Punctuation around abbreviations

Question

I always stumble when using abbreviations in a sentence, as they inherently contain a period in them. How do I use a comma or a semicolon after an abbreviation? How about a period?

E.g. (This is an example of my quandary)

Answer 1

Based on the "Oxford Manual of Style" I changed my approach:

• At the end of a sentence don't add a second period.
• For other punctuation still include the period. E.g. "IT.?" would be right.

But, when I was reading Mathematics at university I was told to always add the sentence ending period whatever went before, so if an equation ended with ellipsis there would be four periods together.

Summary: it is a matter of style.

Answer 2

You could avoid the problem by removing the periods (or full stops). Eg: like so. In fact, the B.B.C. has completely done away with periods in abbreviations and acronyms in its writing, as have several other publications. If you do decide to include periods within your writing, you can simply place the punctuation directly after them, unless it is a period. For instance, an abbreviation for doctor is Dr. This sentence is a new sentence, but if I was talking about a Dr. and didn't have a capital letter, it is quite obvious that it is the same sentence.

So you have at least two choices:

1. Put punctuation after an abbreviation just as normal, except for periods.
2. Write your abbreviations and acronyms without periods.

p.s. E.g. (exempli gratia) is also an acronym.

Answer 3

I would go with the "clarity rule," use the punctuation that makes the most sense and makes your meaning easiest to discern.

In practice I try to structure my sentences to avoid having to place an abbreviation at the end, where the closing period would collide with the full stop at the end of the sentence, but otherwise use the periods and punctuate the rest of the sentence as required; if the sentence structure requires a comma or semi-colon after the abbreviation then I would place it after the period.