Punctuation is the term used for the marks, such as the period/full stop, comma, dash, and parentheses, used to separate structural units, and perform other roles that clarify the meaning.
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Punctuating a Question Ending with an Exclamatory Quotation in American Style
I've done quite a bit of looking for some definitive advice on this scenario to no avail, so I turn to you. What is the proper way to punctuate a question ending with an exclamatory quotation, such as ...
0
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1answer
26 views
Is using a colon before a table of values correct?
Is it correct to use a colon before a table? For example:
The required configuration is provided in the table below:
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0answers
35 views
How to separate two phrases in a grammatically correct way?
In all stackexchange sites, there is an edit summary field provided when you try to edit a question or an answer. I find myself frequently writing there the following:
"edited title, added a tag"
or
...
3
votes
1answer
38 views
Punctuation for a Shakespeare quote
I am putting a quote on a plaque, but am uncertain how to punctuate it. Any help would be appreciated.
This above all: to thine own self be true
Do I put in a comma (which is in the original ...
3
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0answers
46 views
Is “qo” a step in the evolution of the question mark?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question_mark
According to the wikipedia article I've linked to above, "qo" was sometimes used in the middle ages to abbreviate the latin word "questio" in the way that we ...
0
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2answers
52 views
Correct punctuation with two nouns? [duplicate]
There's an old play on words that goes like so:
Grammar: The difference between helping your uncle Jack off a horse, and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
I've been told that it should ...
5
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3answers
104 views
If , as John Lawler says, orthography is not part of language, how can these commas interfere with today's discussion about gun control? [duplicate]
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
I read an interesting article on The New York ...
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2answers
51 views
Use of commas before a quote [closed]
In the following sentence, should there be a comma after the word slogan?
The 1958 Ford Edsel was advertised with the slogan "Once you've seen it, you'll never forget it."
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3answers
47 views
“It may be updated below.” or “It may be updated, below.” [closed]
Which is the correct way to punctuate this sentence? Is the comma necessary?
Context:
The following is our initial estimate. It may be udpated, below.
The intent is to say that half a page from ...
0
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1answer
51 views
Punctuation in English language [closed]
What are the most common rules of punctuation in English? And is there a possibility that the rules may differ in British and American usage?
3
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1answer
59 views
How to use hyphens appropriately when listing multiple hyphenated terms?
If multiple hyphenated terms share the same latter half, and I wish to list them without repeating that latter half, how should the hyphens be placed?
For example:
"I will be investigating ...
-2
votes
1answer
57 views
Correct comma placement in this sentence
Consider x, when the regulator is set to zero the integrand in x reduces to y.
Is this the correct comma placement? My thinking was "Consider x" is an introductory phrase, so it is OK to place ...
0
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0answers
57 views
Should a sentence ending with “Ph.D.” end with one or two periods? [duplicate]
Should a sentence ending with the word Ph. D. end with one or two periods?
He has a Ph.D.
He has a Ph.D..
Is there some established formatting rule for this situation? It might be a ...
2
votes
1answer
62 views
Use semicolon or period when telling a result of an action?
If you look at these sentences, the second one is result of the first:
Alex shouts and feels pain in his leg, and he rubs the place with hand and looks at the leg. His leg swelled little bit.
So ...
0
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2answers
76 views
What to do about multiple sentences following a colon?
For example:
It happened only a handful of times in my lifetime: once when I went to the store. It just had to be done. There was no choice. Another when heading to the beach in 2013...
Should I ...
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0answers
60 views
two comma between two words - comma and then comma [closed]
Their anger reduce gradually, and then, they sit down.
Please ignore the logical mistakes if any in the above sentence. My question is mainly on the comma(, and then,) ? Is that correct?
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0answers
63 views
Punctuations and “tumbles down the hill”
He jump but hardly reaches the stone and tumbles down the hill. He tries to catch some other edge or stone as he falls and catches a small hole with his two fingers in the left hand.
Something ...
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1answer
62 views
What punctuation should follow after a list introduced by a colon?
The whole department: John, Jeff, Jean, and the accountant [?] were thrown into jail.
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0answers
30 views
Natural dialogue vs. comma splice [closed]
"Hello, Denver, this is Charlotte calling(;)(,) here are the results of the tests." Would a comma suffice in this sentence or should I use a semicolon. My dilemma is that it is dialogue and has to be ...
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0answers
50 views
Using otherwise to predicate an adjective. Should a pair of commas be used?
I would like to highlight the fact that the parameters are typically static in the following sentence:
In the case of this design the user can modify, otherwise static, parameters by using nested ...
0
votes
1answer
76 views
Do you have to capitalize a question that is after a comma?
Do you have to capitalize a question that is after a comma?
Example:
I'm not hungry, why do I have to eat?
EDIT
The sentence are formed by dependent clauses with the next structure:
...
-1
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0answers
28 views
More than one subordinate clause punctuation
How would a sentence with more than one subordinate clause be punctuated. Try this:
Jenny's awed expression says it all as she gazes around the opulent hotel lobby (,?) while Phil relaxes in his ...
0
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1answer
42 views
Comma or semicolon when omitting a conjunction
Perhaps someone could clarify the accepted punctuation for a sentence where a conjunction has been omitted. I'm quite clear about when a coordinating conjunction has been omitted but not as clear for ...
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3answers
93 views
Comma or full stop after ''come on''?
I’ve always wondered whether you should put a full stop or a comma after come on.
Come on, it’s just over there!
Come on. It’s just over there!
Which one is right?
2
votes
1answer
89 views
Why ; is called semicolon and what is its history? [closed]
Semi- is a Latin prefix meaning "half" and colon is another punctuation.
Should I therefore say that semicolon is a halved colon?
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1answer
44 views
Comma usage around the word 'still.'
When I read the following sentence out loud to myself, it seems to me that there should be a brief pause before and after the word 'still,' based on how it is being used in the sentence. However, I am ...
0
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3answers
105 views
Comma usage near title in quotes
I can't seem to find any answer in my high school grammar textbook regarding the use of commas after titles that appear in quotes. Is this question addressed by American style guides?
I recently ...
2
votes
2answers
134 views
Exclamation point inside a sentence
While reading the free Kindle edition of She by H. Rider Haggard (originally published in 1887), I noticed sentences like this one:
But now, to my intense horror, I knew that I could never put ...
0
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1answer
48 views
Caveats of punctuation of nested quotes
I've found "How to punctuate a quote within a quote?" where the correct punctuation for the given example of nested quotes was:
“He leaned close to me, and said in a gravely and drunken voice, ...
0
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1answer
59 views
Is a period needed in a mid-sentence parenthetical quotation?
In this sentence ...
Correct wool velour carpeting is used ("It didn't hold up as well as Porsche would've liked," says Jim, "and they discontinued it after a while") and the restored mahogany ...
0
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3answers
97 views
Would you use a period after text: Thank you for helping to build the new building
My boss told me that I shouldn't have a period after the text:
Thank you for helping to build the new building.
She said that it is not a complete sentence.
2
votes
2answers
54 views
How would we punctuate a sentence which ends in an abbreviation and exclamation mark or question mark? [duplicate]
I was wondering what to do if I have abbreviation at the end of a sentence which ends in a question mark.
What is Google inc.?
What is Google inc.
What is Google inc?
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1answer
137 views
Correct punctuation in song lyrics that aren't necessarily good English [closed]
Lots of music contains repetitions, incomplete sentences, and slang. I want to know if there's a "correct" way to add punctuation and breaks when transcribing the lyrics.
Take for example an excerpt ...
2
votes
2answers
71 views
Possessive of Quoted Song Title in Quotes
Without recasting the following sentence, is the possessive of the quoted song title correctly punctuated as exampled? I am aware that it can be reworded to avoid the problem, but I wanted to know ...
0
votes
1answer
77 views
Date/Time Format in Report [duplicate]
On Thursday, 23 June 2004 at 3:15 pm, Mike Lollis resigned.
In British style,
1) Do I need to insert a comma after '2004'?
2) Can I leave 'pm' as is without the full stops in this abbreviation?
3) Do ...
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votes
1answer
54 views
'Letters as letters', 'words as words'
Aside from italics, is it okay (especially in British English) to denote the plurals of 'letters as letters', 'numbers and numbers' and 'words as words' as I've done below? Also, I'm aware of doing it ...
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2answers
66 views
Semicolons after ages
Would a comma or semicolon correctly follow the word "Florida" below? I used the comma for the last city-state entry. Is this correct?
Mike Jones, 45, of Lincoln, Nebraska; Sandra Stevens, 42, of ...
1
vote
1answer
125 views
'[sic]' to indicate punctuation errors
Can [sic] be used to highlight a punctuational error?
In the sentence below, the bracketed sic would obviously denote that the punctuation preceding it was an error — that is, a semicolon ...
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3answers
96 views
Bracketed Capital Letter [duplicate]
What does the bracketed capital letter indicate in the revised version below? Is it essential, per the rules of proper punctuation, to do so? Are the ellipsis points (i.e., the spacing of the dots) ...
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votes
2answers
80 views
Parenthesis and quotations having punctuation before AND after them [closed]
I'll have to come up with some examples to show you my question:
I know if a sentence is inside either, the punctuation is inside (I also know I use a lot of comma splices. I think of the way the ...
1
vote
1answer
82 views
What is a “big-ender pair”?
In the sci.math newsgroup ca. 23 Mar 2013, in thread Subject: Re: math formulae?, I saw the following:
> >"Is the tournment liken to a bridge tournment? The problem is vague.
> > ...
0
votes
2answers
66 views
Is a comma appended to an ellipsis in the middle of a quotation?
Digging through every ELU question I can find on the matter, I still can’t locate a specific answer to this question of punctuation. Which of these is correct?
“Maybe...” I said, injecting an ...
-4
votes
1answer
77 views
Possessive punctuation: boy’s or boys’? [closed]
It’s the boys’ room when referring to boys generally. Is it the boys’ room still when referring to exactly two boys, or is it boy’s?
This is a question about punctuation, obviously.
0
votes
1answer
136 views
What is the proper way to ask two questions in one sentence?
Every now and again I find myself writing a sentence like this:
INPUT in LPINPUT is some data structure I can identify — what does LP mean, array?
I don't know what to call this type of ...
-3
votes
2answers
242 views
Should there be a comma after “Thank you”?
Should there be a comma anywhere in the following sentence?
Thank you Annie for making us proud.
1
vote
1answer
62 views
What is meant by this use of quotation marks?
I was reading an article Meet the Artist Who Blows Things Up for a Living
in 4th paragraph the author says
When I visit Cai (as everyone calls him, pronouncing it “Tsai”) in his spare East
...
0
votes
1answer
144 views
What's the name of a large curly brace? [duplicate]
I'm looking for a particular element for a project and I'm not sure what to google. What's the name of that large brace that is used to group items together? A crude Paint rendition:
1
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2answers
203 views
Should I use a full stop at the end of text in a table?
The table has a mix of fragments and full sentences. I'm concerned that if I have full stops after the sentences and none after the fragments it will look inconsistent to the reader.
2
votes
2answers
141 views
Should I use commas or semi-colons in this multi-item list within a sentence?
In the following sentence, I am listing multiple areas of study. Should they be separated by commas or semi-colons?
"In my exposure to this field so far, I have come to appreciate just how ...
2
votes
1answer
811 views
Comma before “including”?
Does this sentence require a comma before including?
He has written on a range of moral issues including poverty, globalization, and euthanasia.
