Typographical Symbols and Their Significance

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Grammatical symbols are punctuation marks that are used to divide words and clauses and to show how the sentence should be read; they also allow you to convey the message easily.

There are a lot of symbols we aren’t aware of that hold some importance and utility. In this post, I’m sharing some common and uncommon symbols along with their meanings.

1. Slash [/]: It is of different use and holds specific meanings in different situations, it is used to show relationships, alternatives (This/that), and fractions (2/3).
2. Ellipses [….]: In formal writing, it is used to indicate blank space, while in informal writing it is often used to indicate pause.
3. Asterisk [*]: Used to indicate footnotes (ex. *According to WHO’s report).
4. Ampersand [&]: This symbol is used in only informal conversation and it is a substitute for the word “and”(ex. Rock & Roll), in the case of formal writing using Ampersand is considered an immature act.
5. Hash symbol [#]: It is usually used to indicate a number in a paragraph (#1 on the chart).
6. Tilde [~]: It often finds its utility in informal conversations and is used to mean “about” and when it is used formally it stands for “Approximately”. (ex. I think my dog weighs ~ 20 pounds).
7. Caret symbol [^]: It is usually used in proofreading and to indicate an exponent if a writer cannot use superscript. (ex. 3 ^ 4).
8. Semicolon [;]: Like a comma, semicolon is used when two sentences are very closely connected. ex. I buy perfume with the gift money collecting perfume is my hobby.
9. Hyphen [-]: The hyphen is used to form compound words Ex. Father-in-Law Mother-in-Law.
10. Parentheses [()]: This is used to add additional information in a sentence and is referred to as parentheses ex. Tomorrow is Sunday (My favorite day).
11. Square brackets [[]]: It is used to add additional information to the quotation. Ex. The judge said that the defense attorney [Mr. wright] had made it clear that the case was far from closed.
12. Curly brackets [{}]: It is rarely used and is used to group a set; I have different favorite colors {red, green, yellow}, which I choose based on my preference.
13. Angle [<>]: Angle brackets are used in formal writing like mathematics, law, computing etc.
14. Quotation marks [“”]: It is used to contain quotations; ex. She said, “ Don’t let the dog out of the park”.
15. Apostrophe [‘]: To form possessiveness and contractions Ex. The house’s back door is open.

These are some common typographical symbols that are used in articles and conversations.

Thanks for reading

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