Before talking about the importance of using punctuation let’s define what exactly are they. They are special symbols that you add to a text to divide it into separate phrases and sentences to show that something is a question, an imperative, etc. For example, comma (,), hyphen (-), question mark (?), etc.
It can be said that “writing” is a form of “speaking” in which the speaker in expressing what they mean through written words without any voice. So, we can say that when the words are voiceless so there will be no “intonation,” and “body language.” These two factors help us understand a person better while they are speaking. Then what will happen if we remove them? It will cause misunderstanding.
Why do we have to use punctuation?
Take a look at the below sentence:
“Let’s eat, Grandma.”
What will happen if I remove the comma after the word “eat”?
“Let’s eat Grandma.”!!!
In the first sentence, the speaker is inviting Grandma to eat. While it infers from the second sentence that the speaker is a cannibal and wants to eat Grandma with another person!!! Gross and horrifying!
Therefore, the use of punctuation aids the readers to read the text correctly and understand what exactly the writer meant.
