+

ProofreadingEnd Marks

+End Marks: Period

Period: used to end a sentence a sentence makes a statement, request, or command that

isn’t used as an exclamation Try these new Nikes on. (command) Relax. (request) Cars of the future will come with auto-steer features.

(statement)

+Other uses for a Period After an Initial

M. E. Kerr (writer) Breckin D. Brouwer

As a Decimal used as a decimal point and to separate dollars and cents

98.5 percent of 10th graders take Spanish class. A bottle of Mt. Dew costs about $1.50.

At the End of a Sentence When an abbreviation is the last word in a sentence, only one

period should be used. By the year 2030, a 65-year-old man may be as fit as a 45-

year-old man today because of advances in nutrition, exercise, preventative medicine, etc.

After Abbreviations A period is placed after each part of an abbreviation – unless the

abbreviation is an acronym. An acronym is a word formed from the first (or first few) letters of words in a set phrase.

Abbreviations: Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., A.D. Acronyms DOS, CMCS, IBM

+End Marks: Ellipsis

Ellipsis An ellipsis (three periods) may be used to indicate a

pause in dialogue or to show omitted words or sentences. (When typing, leave one space before, after, and between each period.)

To Show a Pause shows a pause in dialogue

“Why did I get home late, Dad? Well, Jill and I . . . ah . . . yeah, were in another galaxy. Well, I . . . ah . . . mean we were watching A Space Odyssey on Jill’s new 3-D TV.”

To Show Omitted Words shows that one or more words have been left out of a quotation

“Then, you’d blast off . . . on screen, as if you were looking out . . . of a spaceship.”

As the End of a Sentence If the words left out are at the end of a sentence, use a period followed by

three dots. “The game would start with a terrific stereo sound track. . . . Then

you’d blast off, with realistic animated sequences, in full color, on screen, as if you were looking out the window of a spaceship.”

+End Marks: Question Mark A question mark is used after an interrogative

sentence and to show doubt about the correctness of a fact or figure.

Direct Question A question mark is used at the end of a direct questions (an interrogative

sentence). How long will it be before deep-driving vehicles will be able to search

the deepest ocean floor for deposits of silver, manganese, and cobalt?

Indirect Question No question mark is used after an indirect quotation.

I asked if marine biologists will be required to live on the ocean floor.

In Parentheses The question mark is placed within parentheses to show that the writer isn’t

sure a fact or figure is correct. By the year 2050 (?) we will be able to explore the ocean floor without

attachment to any support vehicle.

+End Marks: Exclamation Point

An exclamation point is used to express strong feeling. It may be placed after a word, a phrase, or an exclamatory sentence. (The exclamation points should not be overused.)

Cowabunga, dudes! Cool! I’m going to the Jonas Brothers concert! Americans produce over 150 million tons of

garbage every year!

Caution: NEVER write more than one exclamation point; such punctuation is incorrect. (It should only be used in informal appropriate situations)