Punctuation

Punctuation

PERIOD/FULL STOP {.}

Use a period at the end of a command.◦ Hand in the poster essays no later than noon on Friday.

  Use a period at the end of an indirect question.

◦ The teacher asked why Maria had left out the easy exercises.

Use a period with abbreviations:◦ Dr. Espinoza arrived from Washington, D.C., at 6 p.m.

(Note: period from abbreviation serves to end a sentence)

◦ Did you enjoy living in Washington, D.C.?

(Note: an extra punctuation mark must be added to a question and exclamation)

Punctuation

COMMA {,} Before or after adverbial clauses and phrases.

◦ After dinner, he walked around the city.

Before various connectives to join two independent clauses. FAN BOYS◦ The house badly needed painting, and the roof needed repairing.

(Comma can be omitted when joining short, balanced independent clauses; however, it is always correct to use it, e.g. He hit the ball well(,) but he ran to toward third base.)◦ The Red Sox were leading the league at the end of May, but of course, they

always do well in the spring. [no comma after "but"]

To separate some non-defining phrases from the rest of the sentence.◦ Malaria, once a widespread disease, is under control.

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COMMA {,} To separate words, phrases and clauses in a series.

◦ Many U.S. firms attempt to tap emerging markets by pursuing business in China, India, Latin America, and Russia and other Eastern European countries.

This last comma is often called the serial comma or the Oxford comma.

To separate adjectives that separately modify the same noun.

◦ Critics praise the novel's unaffected, unadorned style. To set off quoted elements.

◦ "I should like to buy an egg, please," she said timidly. "How do you sell them?"

We can also use a colon instead of comma when we set off a quoted element which is either formal or too long.

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COMMA {,} Use commas to set off phrases that express contrast.

◦ Some say the world will end in ice, not fire.

Typographical reasons.

Between a city and a state [Hartford, Connecticut], a date and the year [June 15, 1997], a name and a title when the title comes after the name [Bob Downey, Professor of English], in long numbers [5,456,783 and $14,682], etc. Although you will often see a comma between a name and suffix — Bob Downey, Jr., Richard Harrison, III — this comma is no longer regarded as necessary by most copy editors.

Punctuation

Famous Rule of Punctuation:

Never use only one comma between a subject and its verb.

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COLON {:}A colon can introduce a list.

◦We need three kinds of support: economic, moral, and political.

A colon can be used before an explanation.◦We decided not to go on holiday: we had too little

money.

A colon is used before a quotation. (see above for an example)

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SEMICOLON {;}To sort out a monster list.

◦ We had four professors on our committee: Peter Wursthorn, Professor of Mathematics; Ronald Pepin, Professor of English; Cynthia Greenblatt, Professor of Education; and Nada Light, Professor of Nursing.

To separate closely related independent

clauses.◦ My grandmother seldom goes to bed this early; she's

afraid she'll miss out on something.

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QUESTION MARK {?}It is used at the end of a direct question.

◦ How did you enjoy our yesterday’s performance?

Tag question◦ He finished on time, didn’t he?

Be careful not to use it in an indirect question.◦ The instructor asked the students what they were doing.

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EXCLAMATION MARK {!}It is used at the end of an emphatic declaration,

interjection, or command.◦ "No!" he yelled. "Do it now!“◦ "The bear went Grr!, and I went left.“

It can be used with questions to convey extreme emotion.◦ What on earth are you doing! Stop!

An exclamation mark can be inserted within parentheses to emphasize a word within a sentence.◦ We have some really(!) low-priced rugs on sale this week.

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INTERROBANG { (!?)}It can be found in Windings 2 font. It has no role

in academic prose.◦ How about that (!?)

APOSTROPHE {’ }In academic writing it is used to show possession

or relationship, and in informal English it used in contracted forms◦ Two years earlier, The Economist had described gambling, as

Britain’s second biggest industry.

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QUOTATION {“”} Serves to set off material that represents quoted or spoken

language◦ Hillocks (1986) similarly reviews dozens of research findings. He writes, “The

available research suggests that teaching by written comment on compositions is generally ineffective”(p. 167).

In the United States, periods and commas go inside quotation marks regardless of logic.◦ My favorite poem is Robert Frost's "Design.“

In the United Kingdom, Canada, and islands under the influence of British education, punctuation around quotation marks is more apt to follow logic.◦ My favorite poem is Robert Frost's "Design".

The placement of marks other than periods and commas follows the logic.◦ What do you think of Robert Frost's "Design"?

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SINGLE QUOTATION MARKS {‘’} In the US English we use to enclose quoted material within other

quoted material◦ "'Design' is my favorite poem," he said.

British practice, again, is quite different. In fact, single-quote marks and double-quote marks are apt to be reversed in usage.

In newspapers, single quotation marks are used in headlines where double quotation marks would otherwise appear.◦ Congress Cries 'Shame!‘

In philosophical discourse, key concepts may be set apart with single-quote marks. When such concepts are set off in this way, periods and commas go outside the single-quote marks.◦ Sartre's treatment of 'being', as opposed to his treatment of

'non-being', has been thoroughly described in Kaufmann's book.

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HYPHEN {-} Compound words (six-year-old daughter)

Numbers and fractions (twenty-one, one-fourth)

adding certain prefixes: When it comes before a capitalized word or the prefix itself is capitalized (non-English, I-formation); the prefixes self-, all-, and ex- almost always require a hyphen (ex-husband, all-inclusive, self-control); when the prefix end the same letter that begins the word, you will often use a hyphen (anti-intellectual) but not always (cooperate, unnatural)

In a series of identical compounds (Both full- and part-time employees will get raises this year.)

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DASH {– —} Serves to set off parenthetical elements that contain

internal forms of punctuation◦ All four of them—Bob, Jeffrey, Jason, and Brett—did well in college.

   En dash: Ctrl+Num- or Alt 0150

◦ chronological range (1961–1963)◦ indexing scheme (table 13–C)◦ join compound modifiers (the New York–New Jersey border)

  Em dash: Ctrl+Alt+Num- or Alt 0151

◦ Shows a break in a dialog ("How many times have I asked you not to —" Jasion suddenly stopped talking and looked out the window.)

◦ 3-em dash or 6 hyphens for a blank (Professors ______ and ______ were suspended without pay for their refusal to grade papers.)

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SLASH {/} It indicates a choice between the words it separates 

◦ Using the pass/fail option backfired on her; she could've gotten an A.

There is no space; however, we must put a space when we quote a poem because a slash identifies lines. ◦ "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep / but I have promises to keep.“

ELLIPSIS {…} It is a very handy device when you quote, but you want to

omit a part of it◦ "Bohr […] used the analogy of parallel stairways […]" (Smith 55).

There are manuals which recommend using square brackets around the ellipsis; however, some do not.

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PARENTHESES {()} We place material that we want to de-emphasize, but we still want to include it

◦ Thirty-five years after his death, Robert Frost (do you remember him?) remains America's favorite poet.

 

BRACKETS {[]} You can use them to include explanatory words or phrases within quoted

language.◦ Lew Perkins, the Director of Athletic Programs, said that Pumita Espinoza, the

new soccer coach [at Notre Dame Academy] is going to be a real winner.  To enclose [sic] showing misspelled or inappropriately used word.

◦ Reporters found three mispelings [sic] in the report.  If you have italicized or underlined words within quoted language that

was not italicized or underlined in the original, you can note that change in brackets included within the sentence or paragraph. ◦ It was the atmosphere of the gym that thrilled Jacobs, not the eight

championship banners hanging from the beams [italics added].