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1 .. -*- coding: utf-8 -*- |
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3 ============================ |
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4 English Punctuation Guide. |
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5 ============================ |
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6 |
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7 Punctuation symbol. |
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8 =================== |
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9 :: |
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10 |
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11 ! exclamation mark |
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12 "" single quotation marks |
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13 '' double quotation marks |
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14 ' apostrophe |
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15 , comma |
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16 - hyphen |
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17 . full stop (period USA) |
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18 : colon |
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19 ; semi colon |
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20 ? question mark |
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21 ... ellipsis |
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22 |
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23 General rules. |
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24 ============== |
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25 |
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26 * Put end-of-sentence punctuation inside quotation marks. |
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27 * Put commas and other sentence punctuation outside of parentheses. |
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28 * Put a comma (plus a space) before and, but, or, and nor when they |
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29 join two sentences. |
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30 * The semicolon (;) is not used widely in English and probably should |
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31 be avoided by non-native writers. |
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32 * Names of newspapers, books, movies, ships, magazines, journals, and |
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33 poems are usually italicized or underlined. |
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34 |
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35 Capital letter. |
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36 =============== |
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37 |
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38 1. A capital is used for the first letter of a new sentence, of quoted |
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39 speech or proper nouns. |
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40 2. The first letter of a sentence does not need to be capitalized if it |
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41 is included in parenthesis within another sentence. |
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42 3. A capital letter is always used for the first person singular |
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43 subjective personal pronoun I. |
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44 4. A capital is used for the first letter of key words in headings and |
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45 titles. If such titles are hyphenated then both components are given |
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46 capitalized first letters. |
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47 5. A capital is used for the first letter of key words in historical |
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48 events. |
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49 6. A capital is used for the first letter of religions and many other |
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50 religious words. |
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51 7. A capital is used for the first letter of names of months and days of |
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52 the week, but not of seasons. |
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53 8. Holidays should also be capitalized. |
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54 |
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55 Examples:: |
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56 |
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57 [3] My boss and I agreed that I should make up for the time I had lost. |
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58 [4] The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries |
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59 [4] The Centers for Disease Control |
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60 [4] Vice-President Dick Cheney |
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61 [5] The Battle of Waterloo |
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62 [5] The Great Fire of London |
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63 [6] Devout Christians do daily Bible study. |
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64 [7] After a long, hot summer she married him on a sultry Saturday in September. |
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65 [8] January 1 is New Year's Day. |
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66 |
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67 Spaces. |
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68 ======= |
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69 |
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70 * Put one space after punctuation. |
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71 * Put no spaces before punctuation, but always put a space between words. |
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72 * Put no spaces after periods inside abbreviations. |
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73 * Put no space before or after an apostrophe. |
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74 * Put no space on the "inside" of quotation marks (often called "quotes"). |
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75 * Put no space on the "inside" of parentheses. |
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76 |
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77 Some old rules: |
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78 |
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79 * Put two spaces after colons and between sentences. |
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80 |
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81 Exclamation mark, '!'. |
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82 ====================== |
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83 |
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84 * Exclamation marks act as a full stop. |
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85 * An exclamation mark is most often used to show shock, surprise, |
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86 horror or pleasure. |
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87 * No space is needed before an exclamation mark, at least one space |
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88 after one (two spaces for purists). |
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89 |
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90 Examples:: |
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91 |
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92 Oh! Wow! Brilliant! |
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93 It was shocking! |
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94 |
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95 Apostrophe, "'". |
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96 ================ |
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97 |
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98 * Apostrophes next to the letter ('s) indicate possession or belonging. |
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99 * They are also used to show missing letters in shortened words, especially in |
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100 informal writing. |
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101 * No space is needed before or after the apostrophe. |
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102 |
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103 Examples:: |
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104 |
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105 This is Lynne's web site. |
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106 It's a nice day today, isn't it? I've got an idea. Let's go out. |
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107 |
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108 Comma, ','. |
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109 =========== |
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110 |
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111 1. Separate items in long lists. |
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112 2. Commas point out brief pauses in a complex sentence or a long |
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113 prepositional phrase. |
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114 3. Comma is included before the conjunction 'and' which comes before |
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115 the final element of a list (for purists). |
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116 4. Introduce a direct quote. |
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117 5. Separate appositives (a noun, or noun phrase) or non-defining |
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118 relative clauses. |
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119 6. Use a comma if your subject has two or more adjectives describing |
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120 it. |
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121 7. You do not put a space before a comma, but you do need a space after |
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122 one. |
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123 8. We don't usually put a comma before the word 'and'. |
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124 |
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125 Examples:: |
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126 |
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127 [1] There were a lot of people in the room, teachers, students and parents. |
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128 [2] The teachers were sitting, the students were listening and the parents |
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129 were just worrying. |
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130 [2] Although he wanted to come, he wasn't able to attend the course. |
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131 [3] I like reading, listening to music, and visiting with my friends. |
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132 [4] The boy said, "My father is often away during the week on business trips." |
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133 [4] His doctor replied, "If you don't stop smoking, you run the risk of a |
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134 heart attack." |
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135 [5] Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, comes from Seattle. |
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136 [5] My only sister, who is a fantastic tennis player, is in great shape. |
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137 [6] The powerful, resonating sound caught our attention. |
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138 |
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139 Colon, ':'. |
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140 =========== |
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141 |
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142 1. Colons precede a list, an explanation or an example. |
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143 2. The colon is used to separate two main clauses where the first is an |
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144 introduction to the second. |
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145 3. To introduce a direct quote (a comma can also be used in this |
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146 situation). |
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147 4. You do not put a space before a colon, but you do need a space after |
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148 one. |
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149 |
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150 Examples:: |
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151 |
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152 [1] There are two main shopping areas in Nottingham: Broadmarsh Centre and |
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153 Victoria Centre. |
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154 [2] The pilot had an awful realization: he had forgotten to turn off the gas |
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155 at breakfast time. |
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156 [3] He announced to his friends: "I'm getting married!" |
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157 |
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158 Full stop (period), '.'. |
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159 ======================== |
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160 |
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161 1. Full stops (periods in the USA) go at the end of sentences that are |
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162 statements. |
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163 2. They are also used to mark abbreviations. If such an abbreviation |
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164 occurs at the very end of a sentence, the final dot is not usually |
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165 written twice. |
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166 3. You do not put a space before a full stop, but you do need at least |
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167 one space after one (two spaces for purists). |
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168 |
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169 Examples:: |
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170 |
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171 [1] My name is Lynn. I am a teacher. |
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172 [2] An overhead projector is often referred to as an O.H.P. |
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173 |
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174 Hyphen, '-'. |
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175 ============ |
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176 |
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177 * Hyphens are used to connect words or syllables, or to divide words into |
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178 parts. |
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179 * You don't use a space on either side of a hyphen. |
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180 |
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181 Examples:: |
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182 |
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183 There were ninety-nine red balloons. |
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184 |
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185 Question mark, '?'. |
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186 =================== |
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187 |
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188 1. Question marks go at the end of sentences that are questions. |
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189 2. You need a question mark at the end of tag questions. |
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190 3. For quotes within quotes, use single quotes. |
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191 4. You do not put a space before a question mark, but you do need at |
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192 least one space after one (two spaces for purists). |
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193 |
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194 Examples:: |
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195 |
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196 [1] Is my name Lynn? Of course it is. |
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197 [2] It's a nice day, isn't it? |
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198 |
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199 Semicolon, ';'. |
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200 =============== |
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201 |
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202 1. Semicolons are used to separate two sentences that would otherwise |
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203 be joined with a word such as 'and', 'because', 'since', 'unless' or |
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204 'while'. 2 To separate groups of words that are themselves separated |
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205 by commas. |
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206 2. You do not put a space before a semicolon, but you do need a space |
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207 after one. |
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208 |
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209 Examples:: |
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210 |
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211 [1] I'm looking forward to our next lesson; I'm sure it will be a lot of fun. |
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212 [2] They plan to study German, for their travels; chemistry, for their work; |
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213 and literature, for their own enjoyment. |
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214 |
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215 Quotation mark (speech mark), '""', "''". |
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216 ========================================= |
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217 |
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218 Double quotes '""', single quotes "''". |
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219 |
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220 * Quotation marks (single or double) are used to show words that are |
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221 directly spoken (direct speech). |
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222 * Only the words actually being quoted are enclosed by speech marks. |
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223 * You need a space before the opening speech mark, but no space after |
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224 it, and a space after the closing one, but no space before it. |
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225 * Another general rule is to use a comma after the introduction to |
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226 quoted speech or writing. |
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227 * Sometimes when writing a spoken sentence it is split in two. The |
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228 speech marks must then be placed at the beginning and end of each |
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229 part of the sentence. Commas are used to separate the spoken part |
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230 from the rest of the sentence. |
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231 * If you need a question mark or exclamation mark the markers that |
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232 punctuate the quoted words are enclosed by the speech marks. |
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233 |
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234 Examples:: |
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235 |
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236 "Could everyone sit down please," said the teacher. |
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237 Jaime said, "I love you." |
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238 "I wonder," she said quietly, "whether people will ever truly understand each other." |
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239 "I don't understand," replied Nathan. |
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240 "Do you understand?" asked Nathan. |
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241 "I don't understand!" shouted Nathan. |
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242 Nathan replied, "I don't understand." |
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243 Nathan asked, "Do you understand?" |
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244 Nathan shouted, "I don't understand!" |
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245 He wrote in 1946 that, "The key word in digital computer is 'digital'." |
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246 |
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247 Ellipsis, '...'. |
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248 ================ |
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249 |
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250 1. Ellipsis used to show that something has been omitted, indicate |
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251 missing words in an incomplete quotation. |
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252 |
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253 Examples:: |
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254 |
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255 [1] Chomsky suggested that, "Language is a system that...can be described in |
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256 an algebraic notation." |
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257 |
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258 Dash, '-', '--'. |
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259 ================ |
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260 |
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261 1. The dash should be used when making a brief interruption within a |
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262 statement, a sudden change of thought, an additional comment, or a |
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263 dramatic qualification. |
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264 |
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265 Parentheses '()'. |
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266 ================= |
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267 |
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268 1. Use parentheses to clarify, to place an afterthought, or to add a |
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269 personal comment. Be sure to include the period after the closing |
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270 parenthesis. |
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271 |
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272 Examples:: |
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273 |
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274 [1] Steve Case (AOL's former CEO) resigned from the Time-Warner board of |
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275 directors in 2005. |
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276 [1] You will need a flashlight for the camping trip (don't forget the |
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277 batteries!). |
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278 [1] Most grammarians believe that parentheses and commas are always |
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279 interchangeable (I disagree). |
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280 |
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281 Brackets '[]'. |
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282 ============== |
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283 |
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284 1. Use brackets to signify an editor's note in a regular piece of |
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285 writing. You can also use brackets to clarify or to revise a direct |
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286 quote so that it appeals to your own writing. |
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287 2. The first brackets are rounded, and brackets inside brackets are |
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288 squared. |
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289 |
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290 Examples:: |
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291 |
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292 [1] "[The blast] was absolutely devastating," said Susan Smith. |
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293 |
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294 Slash '/'. |
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295 ========== |
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296 |
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297 1. Use the slash to separate "and" and "or", when appropriate. |
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298 2. The slash can replace the word "and" to join two nouns. |
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299 3. The slash is used when quoting lyrics and poetry to denote a line |
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300 break. Be sure to add spaces between your slashes here. |
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301 |
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302 Examples:: |
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303 |
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304 [1] To register, you will need your driver's license and/or your birth |
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305 certificate." |
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306 [2] The student/part-time employee has very little free time. |
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307 [3] "Row, row, row your boat / gently down the stream / life is but a dream." |
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308 |