillas (quotation marks) - " "
interrogation (interrogation) - ?
exclamation (exclamation) – ¡ !
brackets(brackets) - [ ]
already theauxiliary signs in Spanish are:
apostrophe (apostrophe);
asterisk (asterisk);
bar (bar);
dieresis (umlaut);
script (hyphen);
key (key);
tilde (acute accent).
Read too: Acentuación — what are the rules for performing accentuation in Spanish?
Topics of this article
- 1 - Rules for using punctuation marks in Spanish
- 2 - Solved exercises on punctuation marks in Spanish
Rules for using punctuation marks in Spanish
point (.)
Indicates a pause at the end of an utterance, a paragraph or a text. When used to separate statements from the same paragraph, it is called point y followed. If it is used at the end of a paragraph to start another, it is called point and aside. If used at the end of a text or an important division of it, it is called a final point.
María says that she arrives at las dos. Her husband waits for her in the salon.
(Maria said she arrives at two. Her husband waits for her in the living room.)
Do not stop now... There's more after the ad ;)
With the (,)
the comma is used in the following cases:
a) In explanatory adjective clauses or in any explanation or clarification inserted in a clause:
Tiago, that you are Adriana's brother, just arrived.
(James, who is Adriana's brother, has just arrived.)
All in the group, including those who always carried the contraria, were in favor.
(Everyone in the group, including those who always disagreed, was in favor.)
b) In accessory clauses, that is, which have no syntactic link with the elements of the utterance:
Mary's Pie, how delightful!
(Maria's pie, delicious!)
c) To separate or isolate elements or clauses within the same utterance:
buy me two t-shirts, three pants, one dress and some shorts.
(I bought two t-shirts, three pants, a dress, and a pair of shorts.)
d) To separate the main clause from the subordinate clause, when the latter comes first:
If you sell before me, open the door. / Cierra la puerta si sales before me.
If you leave before me, close the door. / Close the door if you leave before me.
e) To separate grammatically equivalent elements in the same utterance:
Llegué, I saw, I won.
(I came, I saw, I conquered.)
f) To isolate the vocative:
Juana, catch the light.
(Juana, turns on the light.)
g) Interjections or interjective phrases are also written between commas:
Bah, how difficult is this situation.
(Bah / Damn, what a difficult situation.)
h) To separate the subject from the verb complements when the verb is in ellipse (hidden):
La hija mayor tiene 14 años; the minor, 12.
(Eldest daughter is 14 years old; the smallest, 12.)
i) In clauses with distributive conjunctions (bien…bien; ya… ya):
VWe love to do something, good in your house, good in my mother.
(Let's do something, at your place or mine.)
Some conjunctions require the use of a comma, as is the case with but (but), which must be preceded by a comma, and no embargo (however, however), which must be followed by a comma.
La llamé, but I didn't answer.
(I called her, but she didn't answer.)
The crisis is waning; without embargo, even it is not possible to speak in stability.
(The crisis is waning; however, one cannot speak of stability yet.)
j) At the beginning of a letter, to separate the name of the place from the date:
San Juan, May 4, 2022.
(San Juan, May 4, 2022.)
k) With some adverbial phrases or circumstantial elements that are long:
In the first week of May, we went to visit Mom.
(The first week of May, we went to visit Mom.)
In that house with the yellow roof, we lived for five years.
(In that yellow-roofed house, we lived to be five.)
point and coma (;)
This punctuation mark indicates a pause longer than the comma and shorter than the period. Is used for:
a) Separating elements of an enumeration that includes comma-separated expressions:
The institute teacher, María González, was present at the event; the president of the association, Pedro Maldonado; and the coordinator, Marcelo Balenciaga.
(The school teacher, María González, was present at the event; the association's president, Pedro Maldonado; and the coordinator, Marcelo Balenciaga.)
b) To separate independent clauses, but which the writer considers to have a solid link:
All home; ya no hay más que ver aquí.
(All home; there is nothing more to see here.)
In that case, you can also use the point y followed or of the points. It all depends on who writes.
c) After each element of a list written on independent lines, the last one ending with a period:
Verbs in the past tense of indicative in Spanish:
(Verbs in the past tense in Spanish:)
➢ past perfect;
➢ indefinite past tense;
➢ imperfect past tense;
➢ past tense pluscuamperfect.
two points (:)
The two points serve to draw attention to what follows. They're used:
a) Faced with an enumeration:
Wear all the stuff you gave me for the super: rice, beans, harina and vegetables.
(I brought everything you ordered from the supermarket: rice, beans, flour and vegetables.)
b) Before citations:
María tells me: “Don’t forget to bring your apuntes.”
(Maria told me, “Don’t forget to bring your notes.”)
c) After greetings in letters and documents:
Dear teacher:
(Dear Professor:)
d) Marks an emphatic pause after introductory phrases such as to know (to know), now good (Yet), well (well), this is (that's it), I say another way (said another way), in other words (in other words), but still (Even more; further):
Do you remember that Alejandra had moved from Bolivia? Pues bien: she returned to La Paz.
(Remember that Alejandra had moved from Bolivia? Well, he has already returned to La Paz.)
suspension points (…)
Ellipses are used to:
a) To indicate the voluntary interruption of an utterance that may be implied by the addressee:
You know the refrán: but it's worth it to pajaro in hand…
(You already know the saying: better a bird in the hand…)
b) To indicate doubt, uncertainty or suspense:
Aprobé en dos buenas universities and in the sé cuál elect…
(I went to two good universities and I don’t know which one to choose…)
If I will tell you what happened to Juan…
(If I told you what happened to Juan…)
Suddenly, the door opened…
(Suddenly, the door opened…)
c) To avoid repeating long titles of works that will be mentioned more than once:
The story The incredible and sad story of the candida Erendira and her soulless abuela was written by Gabriel García Márquez. The characters of La increíble y triste… son muy complejos.
(The short story “The incredible and sad story of the candid Erêndira and her soulless grandmother” was written by Gabriel García Márquez. The characters in the short story “The Incredible and Sad…” are very complex.)
d) In parentheses or square brackets in textual citations, the suspension points indicate which part of the text has been deleted:
“Abuela protected herself from the eternal sun with a broken Paraguay and breathed poorly because of the torture of the sweat and the polvo. [...] Behind the pile of cans and sacks of rice, Erendira paid for the journey.” (MÁRQUEZ, 1972, p. 7).
(Grandmother protected herself from the eternal sun with an unsewn umbrella and breathed badly from the torture of sweat and dust. […] Behind the pile of cans and sacks of rice, Erêndira paid for the trip.)
e) At the end of an enumeration, the suspension points indicate that the list could go on:
We can go to the shopping center and do something: go to the cinema, eat…
(We can go to the mall and do something: go to the movies, eat…)
parentheses ( )
They are used for:
a) Insert explanatory elements or comments:
Her mother (who was a doctor) was on guard.
(Her mother (who was a doctor) was on call.)
b) To enter options in a text:
If you are looking for a guy who wants to play the guitar.
(We are looking for a boy who knows how to play the guitar.)
c) In textual citations, use three dots between parentheses to indicate that part of the text has been deleted. In this case, you can also use square brackets.
“Abuela protected herself from the eternal sun with a broken Paraguay and breathed poorly because of the torture of the sweat and the polvo. (...) Behind the pile of cans and sacks of rice, Erendira paid for the journey.” (MÁRQUEZ, 1972, p. 7).
(Grandmother protected herself from the eternal sun with an unsewn umbrella and breathed badly from the torture of sweat and dust. (...) Behind the pile of cans and bags of rice, Erendira paid for the trip.)
Raya (—)
Is used for:
a) Delimit clarifications:
Her madre dela — who was a doctor — was on guard.
(Your mother — who was a doctor — was on duty.)
b) Introduce lines into dialogues:
— Where are my red pants? - said Camilla.
(—Where are my red pants? — said Camilla.)
comillas (“ ”)
The main function of comillas (quotes) is to indicate the reproduction of words that are not ours, whether in literary works or in dialogues.
“What a beautiful day… ”, thought Camila as he walked.
(“What a beautiful day…”, thought Camila as she walked.)
They can also be used to indicate that words are being used ironically or that they have an inappropriate or vulgar meaning.
Los “negocios” by Camila le van muy bien.
(Camila’s “business” is doing very well.)
interrogation ( ?)and Exclamation/Admiration (¡ !)
These signs delimit interrogative and exclamatory sentences, respectively. In Spanish, it is mandatory to use the opening signs (¿ ¡) exactly where the question or exclamation begins, even if inside the sentence:
If you don't like it, why are you with him?
(If you don't like him, why are you with him?)
What happiness!
(What happiness!)
brackets [ ]
They are used in the following cases:
a) Within statements in parentheses in which it is necessary to introduce some clarifying note. Also in math formulas:
Cervantes (born in the sixteenth century [1547]) was a great Spanish writer.
(Cervantes (born 16th century [1547]) was a great Spanish writer.
b) In poetry books, square brackets are used to indicate that the last words of a verse did not fit on the same line:
Oh, I can't decide! It was everyone's hecha
[the things.
Oh nothing I can say! was made of all
[things. (NERUDA, 2012, p. 33)
c) In linguistics, square brackets are used to indicate the phonetic transcription of a word:
key ['ʎaβe]
key ['ʃavi]
Regarding auxiliary signs, we can highlight the following:
Asterisk (*)
Is used for:
a) Insert a callout to a footnote.
b) Indicate that a construction is ungrammatical, that is, impossible to be reproduced in a language:
This object is very nice.* (the word is not used guapo for objects in Spanish.)
Bar (/)
a) Replaces a preposition:
km/h (kilometer per hour) (kilometer per hour)
decree 1/95 (first decree of 1995) (first decree of 1995)
salary 7000 pesos/month (= pesos al month) (pesos per month)
b) Between two words or highlighting a morpheme, indicates that there are two options:
dear friend
(Dear friend)
c) In dates, to separate day, month and year: 05/04/2022
d) In linguistics, it is used to separate phonological transcriptions, that is, the sounds of a language:
the word hunt can be pronounced like /kaθa/ The /kasa/.
(The word hunt can be pronounced as /kaθa/ or /kasa/.)
script (-)
The hyphen can be used to join words or to indicate a space between numbers:
Admnistrative technician.
The pages 30-75. (from 30 to 75)
Llave { }
It is mainly used in synoptic tables or schemes that encompass several elements.
Apostrophe (’)
In literary texts, it indicates the suppression of a final vowel in some words. In writing, it also indicates the suppression of sounds produced in the oral language:
Mi'ja - mi hija (my daughter)
P'Allah — to allah (for there)
OJO!The word apostrophe, in Spanish, means vehement invocation or insult. It is a false cognate.
Read too: The whys in Spanish — what are they and how to use them?
Solved exercises on punctuation marks in Spanish
Question 01
Complete the sentences with the appropriate punctuation signs:
a) ___ Welcome to Spanish ____
b) ___ How do you say “chair” in Spanish ____
c) I call myself Soledad___
d) I have a list of what I have to buy___ a couple of new clothes, a bufanda and a boot.
e) La chica nueva ___ I came from Argentina ___ was very shy.
Solution
a) Welcome to Spanish!
b) How do you say “chair” in Spanish?
c) I call Soledad.
d) I have a list of what I have to buy: uno guantes nuevos, una bufanda y una bota.
e) La chica nueva, who came from Argentina, was very shy. (You can also use dashes or parentheses here.)
Question 02
What scoring sign is used at the end of each element of a list?
a) End point.
b) Comillas.
c) Eat.
d) Punto and coma.
e) Bracket.
Solution
Letter D
In this context, use point and coma (semicolon).
By Renata Martins Gornattes
Spanish teacher
