Punctuations help us to convey our thoughts with clarity and precision. Yet, as harmful to a sentence as the absence of proper punctuation is, equally harmful is the misuse of punctuation in sentences.
Consider:
Usually, at 9am, I start all my activities-replying the email messages and doing some other jobs; will finish at 5pm. I went back home afterwards.
There are several instances of incorrect use of punctuation and tenses in the sentence above. Below, I have revised it to ensure clarity and precision.
Usually, at 9 am, I start all my activities: replying to the email messages and doing some other jobs [which] I finish at 5 pm. Afterwards, I go back home.
Admittedly, there are several possible, perhaps even better-sounding endings I could suggest for this sentence, but I have opted not to shift too far from the original writing.
