Touch Typing Lesson 5: Punctuation

If you have completed the first four lessons, pat yourself on the back for coming this far! You are now well on your way to becoming an excellent typist.

In this lesson we will learn how to type commonly used punctuation marks. You have already learned the period, comma and semicolon, and we will review those keys as well. In the previous lesson, we learned to type capital letters. The capital letters are the secondary characters for the lower case keys and holding the shift allows us to type them. Likewise, the symbol keys also have other symbols as secondary characters, and you will encounter several of these keys in this lesson.

Review

First, let's have a little review of four symbols we've already learned: ; , . /

As you already know, the semi-colon is the home row key for the right pinky. The comma, period, and forward slash are the bottom row keys for the right hand middle finger, ring finger and pinky, respectively.

Typing Exercise 5.1
;;; ;;; ,,, ,,, ;;; ,,, ... ... /// /// ... /// ;;; ... ,,, /// ,,, /// ... ;;; /// ... ,,, ;;; ;,; ;,; ,;, ,;, ./. ./. /./ /./ ; , . / ; , . / ;,./ ;,./ ;/,. ;/,. ;;; ,,, ... /// ;,; ;.; ;/; ,;, ,., ,/, .;. .,. ./. ;; ;, ;. ;/ ,; ,, ,. ,/ .; ., .. ./ /; /, /. //

The Colon

Now let's add to our repertoire by learning the colon symbol: :

The colon is the alternate character for the semi-colon key. To type it, just press the key with your right pinky finger while holding the left shift key.

Typing Exercise 5.2
::: ::: ::: ::: ;;; ;;; ;;; ;;; ::: ;;; ::: ;;; ::: ;;; :;: :;: :;: :;: ;:; ;:; ;:; ;:; ::: ::: ::: ;;; ;;; ;;; :; :; :; ;: ;: ;: :: ;; :; ;: ;: :; :: :; ;; ;: : : : : ; ; ; ; : ; ; : : ; ; : :;: ::; ;:: ;;: :;; ;;; ::: ;:;

Apostrophe and Double Quotation Marks

Now, let's introduce apostrophe (also used as a single quote mark) and the double quotation mark: ' "

Both characters use the same key. To reach it, extend your right pinky finger to the key directly to the right. The double quote is typed while holding the left shift key and the apostrophe is typed without it.

Typing Exercise 5.3
''' ''' ''' ''' """ """ """ """ ''' """ ''' """ ''' """ '"' '"' '"' '"' "'" "'" "'" "'" ''' ''' ''' """ """ """ '" '" '" "' "' "' '' "" '" "' "' '" '' '" "" "' ' ' ' ' " " " " ' " " ' ' " " ' '"' ''" "'' ""' '"" """ ''' "'"

The Question Mark

Bored with typing declarative sentences? It's time to learn the question mark:?

The question mark is the secondary character for the /, which you have already learned. To type it, move your right pinky down to the bottom row and hold the left shift key.

Typing Exercise 5.4
??? ??? ??? ??? /// /// /// /// ??? /// ??? /// ??? /// ?/? ?/? ?/? ?/? /?/ /?/ /?/ /?/ ??? ??? ??? /// /// /// ?/ ?/ ?/ /? /? /? ?? // ?/ /? /? ?/ ?? ?/ // /? ? ? ? ? / / / / ? / / ? ? / / ? ?/? ??/ /?? //? ?// /// ??? /?/

The Exclamation Point

Now you're cooking with gas! Let's learn how to type the most exciting character: !

You will type the exclamation point character with the left pinky, reaching above and to the left of the q key, while holding the right shift key.

Typing Exercise 5.5
!!! !!! !!! !!! aaa aaa aaa aaa !!! aaa !!! aaa !!! aaa !a! !a! !a! !a! a!a a!a a!a a!a !!! !!! !!! aaa aaa aaa !a !a !a a! a! a! !! aa !a a! a! !a !! !a aa a! ! ! ! ! a a a a ! a a ! ! a a ! !a! !!a a!! aa! !aa aaa !!! a!a

The Hyphen

But wait - there's more! Let's learn to type the hypen: -

The hyphen is typed with the right pinky finger, reaching up and to the right of the p key.

Typing Exercise 5.6
--- --- --- --- ;;; ;;; ;;; ;;; --- ;;; --- ;;; --- ;;; -;- -;- -;- -;- ;-; ;-; ;-; ;-; --- --- --- ;;; ;;; ;;; -; -; -; ;- ;- ;- -- ;; -; ;- ;- -; -- -; ;; ;- - - - - ; ; ; ; - ; ; - - ; ; - -;- --; ;-- ;;- -;; ;;; --- ;-;

Punctuation in the Wild

Congratulations! You have learned how to type all the punctuation symbols.

Let's put your new skills into context with the next exercise.

Typing Exercise 5.7
New keys: ':', '?', ''', '"', '!', '-'. That's awesome! Congratulations -- did you think it'd be so easy? Yes? No? Maybe? I'll bet it was "a walk in the park." Unfortunately, many people don't learn to "properly" type these keys; that's a shame because - even though they aren't letters - they're used so frequently! Don't you agree? Review and/or repeat this lesson, if necessary, to "lock in" your new skills... when you're ready, check out our next lesson: "Numbers!"

Feel free to repeat any of the exercises in this typing lesson. When you can complete them with nearly 100% accuracy you are ready to move on to the next lesson!

Next Lesson: Numbers