I am struggling with what topic shall I write about today. I do not have any plans to publish any articles tonight as I have work-related stuff that needs to be done, actually. However, the work related stuff I am talking about has some dependencies. This means we cannot start with our work yet till we have received the go-signal from our upward dependency to proceed.

Hence, since I am already in front of my computer, I thought of writing an article to make my mind stay awake while waiting for our upstream to give us the go signal to proceed with our tonight's work.

This topic came into my mind cause a while ago, I and my husband went into the grocery to buy school supplies for my kids in preparation for their start of school this upcoming Monday.

While we're queueing at the parking lot, somebody texted my husband, and so he replied supposedly with a question but he did not put a question mark at the end. So I gently told him, it looks like a statement and not a question. He might get confused about that. But he insisted to me that "no!. He will for sure know that it's a question" in Tagalog.

Does Punctuation Mark Matters in Text Messages?

For me? Yes, it matters.

It helps the reader or message receiver to understand the sentence easily. Punctuation marks help the writer/s to express their feeling through words.

Nowadays, one of the main communication means between two or more people that are distant from each other is via Cell Phone. A person can now instantly send his/her message to another person via text message or FB Messenger.

We are talking to someone face to face, it's easier to understand the message that he or she is trying to convey through his or her facial expression and body language. This is the main problem or challenge if we are talking to someone through text message or messenger.

All that we can see from our screen are characters, words, and sentence/s. Punctuation helps us understand or give us a clue on how sad, how happy, or how strong those words that he/she texted you. Punctuation helps us avoid confusion.

Let me site you some of examples:

Apostrophe ('). The meaning of a sentence can be easily changed by just missing an apostrophe (').

Examples of these are:

• its (associated with the mentioned subject)

  versus

  it's (shortened "it is")

• your (associated with the person that the writer/sender is addressing)

  versus

  you're (shortened "you are"

• were (past tense of are)

  versus we're (shortened "we are").

Exclamation point (!). The exclamation point can be used to show how excited, surprised, or happy the sender is.

Examples of this are:

• Oh My God! I passed the licensure exam!

  versus

  Oh My God I passed the licensure exam

• Watch out!

  versus

  Watch out

Which one expresses more feelings?

Question mark (?). In English, we can easily know if a statement is a question cause it usually starts in What, Where, When, How. But in Tagalog, some sentences are difficult to distinguish if it's a statement or a question if the sender/writer did not add the question mark at the end.

For example:

• Kumain ka na. In English, this could mean Did you ate already? or this could also mean a "command" to the receiver/reader to eat.

• Sa akin ito. In English, this could mean "Is this mine"? or this could also mean "This is mine".

If you're the reader or the receiver of the aforementioned message that has no punctuation mark, how are you gonna comprehend?

Kung ako siguro yan, magpapause muna ako for a while, mag iisip saglit at magbabackread para maintindihan ko kung anong gusto nyang sabihin.

Comma (,). A comma is being used to separate multiple items in a group or a list. Comma denotes a short pause for the reader.

For Example:

• Can you please buy me an apple 1/2 kilograms of grapes 2 bananas 1 watermelon 5 Sunkist 6 oranges 1 kilogram of eggplant 2 kilograms of rice and 6 pcs eggs

  versus

• Can you please buy me an apple, 1/2 kilograms of grapes, 2 bananas, 1 watermelon, 5 Sunkist, 6 oranges, 1 kilogram of eggplant, 2 kilograms of rice, and 6 pcs eggs?

Aminin, medyo hiningal ka nung binasa yung unang statement.

Author's note:

I am not saying that the use of proper punctuation should be mandatory for text messages but as much as possible, please make it a habit as it can save you and your message receiver from having a misunderstanding.

Punctuation marks add more feeling and meaning to a sentence.

Before I end this article, just wanna take this opportunity to send gratitude to my lovely sponsors. Many thanks for your support.