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