\tChinese punctuation marks are used to organize and clarify written Chinese. Chinese punctuation marks are similar in function to English punctuation marks, but sometimes differ in form.<\/p>\n
\tAll Chinese characters are written to a uniform size, and this size also extends to punctuation marks, so Chinese punctuation marks usually take up more space than their English counterparts.<\/p>\n
\tChinese characters can be written either vertically or horizontally, so the Chinese punctuation marks change position depending on the direction of the text.<\/p>\n
\tFor example, parentheses and quotation marks are rotated 90 degrees when written vertically, and the full stop mark is placed below and to the right of the last character when written vertically.<\/p>\n
\tCOMMON CHINESE PUNCTUATION MARKS
\tHere are the most commonly used Chinese punctuation marks:<\/p>\n
\tFULL STOP
\tThe Chinese full stop is a small circle that takes the space of one Chinese character. The Mandarin name of the full stop is \u53e5\u865f\/\u53e5\u53f7 (jù hào). It is used at the end of simple or complex sentence, as in these examples:<\/p>\n
\t\u8acb\u4f60\u5e6b\u6211\u8cb7\u4e00\u4efd\u5831\u7d19\u3002
\t\u8bf7\u4f60\u5e2e\u6211\u4e70\u4e00\u4efd\u62a5\u7eb8\u3002
\tQ\u01d0ng n\u01d0 b\u0101ng w\u01d2 m\u01cei y\u012b fèn bàozh\u01d0.
\tPlease help me buy a newspaper.<\/p>\n
\t\u9be8\u9b5a\u662f\u7378\u985e\uff0c\u4e0d\u662f\u9b5a\u985e\uff1b\u8759\u8760\u662f\u7378\u985e\uff0c\u4e0d\u662f\u9ce5\u985e\u3002
\t\u9cb8\u9c7c\u662f\u517d\u7c7b\uff0c\u4e0d\u662f\u9c7c\u7c7b\uff1b\u8759\u8760\u662f\u517d\u7c7b\uff0c\u4e0d\u662f\u9e1f\u7c7b\u3002
\tJ\u012bngyú shì shòu lèi, búshì yú lèi; bi\u0101nfú shì shòu lèi, búshì ni\u01ceo lèi.
\tWhales are mammals, not fish; bats are mammals, not birds.
\tCOMMA
\tThe Mandarin name of the Chinese comma is \u9017\u865f\/\u9017\u53f7 (dòu hào). It is the same as the English comma, except it takes the space of one full character and is positioned in the middle of the line.<\/p>\n
\tIt is used to separate clauses within a sentence, and to indicate pauses. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n
\t\u5982\u679c\u98b1\u98a8\u4e0d\u4f86\uff0c\u6211\u5011\u5c31\u51fa\u570b\u65c5\u884c\u3002
\t\u5982\u679c\u53f0\u98ce\u4e0d\u6765\uff0c\u6211\u4eec\u5c31\u51fa\u56fd\u65c5\u884c\u3002
\tRúgu\u01d2 táif\u0113ng bù lái, w\u01d2men jiù ch\u016b guó l\u01daxíng.
\tIf the typhoon does not come, we will take a trip abroad.<\/p>\n
\t\u73fe\u5728\u7684\u96fb\u8166\uff0c\u771f\u662f\u7121\u6240\u4e0d\u80fd\u3002
\t\u73b0\u5728\u7684\u7535\u8111\uff0c\u771f\u662f\u65e0\u6240\u4e0d\u80fd\u3002
\tXiànzài de diànn\u01ceo, zh\u0113nshì wú su\u01d2 bù néng.
\tModern computers, they are truly essential.<\/p>\n
\tENUMERATION COMMA
\tThe enumeration comma is used to separate list items. It is a short dash going from top left to bottom right. The Mandarin name of the enumeration comma is \u9813\u865f\/\u987f\u53f7 (dùn hào). The difference between the enumeration comma and the regular comma can be seen in the following example:<\/p>\n
\t\u559c\u3001\u6012\u3001\u54c0\u3001\u6a02\u3001\u611b\u3001\u60e1\u3001\u6b32\uff0c\u53eb\u505a\u4e03\u60c5\u3002
\t\u559c\u3001\u6012\u3001\u54c0\u3001\u4e50\u3001\u7231\u3001\u6076\u3001\u6b32\uff0c\u53eb\u505a\u4e03\u60c5\u3002
\tX\u01d0, nù, \u0101i, lè, ài, è, yù, jiàozuò q\u012b qíng.
\tHappiness, anger, sadness, joy, love, hate, and desire are known as the seven passions.
\tCOLON, SEMICOLON, QUESTION MARK & EXCLAMATION MARK
\tThese four Chinese punctuation marks are the same as their English counterparts and have the same usage as in English. Their names are as follows:<\/p>\n
\tColon\u5192\u865f\/\u5192\u53f7 (mào hào) – \uff1a
\tSemicolon – \u5206\u865f\/\u5206\u53f7 (f\u0113nhào) – \uff1b
\tQuestion Mark – \u554f\u865f\/\u95ee\u53f7 (wènhào) – \uff1f
\tExclamation Mark – \u9a5a\u5606\u865f\/\u60ca\u53f9\u53f7 (j\u012bng tàn hào) – \uff01
\tQUOTATION MARKS
\tQuotation marks are called \u5f15\u865f\/\u5f15\u53f7 (y\u01d0n hào) in Mandarin Chinese. There are both single and double quote marks, with the double quotes used within the single quotes:<\/p>\n
\t\u300c…\u300e…\u300f…\u300d
\tWestern-style quotation marks are used in simplified Chinese, but traditional Chinese uses the symbols as shown above. They are used for quoted speech, emphasis and sometimes for proper nouns and titles.<\/p>\n
\t\u8001\u5e2b\u8aaa\uff1a\u300c\u4f60\u5011\u8981\u8a18\u4f4f\u3000\u570b\u7236\u8aaa\u7684\u300e\u9752\u5e74\u8981\u7acb\u5fd7\u505a\u5927\u4e8b\uff0c\u4e0d\u8981\u505a\u5927\u5b98\u300f\u9019\u53e5\u8a71\u3002\u300d
\t\u8001\u5e08\u8bf4\uff1a“\u4f60\u4eec\u8981\u8bb0\u4f4f\u3000\u56fd\u7236\u8bf4\u7684‘\u9752\u5e74\u8981\u7acb\u5fd7\u505a\u5927\u4e8b\uff0c\u4e0d\u8981\u505a\u5927\u5b98’\u8fd9\u53e5\u8bdd\u3002”
\tL\u01ceosh\u012b shu\u014d: “N\u01d0men yào jìzhu Guófù shu\u014d de ‘q\u012bngnián yào lì zhì zuò dàshì, bùyào zuò dà gu\u0101n’ zhè jù huà.”
\tThe teacher said: “You must remember the words of Sun Yat-sen – ‘Youth should be committed to do big things, not to make big government.’"<\/p>\n