How to Name Punctuation in French

Full Stop and Comma

A full stop (.) is un point, and a comma (,) is une virgule.

Question and Exclamation Mark 

You’d refer to a question mark (?) as un point d’interrogation, and you might be able to infer that an exclamation mark (!) is... un point d’exclamation.

Semicolon and Colon

A semicolon (;) is un point virgule, literally meaning “a dot comma”—remember what a full stop and a comma is en français! A colon (:) is deux points, meaning “two dots”.

Ellipsis

You guessed it—an ellipsis (...) is trois points. It is also sometimes referred to as les points de suspension.

Dash, Parentheses. and Quotation Marks

A hyphen, or a dash (-), is un tiret, whereas parentheses ( ) is les parenthèses. French often uses these symbols: « » as quotation marks in lieu of the typical quotation marks: “ “ that are typically used in English. These are referred to as les guillemets.