Written Spanish #1: Punctuate It!

Spanish punctuation is so much like English's that some textbooks and reference books don't even discuss it. But there are a few significant differences.

The following chart shows the Spanish punctuation marks and their names. Marks used differently than in English are linked to an explanation below.
 
 

Signos de puntuación

.	punto o punto final	period
,	coma	comma
:	dos puntos	colon
;	punto y coma	semicolon
—	raya	dash
-	guión	hyphen
« » “”	comillas	quotation marks
‘ ’	comillas simples	single quotation marks
¿ ?	principio y fin de interrogación	question marks
¡ !	principio y fin de exclamación o admiración	exclamation marks
( )	paréntesis	parentheses
[ ]	corchetes, parénteses cuadrados	brackets
{ }	corchetes	braces, curly brackets
*	asterisco	asterisk
...	puntos suspensivos	ellipses

. (punto o punto final)

In regular text, the period is used essentially the same as in English. However, in numerals a comma is often used instead of a period and vice versa. In U.S. and Mexican Spanish, however, the same pattern as English is often followed.

Gana $20.000,00 por año.

He earns $20,000.00 per year

, (coma)

The comma usually is used the same as in English, being used to indicate a break in thought or to set off clauses or words. One difference is that in lists, there is no comma between the last item and the y, whereas in English some writers use a comma before the "and."

Compré una camisa, dos zapatos y tres libros.

I bought a shirt, two shoes, and three books.

— (raya)

The dash is used most frequently in Spanish to indicate a change in speakers during a dialogue. In English, it is customary to separate each speakers remarks into a separate paragraph.

— ¿Cómo estás? — Muy bien ¿y tú? — Muy bien también.

How are you?     I'm fine. And you?     I'm fine too.

« » “ ” (comillas)

The angled quotation marks and the English-style quotation marks are the equivalent. The choice is primarily a matter of regional custom or the capabilities of the typesetting system.

The main difference between the English and Spanish uses of quotation marks is that sentence punctuation in Spanish goes outside the quote marks, while in English the punctuation is on the inside.

Quiero leer "Romeo y Julieta".

I want to read "Romeo and Juliet."

¿? (signos de interrogación)

In Spanish, question marks are used at the beginning and the end of a question. If a sentence contains more than a question, the question marks frame the question only.

Si no te gusta la comida, ¿por qué la comes?

If you don't like the food, why are you eating it?

¡ ! (signos de exclamación)

Exclamation points are used in the same way that question marks are. If a sentence contains a question and an exclamation, it is OK to use one of the marks at the beginning of the sentence and the other at the end.

Vi la película la noche pasada. ¡Qué susto!	I saw the movie last night. What a fright!
¡Qué lástima, estás bien?	What a pity, are you all right?

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Also in this series:
    Capitalization
    Diacritical Marks
    A Quiz!

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