ABSTRACT
Commonly referred to as “ending punctuation,” periods, question marks, and exclamation points can be placed almost anywhere. They usually come at the end of a complete sentence, but they can also follow an incomplete sentence, whether in the form of a dependent clause, phrase, or single word. These marks indicate when a sentence (or incomplete sentence) has ended and whether it is declaring, asking, or exclaiming.
Periods can also provide visual closure, and the short sentence (or phrase or word) abruptly ending in a period can powerfully drive home your message. Question marks can signal editorial opinion, and the rhetorical question (a question to which you already know the answer) can dramatically express your point. Exclamation points have become especially popular in informal writing, where they are used to convey friendliness and support for the reader.
More challenging than the correct use of periods, question marks, and exclamation points is their correct positioning in conjunction with other forms of punctuation.
