| Apostrophe:
' |
Normally an apostrophe s or just
an apostrophe comes at the end of a noun for the possessive form or an
apostrophe replaces something omitted in a contraction.
In journalism, a name that ends in s takes only the apostrophe to show possession. In standard English, all nouns take an apostrophe s except plural nouns that already end in s, and those plurals just take the apostrophe for possession. |
| Appositive: | An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames a noun, usually right after the first. Normally an appositive is set off from what it refers to. |
| Brackets:
[] |
Brackets show material added to a quote. You might
quote the previous sentence with an explanation and say, "Brackets show
material [that the quoting writer has] added to a quote."
Math usage may suggest putting brackets inside parentheses, but the different mark isn't necessary. |
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| Clauses,
independent and dependent: |
An independent clause is or can be a sentence on its own. Two
independent clauses can be separated by a period, and then they are sentences.
Or they can be separated by a semicolon or a comma and a conjunction (a
coordinating conjunction--and, but, or, so, yet, for, nor), and
then they are two clauses in one sentence.
A dependent clause has a subject and verb like a sentence, but some other part of the clause makes it depend on (or subordinate to) an independent clause to make a complete thought in a sentence. A subordinating conjunction like because or since or a relative pronoun like who or that can make a clause dependent. |
| Colon:
: |
A colon is usually used before appositives,
especially lists, but not before every list. Some writers prefer a colon
before every list, especially when the list is formatted in a column on the
page, but grammatically the colon may not be necessary. Grammatically, it's
wrong to separate a verb or preposition from a list of objects. In punctuating sentences, a colon should follow an independent clause. Use a colon in a definition after the word defined. The definition is like an appositive to the word. Use a colon before a long, block-indented quotation. In business letters, use a colon after the salutation instead of a comma. Use a colon between the hours and minutes as in 12:48. |
| Comma:
, |
The salutation in a personal letter is a noun of direct address, so
use a comma after it. But in business letters, use a colon.
In dates or place names, the year or state or country acts like a nonrestrictive modifier, so put a comma before the year or state or country and--if the date or place name isn't at the end of the sentence--put another comma after the year or state or country. In a list of three or more items, journalism and some other styles do not put a comma between the next-to-last item in the list and the and. Standard style puts the comma before and. Sometimes two or more adjectives in front of a noun are separated by commas and sometimes not. If you can change the order of the adjectives or put and between them, then use a comma. |
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| Conjunctions: | The coordinating conjunctions are and, but, yet, for, or, nor, and so
(ABYFONS or BOYFANS if that's easier to remember). Subordinating conjunctions include "although," "because," "if," "when," and other words that make a clause dependent. Coordinating conjunctions can grammatically join two independent clauses with just a comma between the first clause and the conjunction. If the two clauses have commas in them already, a semicolon may make the punctuation clearer. Some readers do not like sentences beginning with the conjunction And or But, but other conjunctions seem to be acceptable ways to start a sentence. So because the conjunction does not make a clause dependent, an independent clause starting with And or But is grammatically correct even if it may not seem to be good writing style. The coordinating conjunctions and, or, nor, but, and yet can also join items like nouns, adjectives, and verbs in a list. If the list has three or more items, use a comma after each item except the last. Standard English includes the comma before the conjunction. If a dependent clause comes at the beginning of a sentence, use a comma after it to separate it from the independent clause. If the dependent clause comes at the end of the sentence, then a comma isn't necessary because the subordinating conjunction separates the dependent clause from the independent. |
| Conjunctive adverbs: | Conjunctive adverbs include many words like furthermore and nevertheless,
but the two most common are however and therefore. Remember that conjunctive adverbs are adverbs; therefore, they cannot grammatically join independent clauses the way that conjunctions can. If a conjunctive adverb is between two independent clauses, then the punctuation has to be a period or a semicolon. If the conjunctive adverb is within a sentence, however, then it is simply set off with commas. |
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| Dash:
-- |
In your word processor, a dash should be one line, longer than a hyphen.
A special keyboard command will give you the dash, or just typing two hyphens
will give you one if your computer is set to make the automatic substitution.
In web pages, e-mail messages, or simple text files, type two hyphens to represent a dash. Don't confuse a dash with a hyphen. Journalism style normally spaces before and after a dash to allow for line breaks in the narrow columns. This rule can also help in web design to keep the two hyphens from separating at the end of a line. Otherwise, there's no space between a dash and the words on either side. Actually, there are two kinds of dashes. The em dash, supposedly the width of the letter m, is the regular punctuation mark. The en dash, supposedly the width of the letter n, is for ranges of numbers. |
| Ellipsis:
... .... |
When quoting, use an ellipsis to indicate words omitted from the original
source. If the part left out includes the period for a sentence (or
more than one period), show the period too (just one) with four dots.
Writers sometimes use an ellipsis to indicate a pause in speaking, but suggesting a pause isn't necessary in writing. |
| Exclamation: | An exclamation like Hey or Darn or Oh or Heavens to Betsy should be set off from the main sentence. Normally, the sentence starts with the exclamation followed by a comma. Rarely, an exclamation may come in the middle of a sentence and, well, needs two commas around it to set it off. Put a comma before an exclamation at the end of a sentence, for Pete's sake. |
| Exclamation point:
! |
Use an exclamation point instead of a period for an exclamation--a shouted sentence. |
| Hyphen:
- |
A hyphen isn't used between parts of sentences like most punctuation.
Use a hyphen to break up the syllables of a word when you want the first part of a long word at the end of one line and the last part of the word at the beginning of the next line. Use a hyphen to combine two words into one modifier before a noun. Don't confuse hyphens with dashes. |
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| Nonrestrictive
modifier: |
A nonrestrictive modifier does not restrict the meaning of the word
it modifies, so the word is completely identified already and the modifier
is additional information. Nonrestrictive modifiers can be set off
with commas as in Ann, who is district manager, is on the phone.
Which clauses are usually nonrestrictive. Compare restrictive modifers. |
| Noun
of direct address: |
A noun of direct address is a name or title used in a sentence when speaking or writing to someone, and it should be set off with a comma or commas if it comes in the middle of the sentence. |
| Parentheses:
( ) |
Parentheses always come in pairs.
Parentheses may be used inside parentheses (like this (for example)). When parentheses come at the end of a sentence, put the period outside the closing parenthesis. A period may come inside the closing parenthesis if there's a complete sentence inside. |
| Period:
. |
Periods are generally for ending sentences.
Periods may also come at the end of an abbreviation. |
| Question mark:
? |
Use a question mark instead of a period for a direct question. |
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| Quotation marks:
" " ' ' |
Use quotation marks for direct quotes of what someone has
said or written. Other uses (nicknames, emphasis, slang) can be confusing.
In writing about the internet, it may help to put only a word to be typed in the quotation marks and not the punctuation. Normally in U.S. English, a period or comma goes inside quotation marks, but web writers want people to know not to type the mark. |
| Restrictive
modifer: |
A restrictive modifier restricts the meaning of the word it modifies,
so the modifier is necessary to identify the word. Restrictive modifiers
should not be set off from the words they modify by punctuation, as in
The sales manager who called this morning was Bob.
That clauses are usually restrictive. Compare nonrestrictive modifiers. |
| Semicolon:
; |
A semicolon most often joins two independent clauses that
are closely related. A conjunctive adverb (like however or
therefore) may come between the clauses but isn't necessary.
(Note that a conjunctive adverb may come in the middle of a sentence, so
a semicolon is, therefore, not always necessary.) Less often, semicolons replace commas in lists when one or more items in the list already include commas so that there is no confusion between a comma separating items in the list from a comma separating a noun from its appositive, for instance. |
| Slash:
/ |
Slashes aren't standard punctuation marks.
They may indicate alternatives as in and/or or combinations as in Windows/Macintosh compatible. The backslash \ is even less common in punctuation. |
| Variables: | Some punctuation varies from situation to situation.
For example, journalism style changes rules for commas, apostrophes, and dashes. Web style may change the rules for quotations and dashes. |
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