Punctuation

Derrick Grant writes: I’ve always been perplexed on whether the period goes inside the quotations or outside, when the sentence is not quoting someone. For example: They didn’t describe it as a budget cut, they called it “streamlining services”. Does the period go inside the quote or outside? I’ve seen it, in professional publications, done … Read more

Commenting on “When to Form a Plural with an Apostrophe,” Luke S. raised another question: What gripes me . . . is the misuse of the apostrophe to form the possessive without the extra ‘s’: “Charles’ pen” needs correction to “Charles’s pen.” Ah, Luke, would it were so simple as that! Even the Chicago Manual … Read more

Susan wrote: I was always taught to double-space at the end of a sentence.  I recently began working in a law office where I was surprised to find that many of the attorneys . . . do not follow this practice, even when drafting formal contracts and documents.  Is double-spacing at the end of a … Read more

This reader wants to know why we write 1980s and not 1980’s. I understood that making text entities with non-letter characters into a plural form, you separate the s from the term with an apostrophe – 1900’s, Jones’, Smith’s, or Bang!’s.  So, why no apostrophe with 1980s? A lot of writers share this reader’s understanding … Read more

Reader Vic Shane writes: …my editor told me there is a four-dot ellipsis that is not the same thing as the three-dot version. When I went to Journalism school (32 years ago), we only had the three-dot variety, as far as I know. The extra dot came from somewhere and I’d like to get to … Read more

Edwin Johnstone wrote: What is the proper way to spell masters degree ? or is it master’s degree? or Masters degree? or Master’s degree? To answer this question, I’ve consulted the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, and some university dissertation guidelines. Speaking generically, you would write master’s degree: Jack has finally earned his … Read more

A recent DWT post about hyphen use (Chocolate covered or Chocolate-covered) prompted a discussion about the use of a period with the titles Mr. and Mrs. Here are some of the comments: i was taught not to type a full stop after Mr and Mrs, but a few decades earlier that would have been incorrect. … Read more

When a reader asked about the use of brackets in a recent email, I started to refer him to my post When and How to Use Brackets and leave it at that. Curiosity overcame me, however, and I tried to track down the complete original. Here’s the quotation that prompted the reader’s question: [We’ll] probably … Read more

A reader asks: What is the correct way to write, “there are three two’s in the English language”. The short answer is: There are three twos in the English language. A more thorough answer requires a look at 1. the rule for forming the plural of letters, acronyms, symbols, and words regarded as words, and … Read more

So you think you know your punctuation? Now you can put it to the test. Eats, Shoots and Leaves, reviewed by Maeve in July, has a punctuation game online. There are to questions on the placement of the apostrophe and comma, and at the end of the game you get a score showing how much … Read more

Reader John B. Moss asks if there are guidelines for the use of brackets. There are indeed. Academic style guides such as the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers go into such matters at great length. The most common use of brackets is to enclose explanatory matter that one adds in editing the work … Read more

The question mark is used at the end of a direct question. Example: ‘What is your name?’ she asked. It may also be used at the end of a tag question, which changes a statement into a question. Example: He left early, didn’t he? Question marks should not be used at the end of indirect … Read more