Full Stops and Capital Letters
- Unless the sentence is a question or exclamation, it ends with a full stop.
Round Brackets at the End of a Sentence: Does the Full Stop Go Inside or Outside the Brackets?
If you have written a main/independent clause (the type that could be a sentence on its own) inside the brackets, you place the full stop inside the second bracket:
“Jake loved to watch horror films (if a movie wasn’t scary, Jake simply wasn’t interested.)”
However, if the extra information inside the brackets is written in note form (and couldn’t be a sentence on its own), it goes outside the brackets:
“Jake loved to watch horror films (nothing with a happy ending).”
Capital Letters
- The first letter of the first word in a sentence always starts with a capital letter:
“If the weather is dry, I will go for a walk.”
- The pronoun I is always capitalised.
Capital letters are also used for:
- The pronoun I (“I am...”)
- Proper nouns (the specific names of places, days of the week, months of the year, organisations, people and animals.) Here are some proper nouns:
- Britain and Bradford (the specific names of a country and a city)
- Saturday (the day of a week)
- July (months of the year)
- Vodafone, Age UK, Hogwarts School, New College, and Looney University (organisations)
- Toni Morrison (the name of a person)
- Rover (the name of a dog.)
- The first, last and ‘main’ words of a title, heading or headline:
- ‘Beloved’ (a novel by Toni Morrison)
- ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ (a novel by Harper Lee)
- ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ (a novel by JK Rowling)
- ‘Fast and Furious’ (a movie)
- Full Stops and Capital Letters (a title/heading or subheading/subtitle)
Question Marks
- Use a question mark to show that the sentence is a question.
- Questions usually start with the words ‘why’, ‘where’, ‘what’, ‘who’, ‘whose’ ‘how’, ‘which’, ‘am’/ ‘is’/ ‘are’, ‘did’, ‘do’/‘does’, ‘can’, ‘could’, ‘should’, ‘would’.
For example:
- Are you ready yet?
- Is this right?
- Am I in this group?
- What time is it?
- When does class start?
- When do I need to arrive?
- Which group am I in?
- Can you help me, please?
- Whose coat is this?
- Who else is going?
- Do you like spicy food?
- Does Sarah like spicy food too?
- Where do I need to go?
- Did you find your keys?
- Why do you think that? What are your reasons?
In many cases, you can use an exclamation mark where you might use an emoticon or ‘lol’ at the end of a sentence on Facebook or a text message.
Stroke or Slash /
- A stroke or slash usually simply means ‘or.’
- It can also be used to show opposites (heads/tails on a coin) or conflicting ideas or views (royalist/republican.)
It is also used:
- in website addresses.
- between the day, month and year in a numerical date: 17/12/2020 (alternatively, a full stop can be used instead.)
- in fractions and an alternative to ÷ in divisions (½ etc.)
- at the end of a line of poetry of song lyrics
(“Well, she's walking through the clouds / With a circus mind / That's running wild /” Jimi Hendrix.)
- in some abbreviations, such as ℅ for ‘care of’.
(Reference: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/slash/.)
Commas in Lists
Use commas to separate items in a list of three or more.
An “item” may refer to a noun, action verb, verb phrase, adjective phrase, or even a main/independent clause (NB to connect two main/independent clauses with a shared theme, use a co-ordinating/’FANBOYS’ conjunction or a semicolon.) http://slideplayer.com/slide/6013471/)
Examples:
1 2 3 4
He has a cat, a dog, a rabbit and a guinea pig.
1 2 3
They were walking, talking, and eating at the same time!”
1 2
They were walking at a fairly fast pace, talking very loudly and
3
eating their breakfasts at the same time!
1 2
Jo ate a low-fat breakfast, a healthy and nutritious lunch, and
3
a huge carton of greasy chips for supper!”
1 Sarah plays football on Friday evenings, 2Jimmi ice skates on Saturday afternoons and 3Harris goes swimming on Sunday mornings.
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Use a comma to separate a town/ city, county, and country/ state when writing an address.
Examples:
- I live in Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK.
- Last year, she moved to Paris, France.
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Use a comma to separate the day of the week, the day of the month and the year.
Example:
Today is Friday, 13th January 2017.
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Use a Comma After a Coordinating Conjunction
- You can (but don’t necessarily need to) use commas before a coordinating/’FANBOYS’ conjunction, such as and, but, or, or so:
For Example:
“I like classic rock, and symphonic metal.”
“I love heavy metal music, but I hate hardcore.”
“Would you like to go for a meal after the film, or would you prefer to go home?”
“He’s really good at rollerblading, so he shouldn’t find ice skating particularly difficult.”
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Using Commas to Indicate a Short Pause in the Text
When you say or read out these sentences, it feels natural to take a pause. This is where the comma goes in the sentence.
Use commas to separate words, phrases or clauses that add extra information about the subject (when they are not essential to the rest of the sentence or needed to identify a specific item or person from possible others.) This information could also go inside round brackets or between two dashes.
Examples:
- Jake, a seventeen-year-old boy, loves to watch horror films.
(Note that ‘Jake loves to watch horror films’ still makes sense without the extra information in the middle.)
- Harry’s two best friends, Ron and Hermione, are very loyal to him.
Use commas to separate quotes from the rest of the sentence (when the quote doesn’t end with a question mark or exclamation mark.)
Examples:
“I’m going home,” Jess announced.
Sara asked, “Why? I thought you planned to stay out until late.”
Use commas when addressing (talking to) someone.
Examples:
“Stick with me, Gordie. Stick with me, man.”
“Adam, what did you think of the film?”
“Is his leg broken, Doctor?”
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Use a comma to separate an introductory phrase from the rest of the sentence.
Examples:
This morning, I plan to go clothes shopping.
After lunch, she went for a walk.
On cold mornings, I don’t want to leave my bed.
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Similarly, use a comma to separate an introductory dependent clause from the main clause[1].
Examples:
If you pass your exam, I will give you a bar of chocolate.
When you leave, make sure you lock the door.
Wherever he is, I bet he’s having a great time.
Whenever you see her, she always seems to be smiling.
Before you hear the thunder, you will see the lightning flash.
1. An omissive apostrophe shows that some letters have been taken out of a word to shorten it. This is known as an ‘omissive apostrophe’.
For example:
‘do not’ becomes ‘don’t’ ‘did not’ becomes ‘didn’t’
‘does not’ becomes ‘doesn’t’ ‘cannot’ becomes ‘can’t’
‘could not’ becomes ‘couldn’t’ ‘should not’ becomes ‘shouldn’t’
‘would not’ becomes ‘wouldn’t’ ‘I am’ becomes ‘I’m’
‘was not’ becomes ‘wasn’t’ ‘is not’ becomes ‘isn’t’
‘s/he is’ becomes ‘she’s/he’s’ ‘Sam is’ becomes ‘Sam’s’.’
Strangely, ‘will not’ becomes ‘won’t’.
This is commonly used in informal speech and writing, such as writing to a friend or a semi-formal article.
In very informal language, such as casual speech, ‘because’ might be shortened to ‘’cause’.
The newspaper’s readers... | This refers to the readers of that newspaper (think of the readers ‘belonging’ to the newspaper.)
|
The dog’s bowl was full. | This says that the bowl belongs to one dog because the apostrophe goes before the s) |
The dogs’ bowl was full. | This says that the bowl belongs to more than one dog (the apostrophe goes after the s.) |
Further explanations: When using a possessive apostrophe with a collective noun that doesn’t end with s (for example, children, people, men, women etc.), you need to add ’s as though you were writing about one person/thing.
Speech marks are placed before and after direct speech (when you write the actual words that the person has said.)
For example:
“I’m going home,” Jess announced.
Sara asked, “Why? I thought you planned to stay out until late.”
However, you don’t use them for reported speech:
Jess said that she was going home.
Sarah asked her why.
Speech marks are also used when you copy directly from a text, to show that it is somebody else’s words.
Single Quotation Marks
(also known as ‘single inverted commas’)
Uses for inverted commas:
- around idioms/sayings and expressions/terms coined.
For example:
What did Mariyah mean when she said she was ‘sitting on the fence’? Julia asked.
To me, she’s just another ‘mean girl’ type.
What does Martin Luther King mean by the word ‘dream’ in his speech?
- To show that a word/phrase is used to reflect somebody else’s view and not necessarily that of your own.
For example:
She doesn’t have time for us now she’s friendly with the ‘cool’ people.
He’s led a very privileged life and clearly doesn’t understand what things are like for ‘lowly plebs’ like us.
- Around the title of something (in typed texts, books and films etc would appear in italics, but essays would still be written between inverted commas.).
For example:
One of my favourite Christmas songs is ‘Last Christmas.’
‘I Have a Dream’ is a famous speech on racial equality by Martin Luther King.
NB
‘The Oxford Guide to Style’ advises that inverted commas should be used to show the titles of TV/radio programmes, journal articles, short poems, chapters in books [and websites, speeches, and other non-major texts.] However, it suggests that major text such as films, novels, religious scriptures, musical works, and names of houses/public buildings should, instead, be written in italics.
Because this is difficult to do when writing by hand, you should ask your tutor whether names/titles of major works etc. should be underlined or placed in single inverted commas.
What about quotes within quotes, and quotes within titles?
According to ‘The Oxford Guide to Style’ (http://www.eng-lan), in the UK, single inverted commas are used around the ‘outer quote’, with double inverted commas marking the ‘inner quote.’
For example:
Calum declared, ‘To quote Ahmed, that app was “as much use as a chocolate fireguard.”’
Round brackets/Parentheses ( ) 1.
“You use [round brackets] to surround something that seems a bit out of place in the sentence—an aside, a clarification, or a commentary” (Mignon Fogarty, http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/dashes-parentheses-and-commas)
Basically, round brackets are used to insert extra information or an aside.
As Fogarty explains, both round brackets and dashes can be used to mark an ‘interruption’ to the main sentence.
However, she notes that the information in round brackets tends to be a ‘quieter’ addition of information, whereas dashes ‘highlight’ the writing they contain.
Oxford Dictionary adds, “If you removed the bracketed [writing], the sentence would still make perfectly good sense.” (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/punctuation/parentheses-and-brackets.)
Yet, round brackets are useful if we want to add some more information, clarify (further explain) what we mean, or make a comment, without disrupting the meaning and grammar of the main sentence.
Using Round Brackets to Add Extra Information
Examples:
“I named one cat Persephone (‘Sephie’ for short) after Demeter’s daughter from Greek mythology.”
“My other cat (a recently adopted stray) is called Toby.”
NB This additional information can also be enclosed between two commas or two dashes.
Using Round Brackets to Clarify Meaning
Examples:
“Parentheses (also known as ‘round brackets’) can be used to clarify (explain or make clear) what we mean.”
“When I took Toby to see the vet, he (Toby) became agitated and leaped off the examination table onto my shoulder.”
Using Round Brackets to Make a Comment
Examples:
“Sephie doesn’t like visiting the vet (although it is necessary) because she doesn’t like to be prodded and poked at.”
“I firmly believe that people who practice dog fighting (the psychopathic monsters!) should be given long prison sentences for their cruelty.”
Ellipses ...
NB
We say ‘ellipsis’ for one and ‘ellipses’ for two or more
“Depending on how they are used/where they appear in a sentence, ellipses can show an unfinished thought, a leading statement, a slight pause, an echoing voice, or a nervous or awkward silence” (definition adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsis.)
Ellipses are often used in direct speech to imitate the way people tend to speak.
For example:
“I just thought…”
“She said he was a … Well, let’s just say that she didn’t like him very much!”
You can also use an ellipsis in the middle of a quote to cut out the parts you don’t need:
“I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi... will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”
(From Martin Luther King’s speech, ‘I Have a Dream’.)
Dashes and Hyphens
Note that, although dashes and hyphens look alike, they serve a different purpose.
Hyphens are used to link words together to:
- form compound words (for example, ‘warm-hearted’, ‘British-Asian’, ‘Anglo-Irish’, or ‘singer-songwriter’)
- link hyphenated names (such as ‘Anne-Marie’ or ‘John-James’)
- link a prefix to another word (‘Co-operate’ or ‘pre-Victorian’)
- Link together words in common phrases (‘thirty-year-old man’) and clichés or idioms- especially when they are used as adjectives (to describe nouns.)
For example:
‘She was living an ‘as-good-as-it-gets’ lifestyle.’
‘I don’t like their ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude.’
Dashes
- Dashes can be used (in a similar way to round brackets) to add extra information, explanations, clarification or comments to a sentence (please refer to the ‘Round Brackets/Parentheses’ page.)
Examples:
Parentheses-also known as ‘round brackets’-can be used to clarify-or explain- what we mean.
‘Beloved’-one of my favourite books-was written by the late great Black American author, Toni Morrison.
Like semicolons, they can also be used to link together two independent/main clauses.
Examples:
I’ve been there-it’s fantastic!
I didn’t like the Stephen King film, Carrie-it’s too scary for me!
However, I love his other film, ‘Stand by Me’-it’s a brilliant film!
- As Mignon Fogarty explains, dashes tend to emphasize the following/enclosed text and make it sound ‘louder’/more dramatic than when brackets, commas or semicolons are used (http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/dashes-parentheses-and-commas.)
- Yet, as Oxford Dictionaries.com explains, dashes tend to be used in informal types of writing, rather than in more formal pieces.
- Texts that tend to use dashes include personal letters/emails, blogs, direct speech (when quoting somebody or writing dialogue in a story) and in less formal newspaper/magazine articles https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/punctuation/dash-and-em-dash.
- Because dashes mimic the way that people tend to speak (a dramatic pause or pause for thought, followed by a quickly spoken additional part), they are useful for making texts sound conversational and for quoting what a person/fictional character says.
Semicolons show a pause that is longer than a comma, but shorter than a full stop. I tend to think of them as also standing between a comma and a full stop in terms of the purpose they serve.
- Use semicolons to link two associated independent/main clauses in the same sentence (the type that could be sentences in their own right) together without using a conjunction (such as ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘or’ ‘because’ or ‘so’.)
For example, instead of writing
“I saw that film and it was scary!” or
“I saw that film. It was scary!”, you can use a semicolon and write,
“I saw that film; it was scary!”
A semicolon makes a clear link between two independent/main clauses (would-be sentences) and sounds more ‘dramatic’ than when a conjunction is used.
Use semicolons to separate items that contain lengthy explanations/descriptions (which may also include commas) in a list of three or more- especially if the explanations also require commas.
This helps the reader to separate the different items from one another and understand which description/explanations belongs to each item.
Examples:
Jas had a smallholding with a small collection of animals. This collection consisted of 1Teddy, an old shire horse with black and white markings and a placid temperament; 2Jennie, a small but lively donkey; 3two white goats, Donnie and Marie, who would eat almost anything; and 4a friendly collie dog named Lassie.
NB
The two goats are classed as one item because this sentence groups them as a pair (as shown by the description of them as ‘two goats’.)
If the sentence had read, “…Jennie, a small but lively donkey; a white goat, Donnie; another white goat, Marie, who would eat almost anything…” Donnie and Marie would have been classed as separate ‘items.’
The siblings were 1Dan, a cheeky but likeable sixteen-year-old; 2Lena, a studious fourteen-year-old with a quirky sense of humour; and 3cute, mischievous ten-year-old Leila.
As Grammarbook.com explains, this punctuation can be used to introduce an explanation, illustration, paraphrase or expansion on the first part of the sentence.
Think of a colon as standing in for 'such as' ‘this is what I mean', 'these are/ this is', 'that is’ 'including' or 'for instance.’
In the examples below, the colon replaces the highlighted phrases (word groups.)
Examples:
Amira has many qualities, such as loyalty, bravery, compassion, and intelligence.
Amira has many qualities: loyalty, bravery, compassion, and intelligence.
Once again, this makes the sentence sound more concise (short) and dramatic.
Colons are often used between a statement (1) and another statement (2) that clarifies (makes clear/explains) or summarises that earlier statement.
In this usage, a colon can mean ‘In other words…’
(https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/when-to-use-colon-guide)
Colons are used with a subtitle or an introductory sentence before introducing lists in bullet point form. For example,
These are the presents I have bought so far:
- a ball for my dog
- some Dreamies for my cats
- a box of chocolate for myself.
- Similarly, colons are used before a list when the clause makes it clear that it is introducing a list (such clauses tend to start with ‘here’, ‘these/this’ or ‘what’):
- These are the presents I have bought so far: a ball for my dog, some Dreamies for my cats and a box of chocolate for myself.
- Here are the things you will need: a toilet roll tube, some cardboard, and some sticky tape.
- What you will need to bring: a pair of wellies, a change of clothes and a towel.
(Reference: https://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/colons.asp)
Similarly, a colon can be used in the following ways:
“This is my opinion of Toni Morrison as an author: she was brilliant.”
(NB you wouldn’t use a colon with the statement “My opinion of Toni Morrison as an author is that she was brilliant.”)
Before introducing a quote (particularly a long quote) in an essay or article:
- ‘This view is supported by [name of person]: [copy the quote and place it between inverted commas/quotation marks]’
- ‘[Name of person] states: [insert quotation.]’
- ‘[Name of person] states the following, regarding [whatever the topic is]: [insert quotation].’
- ‘In her famous novel, ‘Wuthering Heights’, Emily Bronte wrote: “Treachery and violence are spears pointed at both ends…”’
“Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou [why are you] Romeo?”
[1] Remember that the main/independent clause would still make sense on its own, but a dependent clause needs the rest of the sentence to make sense.)