period ?
interrogation ! exclamation ( ) parentheses [ ] brackets ' apostrophe - hyphen -- dash " " quotation marks Other important marks used by printers, but not, strictly speaking, marks of punctuation, are fully discussed in the volume on _Abbreviations and Signs_ (No.

37) in this series.
There are two systems of punctuation in use, known respectively as the close and open systems.

The close, or stiff, system, using points wherever they can be used, is of importance in precise composition of every sort, such as laws, contracts, legal and ecclesiastical statements, and the like.

The open, or easy, system, omitting points wherever they can be omitted, is used generally in the commoner forms of composition.

The tendency, sometimes pushed too far, is toward an extremely open style of punctuation.