Hello everyone and welcome back to LearnAmo! Writing is something that many underestimate, both Italians and foreigners who learn Italian, mainly because it is considered something that is not so relevant, of secondary importance, because "everybody can understand me anyway", "today's devices have an automatic corrector", because "I'll never have to write" and then I see desperate people who have to write a cover letter to be admitted to a prestigious Italian university or to do a job interview in Italy and they ask: "Do you need a comma here or a period? What do you need the semicolon for? Is this sentence too long? ". That's right, in fact punctuation is really important when writing so that the other can understand without problems or misunderstandings what we want to say. Fortunately in Italian the punctuation rules are few and this simple lesson will be enough for you to learn them all and write correctly, in any context. Even when you send the message to the girl or boy you like, because, let's face it, you win a person's heart even with a nice, well written message, at least that's how it works for me! So, before starting I want to give you a couple of examples, to show you how punctuation can change completely the meaning of two sentences apparently identical. "Let's go eat, grandma!" "Let's go eat grandma!" "Hard day to forget!" "Hard day, one to forget!" Do these sentences really say completely different things? Yup! Let's see the first two sentences: if you say "let's go eat, grandma!" (did you notice the pause, before "grandma"?), this means that you are addressing your grandmother, that you are calling her to invite her to eat or to warn her that you are going to eat. If, on the other hand, you say "let's go eat grandma!" (without pause) means that you are inviting someone who is with you to go and eat, together with you, your poor granny ... as a meal! I don't know if it's clear: a comma saves a grandma! Let's move on to the other two sentences: if you say "hard day to forget!" (without pause) means that the day you are talking about will be difficult to forget because maybe something very important happened, good or bad. If, on the other hand, you say "Hard day, one to forget!" (with a break in the middle) it means that the day you are talking about was particularly difficult, particularly bad, so much so that it must be absolutely forgotten! Do you notice the difference? Misusing punctuation can create great misunderstandings because the reader will understand something different from what you meant instead. But now let's see immediately what are the punctuation marks in Italian, so we know immediately who we are dealing with. The main ones are: the period, the question mark, the exclamation mark, the comma, the semicolon, quotation marks, dashes, brackets. Let's start with the comma! The comma marks a short pause in the sentence; it is a break that is used to let the reader breathe (if you are reading aloud) and give rhythm to the sentence. Here are the cases in which it is used: when drawing up a list, among the various elements except between the last two, where instead an "e/and" should be placed; for example: "I went to the supermarket and bought: apples, oranges, honey, artichokes, bread, jam and potatoes. " After an element at the beginning of the sentence that refers to something previously said or known: "having said that, we have to think about the future ..." or "After this brief clarification, the show can start! ". To isolate a word or an entire sentence that offers additional information, not strictly needed: "Paolo, the boy I told you about, has just returned from Paris." After the name of the place in dates :"Rome, 10th of July 2010 ". Before prepositions or conjunctions to change the rhythm of the phrase or accentuate a meaning you want to give: "I will, but I need time!" or "I think it's a good solution, for you and me. "In the if clauses, to separate the two sentences: "if you go out tonight, call me!". You don't know what the if clause is and how it works? I did a lesson on that too! Find the link in the card and in the description! Now, a doubt that many have is: "do you have to put the comma before the conjunction "e/and "or not? In fact, will it be written: "I haven't yet gone to visit Sergio and I think I will not go for the moment" or "I haven't visited Sergio yet, and I think I won't go there for the moment?" Well, there is no real answer to this question! Actually, even the Crusca Academy says that it is rather a subjective and optional choice, but it is usually not essential. Now let's move on to the period. The period indicates the end of a sentence, consequently indicates a pause decidedly longer than that of a comma. Here are some golden rules to know on the period: with the exception of titles (of articles, books or films) every sentence must always end with a period; "Lucia is a beautiful girl. I didn't think we would become friends, yet it happened. I love her very much." The length of a sentence before the period is always a personal choice, but it is still advisable never to overdo it if you want to avoid tire the reader and create misunderstandings. The word following the period must always begin with a capital letter: "Sergio and Luca have been friends for many years. They never quarreled because they get along very well. " The colon, however, have the function of introduce or announce something; for example: a list, an enumeration or a quote; "I really think we invited everyone to the party: Luca, Stefania, Piero, Vincenzo, Lucia, Marta and Giulio. " or "my motto is: "respect for everyone, fear of no one"; or to introduce the cause of something, an explanation, a clarification; "I didn't like the cake: it was too dry"; "I think I'll skip dinner and go straight to bed: I worked all day and I'm very tired." Keep in mind that it is best to avoid using the colon twice in the same sentence, so where possible it would be better to replace it with a "perché/because" or rephrase the whole sentence; for example "Sofia doesn't really want to dance: it was a difficult week for her because her boyfriend had a motorcycle accident. " Now, instead, let's talk about the semicolon, which introduces a longer pause than that of a comma, but shorter than that of a period. The semicolon is the black sheep of punctuation marks, the one that few use, many underestimate and which is actually really useful. I'll show you the most important cases to know to make the best use of it: it indicates the end of the concept expressed, but not the end of the general idea, that is, there is an interruption in the form, but not in the content of the sentence; for example: "I don't really want to play tennis today, because I woke up rather early and there is no need for me to overdo; watching TV, on the other hand, would relax me more. " In the first part of this sentence I say I don't want to play tennis and I explain why, concluding the concept, but later I add an alternative to tennis (TV) which is not related to tennis, but still refers to the general idea (how to pass the time) tonight. It is also used at the end of each element of a list, especially when this list is by points. Well, a bit like the lists I'm doing in this video, did you notice? Now, instead, let's see the ellipsis, that, be careful, are always three dots: not two, not four, THREE! These indicate a rather long pause, more than a period and, like the other punctuation marks, they can have various uses: they let the interlocutor understand that we have a doubt, that we are not 100% convinced of what we are saying; "I'm hungry: maybe I should eat something before lunch ... Mh, no, well, I'll wait! ". They make it clearer that the person who is talking or writing wants to take a long break, perhaps to reflect on what to say next or to make listeners and readers better absorb the information preceding the elipsis; "I'm sorry ... I'm serious ... I didn't want to hurt you ... It happened so quickly and I didn't think it would be possible ... Really". They express the continuation of a numbering, a list, replacing the classic "etc."; "we organized everything for the wedding: dress, rings, restaurant, presents, church, guests ... ". They are used to not end a vulgar word or to avoid it completely; "you destroyed all my plants with that knife! You are a bast ...! A real ...! " If placed in between square brackets, it indicates a "cut" in a quote; "my favorite quote is 'I don't want to erase my past, because for better or for worse it has made me who I am today [...] I thank myself for always finding the strength to get up and move on always' by Oscar Wilde. " Now let's see the question mark and the exclamation mark instead. The question mark is used at the end of a question; "what can we do for you?". In indirect questions, however, it should not be put; "he asked me if I had seen his son." If it is put in brackets it indicates uncertainty about the information we are giving: "Dante Alighieri was born on May 21 (?) 1265. " The exclamation mark, instead, is used at the end of a sentence that emphasizes; can express anger "Dammit! I'm not getting anything right today!", surprise "what a nice gift! I wasn't expecting it!", exasperation "It's the fourth time I've called you! You can't always ignore my calls!", orders "Have fun! Be careful! And don't come home late!". It is also used after interjections; "ah! I forgot to tell you that I'm not going to dinner today" or "oh! Are you crazy?" Ah and I wanted to remind you that if you are curious to know what are the smallest, shortest words of the Italian language - among which there are also many interjections like ah, oh, eh - don't miss the video we made on this very subject! You can find the link at the top, in the card or in the description, as always. But now let's go on: the word following the exclamation mark or interrogative one must always start with a capital letter; "I'm so bored! Do you want to watch a movie? Maybe the new one with Brad Pitt?". As for reading, these two signs require a different intonation: "so many friends you have!" instead of "how many friends do you have?". And now let's see the cute quotation marks: when do you need to use them? They are used at the beginning and end of a quote; 'Socrates said: "Whoever wants to move the world, first move himself"'. At the beginning and end of a sentence reported as direct speech; The concern on the boyfriend's face was evident when the girl said to him: "Let's talk about it tomorrow!" '; to indicate a word or expression you want to underline or emphasize, like metaphors, foreign words, slang, slang words or dialectal expressions; 'won't all this stuff be just "trop" for the two of us?' ; to signal, often in an ironic tone, something as something else: 'My friend Gianni is an "influencer": ha 2 thousand followers on Instagram! '. The next sign are the brackets. In Italian there are three types of brackets: round, square and curly; however, only the rounds are used in texts, apart from the case of the elipsis in the squares one we have seen before. All three are, however, used in math, but if you want to deepen the subject of math in Italian, you can do it through our dedicated video to this topic: as always the link is in the card or in the description. Always remember that when you find a word or phrase between two round brackets, you have to change the tone of your voice, but first let's see how they are used and then how they are read: to isolate a word or group of words within a sentence, perhaps because we want to express a comment or a clarification; "according to superstition (not that I believe it) if a black cat crosses the road, it will bring you bad luck "; to add sentences that could be quietly eliminated from the text without consequences for the expressed concept. "Francesco (whom I haven't talked to for a year, by the way) is about to come back to the city." I would like to point out that, in both cases, we may also replace the brackets with commas. Finally, we have the dashes: they are used to add or highlight some information, practically like the brackets we saw earlier. "Federico - despite all the things he had to do - managed to finish his job ". In a dialogue, within a direct speech, to add something more about who speaks and how he/she speaks; "I believe - said the man with an intense look - that you are the most beautiful thing that has ever happened to me " or, if the person who is speaking says something to someone else or makes an interruption from the speech he/she was making; "I think you should apologize - ouch! This cup is too hot! - because it's you who made the mistake". Now I have a beautiful reading and listening exercise for you: I will show you a text, I will read it with the right intonation, depending on the punctuation marks I will encounter while reading, and after that I will leave you a few minutes, so that you can reread it, as many times as you like, following my intonation. Here it is: "It took me a long time to figure out where it came from. The little prince, who asked me one question after another, seemed to never hear mine. It was the words spoken by chance that gradually revealed everything to me. So when he first saw my airplane (I won't draw it because it would be too complicated for me), he asked me: "What is this thing?" "It is not a thing - it flies. It's an airplane. It's my airplane." I was very proud to let him know I could fly. Then he shouted: "What? You fell from the sky!" "Yes," I replied modestly. "Ah! This is funny ..." How was it? Let me know in the comments! Instead, if you want to learn how to write a formal email in Italian, don't miss the dedicated video just to this topic: as always you will find the link in the card and down in the description. Finally, I remind you that if you have not already done so, (why didn't you do it?) you must follow LearnAmo also on all social media: on Instagram, on Facebook and on Twitter, for many extra contents! See you there! See you soon for a new video! Bye!