to punctuate
6
3.5
- verb
- /ˈpʌŋk.tʃu.eɪt/
:
puntuar
- Teachers often advise students to punctuate their essays to improve readability.
Examples
-
The opportunity for students to verbalize their concepts can serve to punctuate, embellish, and reinforce the students' nonverbal understanding.
Academic text (1993) -
I followed along behind them, content to listen, watching how Svendsen punctuated his sentences with sweeping gestures.
Fiction book (1998) -
So the first order term in punctuating writing and giving structure to your writing is this.
-
There is no single correct answer to punctuating a given sentence, as not all punctuation is mandatory.
Academic text (2002) -
Chevrier jabbed his finger at Max's chest again to punctuate his statement.
Fiction book (2002) -
When he speaks, every emphatic phrase is punctuated with extravagant arm gestures.
Academic text (2008) -
A gifted storyteller, Eliane Brum punctuates her reportages with personal commentaries and self-reflections on the practice of journalism.
Academic text (2017) -
When writing, it is important to punctuate your sentences correctly to enhance clarity.
-
Using commas and periods to punctuate your thoughts can make your writing easier to understand.
Surface Forms
Morphology
punctuate = punctuation (transparent) = punct + ate
The verb is a predictable back-formation from the noun 'punctuation'; learners who know 'punctuation' can infer the meaning of the verb.
Etymology
The word punctuate comes from the Latin punctum, meaning 'point' or 'dot', and is the same root in puncture and punctuation. Think of adding little points or marks, like commas, dots and question marks, to make your sentences clear, so to punctuate is to put those marks in the right places.