Punctuation is small but powerful.
And punctuation mark use is different between Spanish and English.
By the end of this post you will be able to write with confidence without ever having to worry about whether your semicolon or comma is in the wrong place.
Contents
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1. Punto (Period)
Let’s start with the most basic punctuation mark of all: the punto, or period. Here’s how you’d use it in Spanish:
- To show that a sentence, paragraph or text has ended.
El niño juega en el parque. (The boy is playing in the park.)
Tengo sueño. (I am sleepy.)
Sra. Lopez
- To write out the time in certain Spanish speaking countries
12.43
In Spanish, the period isn’t used in measurements or to group large digits. Instead, Spanish prefers a space for this. This is how you write one million and three-hundred-thousand in Spanish: 1 300 000.
2. Coma (Comma)
The uses of the comma in Spanish and English are very similar. It’s used to indicate a short pause, or to:
- To separate items on a list or add explanatory phrases
Mis colores favoritos son el rojo, el amarillo y el verde. (My favorite colors are red, yellow and green.)
Mi hermano, que es médico, vive en Barcelona. (My brother, who is a doctor, lives in Barcelona)
- To separate a quote from the rest of the sentence
In Spanish, you put the comma after the quotation marks, unlike in American English:
“Tengo sueño”, dijo María. (“I am sleepy,” said María.)
“He comprado un coche rojo”, dije. (“I have bought a red car,” I said.)
1,4 meters
- To indicate that you’re addressing someone
Sara, ¿puedes ayudarme? (Sara, can you help me?)
The colon is mainly used to indicate that what comes next is an explanation of what has just been said, to introduce a list or a quote, and in the greetings of written communication.
- As further explanation in a sentence
Estaba cansado: había estado escribiendo toda la noche. (He was tired: he had been writing all night long.)
Querida profesora Hernandez: (Dear Professor Hernandez,)
- To introduce a list or series
Para esta tarea, necesitas: papel, pintura, bolígrafos, libro de texto y tu imaginación. (For this assignment, you need: paper, paint, pens, textbook and your imagination.)
The semicolon is used in the same exact way in both English and Spanish.
There are two main uses of the semicolon:
- To separate longer items on a list
Me gusta hacer muchas cosas, sobre todo viajar por el mundo; descubrir nuevas culturas, si tengo tiempo, claro; y comer la comida local. (I like to do a lot of things, especially travel around the world; discover new cultures, if I have the time, of course; and eat the local food).
- To join two independent clauses (sentences) if they are closely related
En verano voy a España; en invierno voy a las montañas. (In summer I go to Spain; in winter I go to the mountains.)
Tu hermano es médico; mi hermano es profesor. (Your brother is a doctor; my brother is a professor.)
The ellipsis is another punctuation mark that works practically the same way in Spanish as in English.
- To mark an interruption or speech that trails off
Pensaba que me querías… (I thought you loved me…)
Algún día lo entenderás… (Someday you will get it…)
Y entonces… lo maté. (And then… I killed him.)
Oí una voz… pero no podía ver nada… estaba temblando… (I heard a voice… but I could not see anything… I was shaking…)
- To make a non-comprehensive list of items
Tenemos todos los colores: azul, amarillo, rojo, rosa, verde… (We have all the colors: blue, yellow, red, pink, green…)
Algunos ejemplos de esto pueden ser perros, gatos, pájaros, conejos, peces… (Some examples of this can be dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, fish…)
The only thing you need to remember and bear in mind is that in Spanish you need to use an inverted question mark (also known as an opening question mark) at the beginning of every question!
Do Spanish people write it? Yes, we do! In fact, it’s required.
Here you have some examples:
¿Qué hora es? (What time is it?)
¿Cómo te llamas? (What is your name?)
¿Estás seguro? (Are you sure?)
When there is a question tag at the beginning or the end of the sentence, you can use the opening question mark before that tag:
Esto es muy divertido, ¿no? (This is fun, isn’t it?)
This is another punctuation mark in Spanish that requires an inverted version at the start of the sentence or phrase. For example
¡Qué bonito! (How beautiful!)
¡No lo hagas! (Do not do it!)
8. Guion y raya (Hyphen and Em-dash)
To remember these, remember the following: the raya separates and the guion unites.
- Use guion (hyphen) to join compound nouns, date spans or page number spans
físico-químico (Physical Chemistry)
1984-1997
páginas 45-50 (pages 45-50)
- Use raya (em-dash) to separate ideas, or to replace parentheses, colons, and commas
La situación es buena—hemos hecho 50 000 euros. (The situation is good—we’ve made 50,000 euros.)
The main uses of the parentheses in Spanish are:
- To clarify aside from the main point
María (mi vecina) es estudiante. María (my neighbor) is a student.
El coche de mi hermano (un BMW) es blanco. My brother’s car (a BMW) is white.
- To add meanings of abbreviations
OMS (Organización Mundial de la Salud). (WHO (World Health Organization)).
- To add dates and/or places
Vivo en Madrid (España). (I live in Madrid (Spain.))
La Segunda Guerra Mundial (1939-1945) fue un conflicto militar global. WWII (1939-1945) was a global military conflict.
Spanish uses three types of quotes: guillemets or angle quotes (« »), quotation marks (” “) and simple quotation marks (‘ ‘), but our favorite are the guillemets.
In recent years, more and more Spanish-speaking people are using the so-called English quotation marks (” “), but Spanish newspapers and publishing houses in general tend to stick to tradition and keep on using angle quotes.
But what are angle quotes for?
We can use angle quotes for many different reasons, but the common denominator is always one: we are marking another level in the sentence. This “new level” can be a quotation, an ironic remark, a different sense of a common word, an expression, a thought or even a foreign word, but overall it is on a different level than the rest of the sentence, and we need to indicate that.
…como dijo José M., «Eso es una pena». (…as José M. said, “That is a pity.”)
You can also use angle quotes to mark irony, add expressions or use words with an uncommon meaning.
Compré este vestido en una «boutique». (I bought this dress in a “boutique.”)
Eres un chico muy «inteligente». (You are a very “intelligent” guy.)
- Either type of quotation marks works
Entonces dijo: «Me parece que decir «compar en una «boutique»» es algo muy tonto». (Then he said: “I think saying “buying in a “boutique”” is something very silly.”)
Entonces dijo: «Me parece que decir “comprar en una ’boutique’” es algo muy tonto». (Then he said: “I think saying ‘buying in a ’boutique” is something very silly.”)
Where to Practice Using Spanish Punctuation
Now that you have studied the theory, how about doing some exercises so you can check if you have understood everything?
In the first part of this section, you will have some sentences with punctuation errors. Your task will be to find the errors and correct them.
You will find the correct answers just below.
In the second part, I will give you some external links where you can practice more Spanish punctuation if you feel you still need some more.
Are you ready?
Quiz: Find and Correct the Mistakes in the Following Sentences
Pepe, corre por el parque.
Me gusta cocinar
Compré uno verde; uno amarillo y uno azul.
Nació en Sevilla, España.
No sabía lo que significaba “bailar el agua”.
Una ONG – Organización No Gubernamental – es imprescindible en la zona.
No puedo lo siento.
He comprado zumo. Manzanas, peras y leche.
Answer Key
Pepe corre por el parque.
Me gusta cocinar.
Compré uno verde, uno amarillo y uno azul.
Nació en Sevilla (España).
No sabía lo que significaba «bailar el agua».
Una ONG (Organización No Gubernamental) es imprescindible en la zona.
No puedo, lo siento.
He comprado zumo, manzanas, peras y leche.
Online Practice Resources
Punctuation is one of those dry topics that teachers like me love (love!) to delve into and practice until our eyes are red. You do not need to do that in order to master Spanish punctuation, but some more practice will certainly serve you well.
Here’s a great site that explains even more about Spanish punctuation, so you can get your skills up to snuff.
For a slightly different take on practicing punctuation, the video-based learning program FluentU has interactive subtitles written by experts, so you can see exactly how Spanish punctuation appears in transcriptions.
Why Is Learning Spanish Punctuation Important?
Punctuation mastery is crucial for professional and academic writing skills. And you’ll need it to write resumes or cover letters if you ever want to land a job in a Spanish-speaking country.
But understanding Spanish punctuation has a broader benefit, as well—it will make Spanish grammar easier by forcing you to think about sentence structure and parts of speech.
Ultimately, mastering Spanish punctuation is an important way to cut down on mistakes and start using the language like a pro.
All these punctuation marks may be confusing at the beginning, but I promise after you do a couple of exercises, you will learn to see the differences.
I hope after reading this post you feel more comfortable when presented with writing assignments or any time you need to write a letter or email to your friend or your new boss! You will certainly see your Spanish writing improve.
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
