how do you know when should you put a comma/fullstop?
Commas and fullstops are not that different in Turkish compared to English. So, you probably already know a great deal. Don´t be too hard on yourself. Even Turkish natives frequently make mistakes.
Luckily I know exactly where to direct you, because the Turkish language is regulated by the government and the correct way to use punctuation is made clear:
http://tdk.gov.tr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=187:Noktalama-Isaretleri-Aciklamalar&catid=50:yazm-kurallar&Itemid=132
The page is in Turkish. If you cannot understand it, guess what... You´d probably be better off studying Turkish rather than being concentrated on punctuation.
how do you know if its correct or incorrect?
You´d know. If you don´t, you might as well study other areas of Turkish, other than punctuation.
True, punctuation could make a lot of difference. But I´d say, don´t worry about this. Because such a situation arises rarely.
I´ll give you a few examples anyway and let´s see if you can see the difference in meaning.
First, and the best:
"Oku baban gibi, eşek olma."
"Oku, baban gibi eşek olma."
("Eşek" means "donkey" but here, it refers to someone mentally equal to a donkey)
The first one means, "Go to school like your father did. Don´t become a dummy."
The second one means, "Go to school. Don´t become a dummy like your father."
The same could work with full stops too:
"Oku baban gibi. Eşek olma."
"Oku. Baban gibi eşek olma."
Or, another classic example is the dilemma of "adjective or pronoun?"
"Bu, oyuncağın bir parçası."
"Bu oyuncağın bir parçası."
First one means "this, a piece of the toy"
Second one means "a piece of this toy"
But like I said, you´ll come across this kind of thing quite rarely.
Bonus: Sometimes, there´s no way of discerning. The classic example:
"Balkona çık" > "Get out on the balcony"
"Balkon açık" > "The balcony is open"
No punctuation can help you here. Lucky we don´t have a balcony.
If you´re desperate to make yourself clear:
"Çık balkona"
"Balkon açık duruyor"
|