Pinky Keys: Semicolon, Apostrophe and Enter

The pinkies do more than you think

Your little fingers cover the edges of the keyboard. The left pinky owns Q, A, Z plus Shift, Tab and Caps Lock; the right pinky owns P, ;, ’ and reaches out to Enter, Backspace and the right Shift. They’re the weakest fingers, which is exactly why they cause so many errors.

How to practise

• Keep the other fingers anchored on the home row while a pinky reaches out.
• Reach for Enter with the right pinky only — don’t lift the whole hand.
• Go slowly on the apostrophe in contractions like don’t and it’s; it sits right next to the semicolon and the two are easy to swap.

Common mistakes

Many people hit P or the apostrophe with the ring finger, which drags the whole hand off the home row. Others let the left pinky drift from A to hover over Caps Lock. Build the habit now: the pinky returns home after every key.