Everyday punctuation symbols
Some punctuation marks are hard to type but easy to love. This collection starts with the ones people search for most: the bullet •, the middle dot ·, the ellipsis …, the em dash —, the en dash –, curly quotes “ ” ‘ ’, angle quotes « » ‹ ›, inverted marks ¡ ¿, the interrobang ‽, the dagger †, the section sign § and the pilcrow ¶.
Tap a mark to copy it for a resume, an essay, a website, a bio or a caption.
The most useful marks
- • Bullet: For lists, menus and separators.
- · Middle dot: A lighter separator for bios and footers.
- … Ellipsis: One character for three dots.
- — Em dash: For a strong break in a sentence.
- – En dash: For ranges like 9–5 or pages 10–20.
- “ ” ‘ ’ Curly quotes: Real quotation marks and apostrophes.
- ‽ Interrobang: A mix of ? and !.
Bullets and dots for bios
Bullets and middle dots are the easiest way to separate items in a short line. Instagram and LinkedIn bios often look like “Designer • Writer • Traveller” or “Mumbai · Delhi · Online”. Website footers use them between links, and menus use them between dishes and prices. They are neat, readable and work everywhere.
Dashes in writing
Good writers use different dashes for different jobs. The hyphen - joins words like well-known. The en dash – shows ranges, like 2020–2026. The em dash — adds a pause or an aside in a sentence — like this. Using the right dash makes essays, articles and resumes look polished and professional.
Quotes in many languages
English uses curly quotes “ ” and ‘ ’. French, Russian and many other languages use guillemets « ». German often uses „ “. Japanese and Chinese use corner brackets 「 」. If you write in more than one language, copying the right quotes saves time and keeps your text correct.
Footnotes and references
Books and reports use special marks for notes. An asterisk * or a dagger † marks a footnote, and a double dagger ‡ marks a second one. The section sign § points to a section of a law or document, and the pilcrow ¶ marks a paragraph. For the full list of more than 850 punctuation marks from every script, open the punctuation category.
Punctuation for social media
Punctuation is not just for essays. On social media, the ellipsis … builds suspense, the em dash — adds drama, and the interrobang ‽ shows surprise. Curly quotes make shared quotes look polished, and bullets • keep lists neat in captions. Small details like these help your posts look thoughtful and well made.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I type a bullet point on a phone?
- Copy • from this page. On some phones you can also press and hold the hyphen or full stop key.
- What is the difference between • and ·?
- • is a bullet, larger and bolder. · is a middle dot, smaller and lighter.
- How do I type an ellipsis?
- Copy … from this page. On a Mac press Option + ; and on Windows Alt + 0133.
- When should I use an en dash?
- Use an en dash – for ranges of numbers, dates or times, like 1–10 or Monday–Friday.
- What is ¿ used for?
- ¿ is the inverted question mark used at the start of Spanish questions.
- What is the dagger symbol † for?
- † marks a footnote. It can also mean a person has died, written next to a name or year.