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                          English Punctuation Guide.

* Punctuation symbol.

  !  exclamation mark

  "" single quotation marks

  '' double quotation marks

  '  apostrophe

  ,  comma

  -  hyphen

  .  full stop (period USA)

  :  colon

  ;  semi colon

  ?  question mark

  ... ellipsis

* General rules.

 * Put end-of-sentence punctuation inside quotation marks.

 * Put commas and other sentence punctuation outside of parentheses.

 * Put a comma (plus a space) before and, but, or, and nor when they join two

   sentences.

 * The semicolon (;) is not used widely in English and probably should be

   avoided by non-native writers.

 * Names of newspapers, books, movies, ships, magazines, journals, and poems

   are usually italicized  or underlined.

** Capital letter.

 1 A capital is used for the first letter of a new sentence, of quoted speech

   or proper nouns.

 2 The first letter of a sentence does not need to be capitalized if it is

   included in parenthesis within another sentence.

 3 A capital letter is always used for the first person singular subjective

   personal pronoun I.

 4 A capital is used for the first letter of key words in headings and titles.

   If such titles are hyphenated then both components are given capitalized

   first letters.

 5 A capital is used for the first letter of key words in historical events.

 6 A capital is used for the first letter of religions and many other

   religious words.

 7 A capital is used for the first letter of names of months and days of the

   week, but not of seasons.

 8 Holidays should also be capitalized.

Example:

  [3] My boss and I agreed that I should make up for the time I  had lost.

  [4] The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries

  [4] The Centers for Disease Control

  [4] Vice-President Dick Cheney

  [5] The Battle of Waterloo

  [5] The Great Fire of London

  [6] Devout Christians do daily Bible study.

  [7] After a long, hot summer she married him on a sultry Saturday in September.

  [8] January 1 is New Year's Day.

** Spaces.

 * Put one space after punctuation.

 * Put no spaces before punctuation, but always put a space between words.

 * Put no spaces after periods inside abbreviations.

 * Put no space before or after an apostrophe.

 * Put no space on the "inside" of quotation marks (often called "quotes").

 * Put no space on the "inside" of parentheses.

Some old rules:

 * Put two spaces after colons and between sentences.

* Exclamation mark, '!'.

 * Exclamation marks act as a full stop.

 * An exclamation mark is most often used to show shock, surprise, horror or

   pleasure.

 * No space is needed before an exclamation mark, at least one space after one

   (two spaces for purists).

Example:

  Oh! Wow! Brilliant!

  It was shocking!

* Apostrophe, "'".

 * Apostrophes next to the letter ('s) indicate possession or belonging.

 * They are also used to show missing letters in shortened words, especially in

   informal writing.

 * No space is needed before or after the apostrophe.

Example:

  This is Lynne's web site.

  It's a nice day today, isn't it? I've got an idea. Let's go out.

* Comma, ','.

 1 Separate items in long lists.

 2 Commas point out brief pauses in a complex sentence or a long prepositional

   phrase.

 3 Comma is included before the conjunction 'and' which comes

   before the final element of a list (for purists).

 4 Introduce a direct quote.

 5 Separate appositives (a noun, or noun phrase) or non-defining relative

   clauses.

 6 Use a comma if your subject has two or more adjectives describing it.

 * You do not put a space before a comma, but you do need a space after one.

 ? We don't usually put a comma before the word 'and'.

Example:

  [1] There were a lot of people in the room, teachers, students and parents.

  [2] The teachers were sitting, the students were listening and the parents

  were just worrying.

  [2] Although he wanted to come, he wasn't able to attend the course.

  [3] I like reading, listening to music, and visiting with my friends.

  [4] The boy said, "My father is often away during the week on business trips."

  [4] His doctor replied, "If you don't stop smoking, you run the risk of a

  heart attack."

  [5] Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, comes from Seattle.

  [5] My only sister, who is a fantastic tennis player, is in great shape.

  [6] The powerful, resonating sound caught our attention.

* Colon, ':'.

 1 Colons precede a list, an explanation or an example.

 2 The colon is used to separate two main clauses where the first is an

 introduction to the second.

 3 To introduce a direct quote (a comma can also be used in this situation).

 * You do not put a space before a colon, but you do need a space after one.

Example:

  [1] There are two main shopping areas in Nottingham: Broadmarsh Centre and

  Victoria Centre.

  [2] The pilot had an awful realization: he had forgotten to turn off the gas

  at breakfast time.

  [3] He announced to his friends: "I'm getting married!"

* Full stop (period), '.'.

 1 Full stops (periods in the USA) go at the end of sentences that are

   statements.

 2 They are also used to mark abbreviations. If such an abbreviation occurs at

   the very end of a sentence, the final dot is not usually written twice.

 * You do not put a space before a full stop, but you do need at least one

   space after one (two spaces for purists).

Example:

  [1] My name is Lynn. I am a teacher.

  [2] An overhead projector is often referred to as an O.H.P.

* Hyphen, '-'.

 * Hyphens are used to connect words or syllables, or to divide words into

   parts.

 * You don't use a space on either side of a hyphen.

Example:

  There were ninety-nine red balloons.

* Question mark, '?'.

 1 Question marks go at the end of sentences that are questions.

 2 You need a question mark at the end of tag questions.

 * For quotes within quotes, use single quotes.

 * You do not put a space before a question mark, but you do need at least one

   space after one (two spaces for purists).

For example:

  [1] Is my name Lynn? Of course it is.

  [2] It's a nice day, isn't it?

* Semicolon, ';'.

 1 Semicolons are used to separate two sentences that would otherwise be

   joined with a word such as 'and', 'because', 'since', 'unless' or 'while'.

 2 To separate groups of words that are themselves separated by commas.

 * You do not put a space before a semicolon, but you do need a space after one.

Example:

  [1] I'm looking forward to our next lesson; I'm sure it will be a lot of fun.

  [2] They plan to study German, for their travels; chemistry, for their work;

  and literature, for their own enjoyment.

* Quotation mark (speech mark), '""', "''".

Double quotes '""', single quotes "''".

 * Quotation marks (single or double) are used to show words that are directly

   spoken (direct speech).

 * Only the words actually being quoted are enclosed by speech marks.

 * You need a space before the opening speech mark, but no space after it, and

   a space after the closing one, but no space before it.

 * Another general rule is to use a comma after the introduction to quoted

   speech or writing.

 * Sometimes when writing a spoken sentence it is split in two. The speech

   marks must then be placed at the beginning and end of each part of the

   sentence. Commas are used to separate the spoken part from the rest of the

   sentence.

 * If you need a question mark or exclamation mark the markers that punctuate

   the quoted words are enclosed by the speech marks.

Example:

  "Could everyone sit down please," said the teacher.

  Jaime said, "I love you."

  "I wonder," she said quietly, "whether people will ever truly understand each other."

  "I don't understand," replied Nathan.    "Do you understand?" asked Nathan.   "I don't understand!" shouted Nathan.

  Nathan replied, "I don't understand."    Nathan asked, "Do you understand?"   Nathan shouted, "I don't understand!"

  He wrote in 1946 that, "The key word in digital computer is 'digital'."

* Ellipsis, '...'.

 1 Ellipsis used to show that something has been omitted, indicate missing

   words in an incomplete quotation.

Example:

  [1] Chomsky suggested that, "Language is a system that...can be described in

  an algebraic notation."

* Dash, '-', '--'.

 1 The dash should be used when making a brief interruption within a

   statement, a sudden change of thought, an additional comment, or a dramatic

   qualification.

* Parentheses '()'.

 1 Use parentheses to clarify, to place an afterthought, or to add a personal

   comment. Be sure to include the period after the closing parenthesis.

Example:

  [1] Steve Case (AOL's former CEO) resigned from the Time-Warner board of

  directors in 2005.

  [1] You will need a flashlight for the camping trip (don't forget the

  batteries!).

  [1] Most grammarians believe that parentheses and commas are always

  interchangeable (I disagree).

* Brackets '[]'.

 1 Use brackets to signify an editor's note in a regular piece of writing. You

   can also use brackets to clarify or to revise a direct quote so that it

   appeals to your own writing.

 2 The first brackets are rounded, and brackets inside brackets are squared.

Example:

  [1] "[The blast] was absolutely devastating," said Susan Smith.

* Slash '/'.

 1 Use the slash to separate "and" and "or", when appropriate.

 2 The slash can replace the word "and" to join two nouns.

 3 The slash is used when quoting lyrics and poetry to denote a line break. Be

 sure to add spaces between your slashes here.

Example:

  [1] To register, you will need your driver's license and/or your birth

  certificate."

  [2] The student/part-time employee has very little free time.

  [3] "Row, row, row your boat / gently down the stream / life is but a dream."