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Hot answers tagged punctuation

5

for any real number $x$ $e^{ix}=\cos{x}+i\sin{x}$ where $e$ is the base of the natural logarithm (...)" I can see no reason for capitalising 'w' in that situation - a newline doesn't signal the start of a new sentence. I would find it very confusing if you capitalised it.

4

Headline writers usually feel free to violate any rule of grammar that will allow them to condense what they want to say to the space they have available. Punctuation takes up space and so will be used only where it is absolutely necessary to convey the meaning - or alternatively where a punctuation mark can be used instead of one or more words. So for ...

3

The second one is more correct in my humble opinion, because it contains a list within a list. And in such situations, the semicolon is the way to go. It is used as a super-comma in this case. The third one isn't grammatically correct at all. None of those subsequent sentences are actually (full) sentences. They all lack a verb.

3

Personally (and in accordance with the conventions that I've seen in published works), I'd write it as follows: Euler's formula states that, for every real number~$x$, $$e^{ix} = \cos x + i \sin x,$$ where $e$~is the base of the natural logarithm. The philosophy is that the equation is a statement, part of the ...

3

The first one is pretty good. You might also consider parentheses: I experienced art in a variety of mediums, ranging from the traditional (gallery art and theater) to the informal (street murals, graffiti, and comedy.)

2

I don't think I can do better than to quote the Wikipedia page, "Quotation marks in English", which says: Single or double quotation marks denote either speech or a quotation. A quotation needs a source. Speech, though, just needs a defined speaker. There IS an exception for paraphrases described: Quotation marks are not used for paraphrased ...

2

I think you may have conflated two uses of quotation marks. I use the first is to indicate that the quoted words are not mine, and the second is to report direct discourse. The overlap is a proper set of each. That is, there are other people's words that I wish to use but that don't appear in conversation, and there is also my own directly reported ...

2

As Robusto points out in comments beneath the question, there is no universally acknowledged rule governing whether to include or omit a comma after a conjunction at the beginning of a sentence. Robusto reports preferring to include such commas in academic documents, but many other writers and editors would not include them. In my experience copyediting ...

2

This is not something that is done very often, and I doubt style guides have anything to say on it at all. Finnegan's Wake, by James Joyce, opens with the continuation of the last sentence in the book, and it starts: riverrun past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle ...

2

Nicolo said, "I'll let you know if anything changes." Placing the full stop before the closing quotation is the so-called US convention. Nicolo said, "I'll let you know if anything changes". Placing the full stop after the closing quotation is the so-called UK convention. These are just conventions, not hard and fast rules. Poets and novelists ...

2

You could do this a few different ways: Tomorrow, then; let's see what happens. Tomorrow, then, let's see what happens. Tomorrow, then. Let's see what happens. Tomorrow, then—let's see what happens. It really just depends on preference and sometimes the context.

2

Non-restrictive (non-defining): Our mapping contains 2000 words, which map to more than one lemma. Our mapping contains exactly 2000 words, and those just happen to map to more than one lemma. Restrictive (defining): Our mapping contains 2000 words which map to more than one lemma. Our mapping contains at least 2000 words because there are 2000 ...

2

Only if it's two different sentences. If the formula is just the subject or the object of the same sentence then there should be no need to capitalize the next word. (unless it is a proper noun or a quote or something like that).

1

I would run it this way: You must choose one (and only one) of the following three options: Sign up for x. Sign up for y. Pay for z. My rationale for handling the list in this way is that running the three options as separate simple sentences maximizes their readability and their distinctness as independent options. The best place to ...

1

Either is followed by two alternatives. Either A or B. You have three. Do not use "either" in this way.

1

If you feel like it; style guides vary so both are right - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma#Separation_of_clauses.

1

I would advise against your final passage in formal writing, as none of the sentences after the first are complete, but it could work in a narrative. You could use the semicolon passage as a way to distinguish between your outer and inner lists (see the third bullet here), but since you only have that one inner list and it comes last, I'd suggest going with ...

1

While adding a period at the end of a non-sentence doesn't make it a sentence, well, it doesn't make it any less a sentence, either. A period, to me, signals that the writer was in fact finished with whatever message he or she meant to convey, whereas no period gives me the unjustified but nonetheless bothersome feeling that the writer was murdered, ...

1

If I wanted to ended the sentence at 5" does the comma or period go before or after the quotes? Does this mean you are thinking of saying My sister is 5'5"? If so, do you mean by "quotes" the two marks after the second 5 (in this case, 5 inches?) - 5" This mark is known as a double prime. It should not be confused with quotation marks. It is used ...

1

Consider, if you will, a hypothetical Manners SE site, where someone posts: If the person you're talking to gets mad, your response should be don't get mad! But if they seem happy, your response should be I'm glad you're happy! This works because it's a more clear way of formatting But if they seem happy, your response should be, "I'm glad you're ...

1

If you mean you want to identify each equation with a number, then neither word is right. You should just "number" the equations. Number: to mark with or distinguish by numbers: Enumerate does not specifically mean to actually include numbers: to mention separately as if in counting; name one by one; specify, as in a list: Let me enumerate the ...

1

Here is a simple method that you can use to determine (in most cases) whether to include or omit a comma before which in sentences like the on in question here: If you replace which with that and the sentence still conveys the meaning you intend, you shouldn't use a comma before which; if the sentence doesn't retain the intended sense after the switch, you ...

1

I would consider the one without a comma as describing 2000 of the words in the mapping (which possibly contains more words). With a comma it sounds like the mapping contains only 2000 words and are described as mapping to more than one lemma. Since you said the mapping contains more than 2000 words, either omit the comma or say something like: Our ...

1

Obey your manual of style, the one you've chosen or the one thrust upon you. I use The Chicago Manual of Style, which for English text, reserves ellipsis point for omitted material except in the case of what it calls "faltering speech."

1

I checked three widely used style guides (Chicago Manual of Style, fifteenth edition; Words Into Type, third edition; and Oxford Style Manual), and they don't cover this question at all. For the most part, style guides are concerned with the use of ellipsis points to indicate omissions from quotations or to signal a speaker's voice or thought trailing off ...

1

The teacher is mistaken, though they are equivalent in your first two sample sentences. "I can't see you -- are you here?" is grammatical, but "I can't see you, are you here?" is a comma splice. "What the --" isn't a complete phrase, but it's acceptable in dialog. "What the," would not be. Similarly, "What the -- oh, there you are" would be acceptable in ...

1

Among the key formatting questions that face anyone putting together a collection of discussions of separate words or phrases are the issues of how to handle the entry name itself at first occurrence, the equivalent meaning of the word or phrase, subsequent occurrences of the entry name, and related terms that have their own separate entries elsewhere in the ...

1

Wikipedia states that quotation marks are "punctuation marks used in pairs in various writing systems to set off direct speech, a quotation, or a phrase" (emphasis mine). That said, what you are asking about is a phrase--whether imagined or real--which means it should be enclosed in quotation marks. Take note of this example of secondary quotation marks ...

1

I will back my statement up based on the fact that I have a bachelor's degree with a minor in English, and that I have a few grey hairs. We must keep in mind that there is no official sanctioning body that dictates how to use commas in a salutation that includes the word "Hello." In my years, I have come across many different interpretations on how to ...

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