Spanish Punctuation Rules for Beginners

Spanish Punctuation Rules for Beginners Spanish and English are similar enough in their punctuation that a beginner might look at something in Spanish and not notice anything unusual except for a few upside-down question marks or exclamation points. However, there are a few differences, some of them subtle, in the way the two languages are punctuated. Questions and Exclamations As already mentioned, the most common difference is the use of inverted question marks and exclamation points, a feature that is almost unique to Spanish. (Galician, a minority language of Spain and Portugal, also uses them.) The inverted punctuation is used at the beginning of questions and exclamations. They should be used within a sentence if only part of the sentence contains the question or exclamation.  ¡Quà © sorpresa! (What a surprise!) ¿Quieres ir? (Do you want to go?)Vas al supermercado,  ¿no? (Youre going to the supermarket, arent you?)No va  ¡maldito sea! (Hes not going, darn it!) Dialogue Dashes Another difference youre likely to see often is the use of a dash - such as the ones separating this clause from the rest of the sentence - to indicate the beginning of dialogue. The dash is also used to end dialogue within a paragraph or to indicate a change in speaker, although none is needed at the end of dialogue if the end comes at the end of a paragraph. It isnt necessary to start a new paragraph with a change in speaker as is customary in English. These dashes are used by many writers instead of quotation marks, although the use of quotation marks isnt uncommon. Less common still is the use of angular quotation marks, which find more use in Spain than Latin America. -  ¿Vas al supermercado?- le preguntà ³. - No sà ©. (Are you going to the store? he asked her.  ¶I dont know.) Punctuation Within Numbers A third difference youll see in writing from Spanish-speaking countries is that comma and period usage in numbers is reversed from what it is in English; in other words, Spanish uses a decimal comma. For example, 12,345.67 in English becomes 12.345,67 in Spanish, and $89.10 becomes $89,10. Publications in Mexico and Puerto Rico, however, generally use the same number style as is used in the United States. Other less common or less significant differences in punctuation between Spanish and English are detailed in a more advanced lesson on punctuation.