Punctuation Marks, Special Characters, and Other Symbols in Spanish
PUNCTUATION MARKS, SPECIAL CHARACTERS, AND OTHER SYMBOLS IN SPANISH
Punctuation marks, special characters, and other symbols are essential for clear communication in Spanish. Punctuation marks such as the period, comma, semicolon, and colon help organize sentences and convey pauses or separations between ideas. In Spanish, unique punctuation like the inverted question mark (¿) and exclamation mark (¡) is used to signal the start of questions and exclamations, enhancing clarity and expressiveness.
Special characters like the at sign (@), percent sign (%), and ampersand (&) have become more prevalent with digital communication, social media, and technical writing. Other symbols, such as brackets ([ ]) and parentheses ((), are used to include additional information or clarifications. Each symbol has its specific use and rules, contributing to the richness and precision of written Spanish.
| SYMBOL (SÍMBOLO) | NAME (NOMBRE) | EXPLANATION (EXPLICACIÓN) | EXAMPLE (EJEMPLO) | |
| 1 | . | Punto (Period) | Used to indicate the end of a sentence or an abbreviation. | El gato duerme. (The cat sleeps.) |
| 2 | , | Coma (Comma) | Used to separate elements in a list, clauses, or to indicate a brief pause within a sentence. | Fui al mercado, compré fruta, y volví a casa. (I went to the market, bought fruit, and returned home.) |
| 3 | ; | Punto y coma (Semicolon) | Used to separate closely related independent clauses or to separate items in a complex list. | Me gusta el helado; sin embargo, prefiero el chocolate. (I like ice cream; however, I prefer chocolate.) |
| 4 | : | Dos puntos (Colon) | Used to introduce a list, quotation, explanation, or conclusion. | Estos son los ingredientes: leche, azúcar, y huevos. (These are the ingredients: milk, sugar, and eggs.) |
| 5 | ¿ / ? | Signo de interrogación (Question mark) | In Spanish, both an opening (¿) and closing (?) question mark are used to indicate a question. | ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?) |
| 6 | ¡ / ! | Signo de exclamación (Exclamation mark) | In Spanish, both an opening (¡) and closing (!) exclamation mark are used to indicate strong emotions, commands, or interjections. | ¡Qué sorpresa! (What a surprise!) |
| 7 | ” “ | Comillas (Quotation marks) | Used to indicate direct speech, quotations, or to highlight a word or phrase. | Ella dijo: “Vamos a la playa.” (She said, “Let’s go to the beach.”) |
| 8 | ‘ ’ | Comillas simples (Single quotation marks) | Used within a quotation to indicate a quote within a quote, or sometimes to highlight a word or phrase. | Ella dijo: “Juan mencionó ‘no puedo ir’ antes.” (She said, “Juan mentioned ‘I can’t go’ earlier.”) |
| 9 | – | Guion (Hyphen) | Used to join words, especially compound words, or to separate syllables when a word is broken at the end of a line. | Teórico-práctico (Theory-practice) |
| 10 | — | Raya (Dash) | Used to indicate a pause stronger than a comma but less definitive than a period, or to enclose parenthetical elements or indicate a change in speaker in dialogue. | El perro —mi mascota favorita— es muy leal. (The dog —my favorite pet— is very loyal.) |
| 11 | … | Puntos suspensivos (Ellipsis) | Used to indicate a trailing off thought, a pause, or that a list continues. | No sé… tal vez mañana. (I don’t know… maybe tomorrow.) |
| 12 | ( ) | Paréntesis (Parentheses) | Used to insert additional information, clarifications, or asides that are supplementary to the main text. | Mi hermana (la mayor) vive en México. (My sister (the older one) lives in Mexico.) |
| 13 | [ ] | Corchetes (Brackets) | Used to include clarifications, corrections, or comments within quoted material. | Dijo que “él [el autor] no estaba presente.” (He said that “he [the author] was not present.”) |
| 14 | { } | Llaves (Braces)** | Rarely used in regular text; often used in mathematics, computer programming, or to group items in lists. | Conjunto de números: {1, 2, 3}. (Set of numbers: {1, 2, 3}.) |
| 15 | < > | Signos angulares (Angle brackets) | Used in technical writing or to indicate tags in digital content like HTML. | <html> (HTML tag) |
| 16 | ° | Grado (Degree symbol) | Used to indicate degrees of temperature or angles. | 30°C (30 degrees Celsius) |
| 17 | @ | Arroba (At sign) | Used primarily in email addresses and, increasingly, in social media to tag or mention users. | contacto@ejemplo.com (contact@example.com) |
| 18 | & | Ampersand (Ampersand) | Used to represent the word “and” in some contexts, though not common in formal Spanish writing. | Juan & María (John & Mary) |
| 19 | # | Numeral (Hash or Pound sign) | Used primarily in social media for hashtags or to indicate a number. | #viajar (#travel) |
| 20 | / | Barra (Slash) | Used to separate alternatives, indicate a fraction, or in internet addresses. | Calle 9/10 (9th/10th Street) |
| 21 | ** | Barra inversa (Backslash) | Primarily used in computing, not common in everyday Spanish writing. | C:\Usuarios\Nombre (C:\Users\Name) |
| 22 | % | Por ciento (Percent sign) | Used to indicate percentages. | 50% de descuento (50% off) |
| 23 | + | Más (Plus sign) | Used in mathematics to indicate addition or a positive value. | 5 + 3 = 8 (5 plus 3 equals 8) |
| 24 | = | Igual (Equals sign) | Used in mathematics to show equality between two expressions. | 5 + 3 = 8 (5 plus 3 equals 8) |
| 25 | © | Derechos de autor (Copyright symbol) | Used to indicate that something is protected by copyright law. | © 2024 Mi Empresa (© 2024 My Company) |