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Mary Morel

Mary Morel is the director of The M Factor and author of Promote Your Business (Allen & Unwin, 2003), Talk Up Your Business (Allen & Unwin, 2005) and Write to Govern (The M Factor, 2009). She also contributed two chapters to The Profitable Practice (CCH, 2002) and has written two children‘s readers.

She specialises in grammar (www.onlinegrammar.com.au) and working with organisations to improve their board papers (www.writetogovern.com.au). She is currently developing a series of online writing programs.

Mary‘s background is in teaching and freelance writing and editing. Her qualifications include a BA in English and History, a Diploma of Social Work and a Diploma and Certificate in Teaching.

Subscribe to Mary‘s free e-newsletter at www.onlinegrammar.com.au

Do not distribute this book to others. It is for your use only. Unauthorised distribution constitutes theft of Mary Morel‘s intellectual property.

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Table of contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................... 4

Ampersands & .............................................................................................. 7

Apostrophes ‘ ............................................................................................... 8

Brackets ........................................................................................................ 13

Capital letters ................................................................................................ 15

Colons : ...................................................................................................... 21

Commas , ................................................................................................... 23

Dashes .......................................................................................................... 27

Ellipses ... ................................................................................................... 29

Exclamation marks ! ................................................................................... 30

Full stops . .................................................................................................. 31

Hyphens - ................................................................................................... 33

Lists ............................................................................................................... 37

Question marks ? ....................................................................................... 40

Quotation marks ― ‖ or ‗ ‘ ............................................................................. 42

Semicolons ; ............................................................................................... 43

Shortened word and phrase forms ................................................................ 45

Slashes / .................................................................................................... 50

Glossary ........................................................................................................ 51

Bibliography .................................................................................................. 53

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Introduction

My interest in grammar and punctuation has grown partly by accident. Although I studied grammar at university, most of my knowledge was fairly intuitive – something just ‗sounded‘ or ‗looked‘ right or wrong. I started taking a more reasoned approach thanks to an e-newsletter I have written for many years.

Because I was commenting on writing, people assumed I was a grammar expert and emailed me grammar questions. The early questions made me realise how shaky my grammar knowledge was. And some questions still make me stop and think and I turn to my grammar books and the internet. At first, I relied slavishly on the experts, but over the years, I have come to rely more on my opinion and I try and write my responses as clearly and simply as I can. You can view a lot of the questions and answers at my website www.onlinegrammar.com.au

Prescriptive and descriptive grammar

There are several schools of grammar, but one of the main distinctions is between prescriptive and descriptive grammar. Prescriptive grammar is black and white about the correct way of writing. Lynn Truss‘s book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves (Profile Books, 2003), falls into this category. This approach is comforting because you know the rules. But this approach has its limitations because it fails to acknowledge that language changes.

The other approach is descriptive, outlining what is happening with the language without providing guidance or setting rules. This approach is attractive because it doesn‘t try to fight the changes that are occurring in language, but it can also be frustrating because sometimes writers just want to know, ‗What should I do?‘

That‘s where organisational style guides are useful. If you are a student or don‘t work in an organisation that has a style guide, I recommend that you buy a reputable style guide.

If you live in Australia, the Government style guide is Style Manual: For Authors, Editors and Printers, (John Wiley & Sons, 2002).

For American readers, two influential style guides are The Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago, 2003) and The Associated Press Stylebook (Associated Press Stylebook, 2009).

Value of punctuation

Punctuation has developed over the ages to help us make sense of written language. It provides clarity and prevents ambiguity.

Look at the difference punctuation makes to the same three words.

‗Taste and common sense are more important than any rules; you put in stops to help your reader to understand you, not to please grammarians.‘

Sir Ernest Gowers, British 20th century writer on style

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I am right. I am right? I am right!

As with all aspects of language, punctuation does not remain static. Once punctuation was closely attuned to the spoken word and commas indicated pauses. These days, commas are more closely attuned to the written word and many writers use fewer commas than in the past.

Overall, punctuation has become minimal. The modern style is to use shorter sentences that require fewer breaks and fewer initial capitals for ‗important‘ words, such as boards.

An A–Z of punctuation marks

In this A–Z of punctuation marks, my approach is largely descriptive, but at times I give my opinion. An overview of the punctuation marks covered is outlined below.

Punctuation marks

Punctuation mark Main purpose Example

Ampersands & replace and IT&T

Apostrophes ‘ indicate possession

show omission

the cat‘s bowl

can‘t

Brackets

Parentheses ( )

Square brackets [ ]

enclose extra information

add a comment

He (the editor) is here.

It [the proposal] looks good.

Capital letters indicate proper nouns

start a sentence

show respect, e.g. job title

Australia

It is a nice day.

Director Jane Smith

Colons : introduce a list

indicate more information is to come

Read the following points:

It is true: he‘s a liar.

Commas , separate words and phrases to add clarity

a happy, well-adjusted, smiley baby

Dashes

Em – or —

en –

separate additional information

separate items, such as numbers

Wait – there is more to come.

10–12 chapters

Ellipses ... show words have been left out of quoted text

indicate more could follow (informal use)

‗Climate change is real ... We can‘t afford to wait.‘

You can guess what

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happened next ...

Exclamation marks ! show emotion

indicate an urgent command

Love it!

Run!

Full stops . end a fragment, command or sentence

end some shortened word forms

Hello.

It‘s raining.

Inc.

Hyphens - join words well-known writer

Question marks ? indicate a question Are you OK?

Quotation marks ―‖ indicate quoted material ‗You‘re right,‘ he said.

Semicolons ; separate main clauses without the need for a conjunction

She loves Harry; he loves someone else.

Shortened word forms

abbreviations and contractions

acronyms and initialisms

symbols

shorten words

shorten phrases

provide shortcuts

Inc., Dr

scuba, FAQ

%

Slashes / provide alternatives and/or

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Ampersands &

The ampersand (&) means and.

As a general rule, use and rather than & in business writing. There are exceptions to this rule. We use ampersands in the instances below.

Brand names and titles

Use ampersands in company names that include an ampersand as part of their brand. Some movie and book titles also use ampersands.

Smith & Brown Tiffany & Co. Proctor & Gamble Harry & Tonto

Mediums where space is limited

Ampersands are sometimes used in mediums where space is limited, for example, signage, website menus, restaurant menus and SMS texting.

Darry‘s Plumbing – fast & reliable call out service (on the side of a van) Readers & teachers (website menu) ginger & garlic prawns (restaurant menu) Cu&J@8 (See you and J at 8) pl& (planned)

Some commonly used abbreviations

Some common abbreviations and expressions take the ampersand. In such examples, there are no spaces on either side of the ampersand.

IT&T (information technology and telecommunication) R&D (research and development) S&L (savings and loans) D&D (Dungeons and Dragons)

References

Some style guides suggest using & when a citation by joint authors is enclosed in brackets, but and when the citation is incorporated in the text.

Miller and Jones, who wrote a paper on foreign reserves, state ... The paper on foreign reserves (Miller & Jones) states ...

Some style guides also recommend using an ampersand for joint names in bibliographies and further reading resources.

Dumas, JS & Redish, Jc 1999, A Practical Guide to Usability Testing, Intellect, Portland, Oregon.

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Apostrophes ‟

Apostrophes are so abused it‘s tempting to think the language would be better off without them. We‘d just learn to rephrase sentences – desk belonging to the manager instead of the manager’s desk and it is rather than it’s.

But the demise of this 17th-century French import is unlikely to happen in the near future so I suggest you use it correctly. It‘s amazing how many people judge other people‘s literacy by their misuse of apostrophes. I have heard remarks such as, ‗How can I trust that legal judgement when he doesn‘t even know how to use apostrophes correctly.‘

Apostrophes are mainly used to indicate possession and omitted letters. They have nothing to do with the plural. Learning the apostrophe rules is not easy because there are grey areas that cause dispute.

The most common mistakes with apostrophe usage are:

Confusing its and it’s

Its only has an apostrophe when it is short for it is. Its is already a possessive pronoun.

It‘s a wise dog that scratches its own fleas.

Using apostrophes in plurals

X Unique Santa Photo‘s Unique Santa Photos X Both insurers‘ provided quotes. Both insurers provided quotes.

Putting apostrophes in the wrong place

children‘s toys X childrens‘ toys

Using apostrophes in plural abbreviations and dates that do not need apostrophes

X CD‘s CDs X 1990‘s 1990s

This section looks at:

Possessive use or apostrophes

Descriptive use of apostrophes

‗If the semicolon is one of the neglected children in the family of punctuation marks these days, told to stay in its room and entertain itself, because mummy and daddy are busy, the apostrophe is the abused victim.‘

John Humphrys, Welsh author

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Apostrophes in contractions

Apostrophes to indicate omission

Apostrophes to avoid confusion

Possessive use of apostrophes

One of the main uses of an apostrophe is to indicate ‗belonging to‘ or ‗of‘.

the boy‘s game – the game belonging to the boy the choir‘s plans – the plans of the choir

With regular plurals that end in s, the apostrophe comes after the s when the word is possessive.

employees‘ salaries managers‘ new computers

With irregular plurals that don‘t end in s, the apostrophe comes after the plural and you add an extra s.

children‘s toys gentlemen‘s agreement

With words that are the same in the singular and plural, the apostrophe comes after the word so you may wish to rewrite such sentences to avoid confusion.

deer‘s antlers the antlers from these three deer sheep‘s wool all the sheep‘s wool

Joint or separate possession

If two people own something, you need an apostrophe only on the second word.

my mother and father‘s car John and Margaret‘s cars

If the ownership is separate, use an apostrophe for each name.

my mother‘s and father‘s cars John‘s and Margaret‘s cars

Not everyone agrees that joint possession only needs one apostrophe so sometimes it is easier to rephrase the statement.

my parents‘ car instead of my mother and father‘s car cars belonging to John and Margaret instead of John and Margaret‘s cars

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Possessive apostrophes with names ending in s

With names ending in s, you need to decide whether to add an extra s after the apostrophe. This is a style choice. Neither, in my opinion, is right or wrong.

Frances‘ book or Frances‘s book

There are a number of ‗rules‘ around whether or not you add an extra s. The Australian government Style Manual says:

For personal names ending in s, the situation is problematic because of the differing ‗rules‘ that are variously invoked. One such rule involves the sound of the word: if the possessive inflection is pronounced as a separate syllable, it takes an apostrophe s; if not, the apostrophe alone should be added. The problem is that different people pronounce such possessives differently. Should it therefore be Burns’ or Burns’s? A competing rule has it that names consisting of one syllable always take an apostrophe s (Burns’s), whereas those of more than one syllable take only the apostrophe (Dickens’). Cutting across these practices is the notion that certain time-honoured names ending in s (particularly from biblical and classical sources) take only the apostrophe, whatever their length or pronunciation (Jesus’, Herodotus’).

Given this confused situation, the most straightforward course of action is to add apostrophe s to any name ending in s, however long or short it is and however it is pronounced. Thus: Burns‘s poems Dickens‘s novels Herodotus‘s birthplace.

On the other hand, The Associated Press Guide to Punctuation (Perseus Press, 2003) recommends just adding the apostrophe.

Dickens‘ novels Burns‘ poems

Double possessive apostrophe

Sometimes ‗of‘ can be ambiguous and we need a double possessive – an of and an apostrophe.

For example, a sentence such as This is Mary’s photo could be a photo of Mary or a photo taken by Mary. The double possessive in this instance would make it clear that Mary took the photo.

This is a photo of Mary‟s.

Descriptive use of apostrophes

Apostrophes are sometimes used descriptively, meaning ‗for‘ rather than ‗belonging to‘ or ‗of‘. This apostrophe is often dropped these days, but whether or not to use an apostrophe causes intense debate, particularly for apostrophes with time, space and quantity.

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I think most of us would agree that we don‘t need apostrophes with phrases such as:

girls school (school for girls) widows pension (pension for widows) visitors book (book for visitors)

Time, space and quantity

Not everyone agrees about the need for apostrophes for expressions of time, space and quantity. For example:

one week‘s time or one weeks time two weeks‘ notice or two weeks notice four weeks‘ holiday or four weeks holiday five dollars‘ worth of goods or five dollars worth of goods

Those who argue against the apostrophe do so on the grounds that these expressions are descriptive.

You can avoid the apostrophe debate by re-wording the phrase.

in a week (instead of one week‘s time) four-week holiday (instead of four weeks‘ holiday)

You decide

If in doubt about whether or not to use an apostrophe, ask yourself whether something is ‗of/ belonging to‘ or ‗for‘. For example, is an artists conference a conference of artists or a conference for artists?

If you think it is a conference for artists, you don‘t need an apostrophe, but it would not be wrong to use one. This is a grey area and such apostrophes are sometimes called pseudo apostrophes.

In New South Wales, the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) obviously had difficulty deciding where to put the apostrophe in drivers licence. Does the licence belong to you or is it a licence for driving:

Driver‘s licence (belonging to you) Drivers licence (licence for driving, i.e. descriptive) Drivers‘ licence (licence for driving, but using an apostrophe for a descriptive usage)

The RTA‘s solution: driver licence. In Western Australia, it‘s a driver’s licence, and in the European Union, a driving licence.

I think younger writers tend to use fewer descriptive apostrophes and that might hasten their demise. However, the prescriptive grammarians will keep up the fight until the bitter end!

Season‘s Greetings (of)

or

Seasons Greetings (for)

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Apostrophes in contractions

We use apostrophes in informal writing to indicate contractions.

isn‘t can‘t shouldn‘t

Apostrophes to indicate omission

We use apostrophes to indicate we‘ve left some letters out.

rock ‘n‘ roll bless‘d

We also use them in dates to indicate omission.

the ‘90s the ‘70s ‘98

Apostrophes to avoid confusion

Use apostrophes with single letters to avoid ambiguity, particularly in colloquial expressions.

Mind your p‘s and q‘s. Dot the i‘s and cross the t‘s.

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Brackets

There are four types of brackets and they all come in pairs:

round brackets ( ), commonly known as parentheses

square brackets [ ]

angle brackets < > are sometimes used for web and email addresses

brace brackets (or curly brackets) are used in mathematical material and sometimes in tables.

The most commonly used are the round brackets (parentheses). This section looks at parentheses and square brackets.

Parentheses ( )

We use parentheses to add extra, incidental information to a sentence and for abbreviations. You should be able to remove the extra information in the parentheses and the sentence will still make sense.

Although parentheses are useful, avoid overusing them (particularly when they are lengthy) because they can impede the flow of your writing.

The shares increased by 16% ($300) over two months. The study (Blake et al) showed an increase in obesity. The survey results were pleasing (see Attachments C for more information). Lodge your tax return with the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

In many instances, you could use dashes or commas instead of parentheses. Dashes are more informal than parentheses and commas tend to make the extra information more important. Sometimes you need extra words with the commas. Below are three differently punctuated ways of saying the same thing.

Incorrect spelling – a single missing or misplaced letter – can change the meaning of your writing. Incorrect spelling (a single missing or misplaced letter) can change the meaning of your writing. Incorrect spelling, such as a single missing or misplaced letter, can change the meaning of your writing.

Brackets within brackets

Brackets within brackets are ugly so avoid them if you can. Use a combination of dashes and parentheses instead.

Enid Blyton (1897–1968) – creator of Noddy and Big Ears – was a famous British children‘s writer.

Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.

Frank L. Visco, US copywriter

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If you do want to use a bracket within a bracket, use square brackets inside parentheses or vice versa.

The offender (Joe Brown [aka Bombhead]) left the court in a limousine.

Punctuation with parentheses

The punctuation with parentheses depends on the grammatical demands of the sentence.

The captain (a ‗jolly ho‘ kind of chap!) gave the orders. We are working with the current milestones (June deadline).

Square brackets [ ]

Use square brackets to indicate that you have added words or comments that weren‘t in the original material. Such inserts add extra information or indicate that there was an error in the original text.

‗I appreciate it [the nomination], but cannot accept.‘ ‗I‘m gunna [sic] stay,‘ he said.

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Capital letters

Initial capital letters are used more sparingly today than in the past, in keeping with the modern trend towards using less punctuation. Traditionally, initial capitals were used to signify respect – the Bank, the Company, the Board.

The other use of initial capitals that is declining is the use of title case for headings. Headings are increasingly written in sentence case with only the first word and proper noun having an initial capital. The advantage of sentence case is you don‘t have to worry about what‘s an important word.

Some capital usages are fairly universal for some nouns and others are a question of style. But even with fairly universal usages, dictionaries and style guides don‘t always agree. If in doubt, trust your preferred dictionary and style references.

Guidelines

The following guidelines are in alphabetical order.

Aircrafts and ships

Capitalise the names of aircraft and ships and put them in italics.

Queen Elizabeth Concorde

Armed forces

Capitalise the names of particular armed forces, but not when the names are used generically. The same applies to titles, such as Sergeant.

the Australian Navy the navy Sergeant Jim Brown the sergeants

Brand names

Brand names take initial capitals, but sometimes they lose the capital if they become generic words.

Holden Nike aspirin cellophane to google (but still Google as a noun)

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Calendar and seasons

Capitalise days of the weeks, months and holidays, but not seasons.

January Easter summer New Year‘s Day, but the new year

Dog breeds

Some dog breeds are capitalised and some aren‘t. Some that are capitalised are:

Afghan hound, Airedale terrier, Great Dane, Pomeranian, Samoyed, Scotch terrier, Rottweiler

They are capitalised because they are named after places, nations or peoples. Samoyed is named after an Inuit people. Rottweiler is named after Rottweil, a town in Germany.

Some that take lower case are:

basset hound, bulldog, bull terrier, cocker spaniel, golden retriever, pug, poodle

First word of a sentence and quoted speech

Capitalise the first word of a sentence and avoid starting sentences with numerals.

Twenty people attended the service.

Capitalise the first word of reported speech.

He said, ‗It was a great pleasure to be here.‘

Flora and fauna

Generic plant names are in lower case, but their botanical names are capitalised.

daisy Asteraceae

Geographical

Capitalise geographic areas, planets, place names and street names, but not directions or locations

Capitals:

the West Northern Hemisphere (I am now starting to see this in lower case) Venus

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North Sydney Campbell Parade the Milky Way

No capitals:

the north side of the city north-east eastern rituals earth (sometimes capitalised in a list of planets) sun moon stars

Government

Capitalise Government and Federal in formal titles and when referring to a specific government.

The Australian Government proposes ... The governments in the region met and recommended ...

Use capitals for official or abbreviated specific titles, but not for generic or plural references.

The New South Wales Government proposed ... Responsibility has been designated to the states and territories.

Full names of government departments take upper case.

the Department of Finance and Administration

When the name is abbreviated but keeps some specific elements, use initial capitals.

Finance and Administration

When the name is abbreviated to the generic element leave the name lower case

The department decided

Capitalise the names of political and legislative terms.

the White House Court of Appeal President

Historical events, periods and speeches

Capitalise historical events and periods and historical speeches.

World War I Renaissance

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Crusades Middle Ages Gettysburg Address

Job titles

Capitalise job titles when they come before a person‘s name, but not when they come after the name. US writers tend to capitalise the job title after the name as well, but many newspapers, which often lead the charge in changing styles, don‘t capitalise job titles at all.

Managing Director Joan Smith Joan Smith, managing director

Organisations

Capitalise the official titles of organisations and institutions.

The University of Sydney Lowry Institute

Political

Capitalise political parties and political terms.

Labor Party Luddites

Exceptions: communist or communism.

There is no need to capitalise general job titles, such as prime minister, but US President always seems has an initial capital for some reason.

Proper nouns

Capitalise nouns that name and identify people, places and names of organisations.

Janine Smith Sydney Microsoft

Races, nationalities and languages

Use initial capitals for races, nationalities and languages.

English Chinese

However, most people don‘t use capitals for whites and blacks.

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Religions and religious terms

Capitalise all forms of divinity.

Allah Anglicanism Christ Church of England God Koran

However, religious rituals and adjectives derived from religious nouns are lower-cased.

baptism biblical communion confession koranic vedic

Rulers and royal titles

Capitalise rulers, royal titles and office-holders.

Queen Prince Charles Speaker President

Some terms such as prime minister are now lower case unless they are particular persons‘ job titles.

The prime minister spoke ... Prime Minister Julia Gillard spoke ...

Special days

Capitalise special days.

Christmas Day Mother‘s Day Labour Day

Title case

The names of books, movies, plays, Acts of Parliament, annual reports etc. are in title case with every ‗important‘ word having an initial capital. The small words, such as of, to and the, do not take initial capitals in the title. Note, the titles of books and Acts (when used the first time) are in italics as well as title case.

Romeo and Juliet Pride and Prejudice Partnership Act 1891

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If a word is hyphenated in a title, you need to decide whether or not to capitalise the word after the hyphen. This is a style choice.

The One-page Proposal The One-Page Proposal

Trademarks

Use initial capitals for names that are trademarked.

Formica Dolby

The International Trademark Association has a full list of trademarks.

http://www.inta.org

World Wide Web

When the World Wide Web was new, every word associated with the internet had initial capitals. I would still use initial capitals with World Wide Web, but not with other words associated with the web. This is a style issue, so it is your choice.

web website web page intranet

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Colons :

Colons introduce, link or separate words and ideas.

The colon is an old punctuation mark, which came into the language in the 16th century. It almost disappeared in the 19th-century but was revived in the 20th century. It is still used today – in fact, some grammarians think its use is increasing. In informal writing, it is often replaced with the dash.

Many writers confuse colons with semicolons and make the mistake of using a semicolon ( ; ) rather than a colon at the beginning of lists.

Another common mistake is adding a dash after a colon ( :– ).

The colon is used to:

Introduce lists

‗Deliver the goods‘

Lists

The most common use of a colon is to introduce a bulleted list.

The chapter covered: Causes of the problem Options to solve the problem Recommendation

Some writers use a colon to introduce a list within a sentence, but I think you can often omit such colons. You don‘t need a colon if your sentence has a verb such as include before the series or starts with for example or such as.

The ingredients: hazelnuts, bananas, flour, sugar and eggs. X The ingredients are: hazelnuts, bananas, flour, sugar and eggs. The ingredients are hazelnuts, bananas, flour, sugar and eggs.

„Deliver the goods‟

Henry Fowler, author of the first definitive style guide for the English language, said the function of the colon is ‗that of delivering the goods that have been invoiced in the preceding words‘. In other words, the colon points the reader‘s attention forward. Some people think this use of the colon is increasing.

‗There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating: people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing.‘ Oscar Wilde

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Quotes, dialogue and question-and-answer formats

The colon is used after a clause to introduce explanatory information give examples, introduce a quote, in dialogue and in question and answer formats. A comma is often used instead of a colon in dialogue, particularly for short quotes.

The managing director said: ‗We‘re all in this together. It is irrelevant who made the initial mistake.‘ The managing director said, ‗We‘re all in this together. It is irrelevant who made the initial mistake.‘

Link titles and subtitles

Use colons in subtitles of books.

Write to Govern: How to write senior management reports and board papers

Colons and capital letters

Use lower case after a colon unless the following words are a quote, question, or proper name.

Chapter 1: Staring at the sun The question is: Who will be the winner?

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Commas ,

Commas introduce, separate and enclose words and phrases to provide clarity and prevent ambiguity.

There is a resilient urban myth that we use commas where we pause. This may have been true in the past, but today we tend to use less punctuation and if the meaning is clear, we drop the commas. Commas are often a matter of personal preference and editors do not always agree on their usage.

With the decreasing use of commas, you need to be careful to avoid comma splices. A comma splice, sometimes known as a comma error, is when you use a comma, instead of a semicolon, conjunction or full stop, between two independent clauses.

The garden is beautiful, it has lots of flowering plants.

You could correct this sentence with a semicolon, conjunction or full stop.

The garden is beautiful; it has lots of flowering plants. (semicolon) The garden is beautiful because it has lots of flowering plants. (conjunction) The garden is beautiful. It has lots of flowering plants. (two sentences)

Prevent confusion

One of the main uses of commas is to prevent confusion. Sometimes, commas – or the lack of them – can change the meaning. Some examples are:

A woman without her man is nothing. A woman, without her, man is nothing. He wasn‘t killed mercifully. He wasn‘t killed, mercifully. Writing clearly isn‘t easy. Writing, clearly, isn‘t easy.

To separate information

Another important use of commas is to separate words and phrases.

Separate items

We use commas to separate items in a series or list within a sentence. You don‘t need a comma before the final item unless no comma would create confusion (see serial comma on page x).

‗I like to use as few commas as possible so that sentences will go down in one swallow without touching the sides.‘ US author Florence King

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The details required are name, date of birth, address and phone number.

Separate words

Use commas to fill gaps and avoid repeating words.

In 2000 there were seven cases; in 1999, five; and in 1998, four. Maria had brown hair, James, black.

Separate clauses

You can use a comma to separate two independent clauses (i.e. two ideas) when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.

The proposal looked promising, but some information was missing.

In my opinion, there is no need for these commas if the meaning is clear without them.

The proposal looked promising but some information was missing.

Separate adjectives before a noun

We use commas with some strings of adjectives before nouns.

The shrub has large, serrated, shiny, heart-shaped leaves.

Commas are necessary if you can reverse the order of the adjectives. If you can‘t reverse the order, you don‘t need a comma. Another way of testing whether you need a comma is to see if you could insert the word and. If the insertion of and makes sense, use a comma.

Commas – The room was damp, dirty and untidy. (dirty, damp or damp and dirty) No commas – The girl had bright blue eyes and dark red hair. (not blue, bright or bright and blue)

Separate names from titles

Commas separate names from titles.

Ms Marika Weinberg, chief executive officer, presented the prizes.

However, if the title comes before the name, you don‘t need commas, but most organisations use initial capitals (this is a style issue).

Managing Director John Smith proved an able leader.

Separate „interrupters‟

Use commas before and after words and phrases that ‗interrupt‘ the sentence.

He is, however, going to sit the exam again.

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She agreed, reluctantly, to re-sit the exam. Well, we finally agreed.

Sometimes these commas are dropped if the meaning is clear.

They therefore agreed to share the profit. We were of course dreaming of a greater profit.

Separate identical words

Use commas to separate identical words that could be confusing. Whatever will be, will be.

Separate end statements

Use a comma to separate an end statement, such as a question.

I‘m right, aren‘t I? This is mine, not yours.

To enclose information

Commas are used to set apart incidental or extra information that could be removed from the sentence and yet the sentence would still make sense, i.e. the extra information is not essential for the main meaning. (These clauses are known as non-restrictive or non-defining.)

These commas act in a similar way to parentheses. Compare:

All players who are now back in town deny the charges. (There could be other players who are not back in town so there is no need for commas.) All players, who are now back in town, deny the charges. (All players deny the charges and, incidentally, they are all back in town. You need the commas in this sentence.)

The second sentence could be written as:

All players deny the charges. And they are now all back in town.

If the extra information is in the middle of the sentence, you must put a comma at either end. Often the extra information is introduced by which, who or while.

The report, which we filed on Friday, was incomplete.

To introduce

Introductory commas follow words or phrases or introduce quotes.

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Introductory words and phrases

We often use commas after introductory statements. Such statements are usually dependent (subordinate) phrases or clauses.

On Tuesday 4 September, we plan to discuss the new housing development. Although it rained all weekend, the convention was still held. The manager addressed the conference on the subject of climate change, stating stronger action was needed.

I‘ve noticed that some writers are now dropping the commas after introductory statements if the statements are short and the meaning is clear.

In 2011 the company recorded a profit. At dawn the army approached.

Before quotes

Use a comma to introduce a direct quote. Alternatively, if the quote is long, you could use a colon. (You could use double quotation marks – this is a style choice.)

She said, ‗Let‘s meet soon.‘

Serial or Oxford commas

A comma is sometimes needed between the last two items in a list. This is known as the serial or Oxford comma.

They should seek the support of landholders, philanthropists, government, and community and industry groups.

There is an urban myth regarding the serial comma about a woman who left her estate to Jane, William, Mary and Anne. Jane and William argued that the estate should be divided into three, with Mary and Anne sharing a third. An oxford comma would have prevented this dispute (Jane, William, Mary, and Anne).

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Dashes

We have two dashes – em and en rules, sometimes known as em and en dashes.

We use a dash (em rule) to separate information and a shorter dash (en rule) to link words, dates or numerical ranges. Many writers use hyphens instead of en rules for linking items. In fact, many business writers are not even aware of the en rule‘s existence.

Em and en rules are printers‘ terms. The em rule is the length of a capital M and the en, the length of a capital N.

If you wish to use the traditional em rules, use Insert Symbol or shortcut keys. The shortcut key for an em rule is Control, Alt plus the hyphen symbol on the number pad. The shortcut key for an en rule is Control plus the hyphen on the number pad.

These days, in business writing, many writers use the Microsoft default for a dash – when you type a hyphen with spaces on either side, Microsoft elongates the hyphen to the length of an en rule. This type of dash is sometimes called the textual dash.

In print documents, such as books and annual reports, the traditional em rule is commonly used without spaces—as in this sentence. I have chosen the spaced en rule in this document for dashes because I so seldom see the traditional em rule in business writing.

Although Microsoft usually elongates a hyphen, if you rewrite a sentence, this functionality often fails and many writers fail to correct this, sometimes because they don‘t know how to. That‘s when the shortcut keys are useful.

When to use a dash (em rule or spaced en rule)

Dashes are used mainly in informal writing – they are stronger than a comma and less formal than brackets.

We use the em rule to add extra information in the middle of the sentence or tack something on the end.

Two dashes for extra information in the middle of a sentence

When we add extra information in the middle of a sentence, we need two dashes, one before the information and one after. A common mistake is to put the first dash and forget the second.

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It was the wind – even wilder than usual – that caused the accident. x The default option – balanced portfolio remains unless ... The default option – balanced portfolio – remains unless ...

One dash to add information towards the end of a sentence

We use a dash towards the end of a sentence to mark an abrupt change in the direction.

The weather is wonderful – how was your holiday?

We also use it to provide additional, explanatory information.

Make sure your passport is current – you have to pay a premium to get a passport in a hurry.

In some instances, you could use a colon instead.

The figures shed little light on the key to profitability: innovation. The figures shed little light on the key to profitability – innovation.

When to use the en rule (–)

The en rule replaces 'between', 'to', or 'and'. Many writers use a hyphen instead of an en rule, but the advantage of an en rule is that the items that are linked are easier to read because there is more space between them.

We use en rules to link figures, time and distance.

6–12 people

Another use is to show an association between two separate words of equal weight. Many people use a hyphen, but an en rule emphasises the equal relationship between the words.

Asia–Pacific region New York–London flight

An en rule is unspaced if one word or figure is linked on either side of it, but generally spaced if there is more than one linked word on either or both sides.

Sydney–Melbourne flights 45 BC – 1600 AD

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Ellipses ...

The main use of ellipses is to indicate that you have left something out of the material that you‘re quoting from. This is useful if you‘re quoting from a long document, but you need to be careful that you don‘t inadvertently change the meaning of the original document. (Ellipsis is singular and ellipses, plural.)

‗Dengue-fever carrying mosquitoes are causing panic ... fewer people are attending the games than anticipated.‘

Another informal use of ellipses is to indicate that you could say more about a topic, but are choosing not to.

I know you believe him, but ... Had a great time ...

An ellipsis is always three dots ( ... ). That‘s where agreement about ellipses ends!

Full stops or no full stops, spaces or no spaces?

Some style guides say that if an ellipsis follows a sentence, use a full stop and have a character space before the ellipsis.

The weather forecast was for rain and sleet. ... He went anyway.

Other style guides say that you do not need a full stop to indicate the end of a sentence if it is followed by an ellipsis.

The weather forecast was for rain and sleet ... He went anyway.

With ellipses, you need to decide whether to use the Microsoft Word default or add spaces between your dots.

He droned on and on ... He droned on and on . . .

You also need to decide if you want a space before an ellipsis.

He droned on and on... He droned on and on ...

And after?

He droned on and on...I thought he would never end. He droned on and on... I thought he would never end. He droned on and on ... I thought he would never end.

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Exclamation marks !

Exclamation marks add emotion or urgency to statements, but overusing them weakens your writing. They are used more in emails than other forms of business writing.

Urgent commands

We use exclamation marks for urgent commands.

Drop that at once! Run!

Emotion

We use exclamation marks to express emotion.

We won!

Irony

We use exclamation marks to express irony.

‗How nice!‘ she said when I told her I was working over the Christmas break.

Soften our language

Exclamation marks are used more in emails than elsewhere because they soften tone. It‘s easy in an email to come across as abrupt, but an exclamation mark can make your message seem less aggressive.

Have you seen that writing course advertised on the intranet? Our writing could benefit!

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Full stops .

Full stops are also known periods or full points.

Sentences and non-urgent commands

Full stops mark the end of sentences, sentence fragments and non-urgent commands.

Full stops are the most common punctuation mark. Not a chance. Put the file away when you have finished with it.

Indirect questions and polite requests

We use full stops, not question marks, at the end of indirect questions and polite requests.

I‘d appreciate it if you‘d tell me how to use hyphens correctly. Could you please open the window.

Some abbreviations

We also use full stops in some abbreviations (see Abbreviations).

Full stops and parentheses

If you have a complete sentence inside parentheses in the middle of a sentence, don‘t capitalise the first letter or use end punctuation, unless it is a question mark or exclamation mark.

I like living in Sydney (despite the cost) because it so beautiful. Living in Sydney is expensive. (It is the most expensive city in Australia.)

If you have a complete sentence inside a parentheses in the middle of a sentence, don‘t capitalise the first letter or use end punctuation, unless it is a question mark or exclamation mark.

Thirty years after we first met (we met at graduation, remember), you‘re still my best friend. Thirty years after we first met (did we meet at graduation?), you‘re still my best friend.

Full stops and quotation marks

For full quotes, the full stop goes inside the quotation marks. With quotes that are just part of a sentence, the full stop goes after the quotation marks.

He said, ‗I think the new legislation is unrealistic and unworkable.‘ When asked what he thought of the new legislation, he said he thought it was ‗unrealistic and unworkable‘.

‗There's not much to be said about the period, except that most writers don't reach it soon enough.‘ William Zinsser, US author

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American English does not follow this rule. In American writing, all punctuation marks are inside the final quotation marks.

He said, ‗I think the new legislation is unrealistic and unworkable.‘ When asked what he thought of the new legislation, he said he thought it was ‗unrealistic and unworkable.‟

Other uses of full stops

We also use full stops with:

Decimals and currency

20.3, $5.60

Time

7.45 am (Some writers use a colon, i.e. 7:45 am.)

Shortened dates

24.06.10 (Dates may also be written with forward slashes, i.e. 24/06/10.)

Web and email addresses

www.writetogovern.com.au

No full stops in some instances

You don‘t need full stops for:

Headings and subheadings

After abbreviations that end in a full stop at the end of a sentence

We bought sugar, butter, milk etc. X We bought sugar, butter, milk etc..

At the end of some lists (This is a style choice – see lists for more information.)

‗No iron can stab heart with such force as a full stop put just at the right place. Guy de Maupassant, 19th century French writer

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Hyphens -

The hyphen is often regarded as an unnecessary punctuation mark, but I think it‘s quite useful because it can provide clarity and prevent ambiguity. The challenge is to use your commonsense, avoid over-hyphenating and hyphenate consistently.

Compare the following words and phrases.

re-sign resign more-important arguments (higher priority) more important arguments (additional) three-monthly tax statements (every three months) three monthly tax statements (monthly)

Hyphens form new words

Hyphens are often used when new words are invented out of existing words and these hyphens often drop out over time.

web site web-site website

Some hyphens with prefixes also drop out over time. Your dictionary is a good guide for such hyphen usage.

co-ordinate has become coordinate semi-colons are now called semicolons

Hyphens are often used initially in compound words, consisting of two or more words that together carry a new meaning. These hyphens often drop out.

take over, take-over, takeover time frame, time-frame, timeframe

Hyphens create single concepts

The most common use of hyphens is to indicate that two or more words are acting as a single concept. Use a hyphen when two or more words describe the following noun.

full-time employee hard-working employee four-wheel-drive vehicle

‗If you take hyphens seriously, you will surely go mad.‘

Oxford University Press style manual

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We don‘t use hyphens when the descriptive words follow the noun.

The employee works full time. The employee is hard working.

However, this rule is not applied consistently because we tend not to use hyphens for phrases that are commonly used and not ambiguous.

income tax return secondary school teacher climate change scenarios

Suspended hyphens

When you have two phrases in a sentence that would both take a hyphen if the noun were repeated, you have to decide whether or not to use a suspended hyphen. I think it is unnecessary and ugly, but it is commonly used.

All the part- and full-time workers went on strike. All the part and full-time workers went on strike.

Commonly used phrases

Words that are commonly used together attract hyphens to show their relatedness even when they are not followed by a noun.

The area was drought-stricken. The effects were far-reaching. bitter-sweet mother-in-law half-baked happy-go-lucky accident-prone cold-shoulder

Hyphens with adverbs

The rules around hyphens with adverbs are not clear cut.

No hyphen with y and ly adverbs

The basic rule is that a descriptive phrase consisting of an adverb and an adjective is not usually hyphenated. Most of the adverbs that aren‘t hyphenated end in y or ly, though there are few others, such as quite.

The rationale is that the adverb is modifying the following word, usually an adjective, rather than the two words acting as a single unit.

a very good meal

‗One must regard the hyphen as a blemish to be avoided whenever possible.‘ Winston Churchill

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rapidly declining dollar gently rocking cradle highly likely outcome easily defeated vote

However, many writers flout this rule if they want to show a close relationship between the two words. I see such unnecessary hyphens in newspapers quite often.

intensely-debated legislation legally-binding document

Hyphens with adverbs and past participles

Use a hyphen with the adverbs better, best, ill, least, little, most, much, worse, worst, and well, if they are followed by a past participle and describe the following noun.

best-kept secret little-known actor well-known author

Hyphens with prefixes and suffixes

Prefixes

Use hyphens if the following word starts with the same vowel.

de-emphasise co-opt

However, some double vowel usages have now become accepted.

coordinate and cooperate

You can also use a hyphen if the word following has a different vowel but would look and sound odd.

de-ice

Quasi-, self-, all- and ex- generally take hyphens.

quasi-official self-effacing all-embracing ex-director

We use hyphens to join a prefix to a proper noun.

pro-American anti-Australian

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We use a hyphen between a prefix and a date.

pre-1950 post-2011

We also use hyphens to avoid ambiguity.

re-form reform

re-cover recover

Suffixes

Hyphens are generally not used with suffixes,

threefold knockout pushover

But you need them occasionally for clarity. Hyphens are often used with suffixes, such as -able, -elect, -like, and -wise.

do-able (I saw doable in a magazine recently and thought it looked odd.) President-elect Madonna-like money-wise

Hyphens with e-words and single letters

Hyphens are used with e-words, but many have dropped the hyphen.

e-mail is now email e-commerce still usually has a hyphen e-newsletter is becoming enewsletter

Splitting words

In business writing, we seldom split words, but designers split words in print documents such as books or annual reports. When you‘re checking your designers‘ work, you need to make sure they have split words at the end of a syllable.

With numbers

Hyphenate fractions and numbers when they are written in full.

three-tenths twenty-five people one-in-a-million

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Lists

There are several different styles for lists. As always, it‘s important to be consistent and use the same style throughout your document.

Bullet points, often called dot points, are more commonly used than numbers in lists, but numbers are useful if the order matters or if you want to refer to specific points within the list.

All lists, no matter what style, are introduced with a colon ( : ). Some writers make the mistake of using a semicolon ( ; ) or adding a dash after the colon.

This section covers lists with:

Semicolons

Full sentences

Points relating to a stem statement

Single words or short phrases

With all these styles, you need to decide whether to make your first-level bullet points flush or indented. You also need to use the same type of bullet point throughout. The most common is the round black bullet point. For second level bullet points, the most common are dashes or round hollow circles.

Lists with semicolons

Semicolons were traditionally used in lists to separate each bullet point, but although this is still correct, they are not used as often today. Legal writing is probably the main exception.

If you do use semicolons, the accepted practice, as in this list, is to: put a semicolon at the end of each point; use ‗and‘ after the second-to-last point; and finish with a full stop.

Lists using full sentences

With lists that are made up of full sentences, use normal sentence punctuation as in the following list.

Some tips on bullet points: Whatever style you adopt, the most important thing is to be consistent. You must always start a list by ending the preceding sentence with a colon (:). You must remember to be consistent with your spacing.

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Lists with points relating to a stem statement

For run-on sentences where each bullet point relates back to the initial statement, one style is to use lower case for the first letter in each bullet point, and a full stop after the last bullet point.

Before you travel overseas, remember to: make sure your passport is current find out if you need any vaccinations check the expiry dates of your credit cards.

I think the use of this style is declining thanks to Microsoft automatically defaulting to an initial capital. Many organisations have succumbed to the Microsoft default and now recommend starting all lists with initial capitals.

Whether or not you use a final full stop is also a style choice. As always, consistency is important.

Before you travel overseas, remember to: Make sure your passport is current Find out if you need any vaccinations Check the expiry dates of your credit cards

Lists with single words or short phrases

For one-or-two word lists, or short phrases, either use initial capitals and no punctuation, or initial lower case for each bullet point and a final full stop.

I used to differentiate between short and longer lists, but readers failed to see this distinction so I recommend using the same style for both short and long lists.

A knowledge of first aid is useful for: school children parents travellers.

or

A knowledge of first aid is useful for: School children Parents Travellers

Consistency

Even when writers have chosen a style and use it consistently, they sometimes get into difficulty using consistent structures.

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Spacing

You need to be consistent with your spacing before lists and between each bullet point. For example, some lists in the same document have a space between the initial statement and first bullet point, and others don‘t.

Dictionaries are useful for: checking spelling (no line space) Dictionaries are useful for: checking spelling (line space)

Grammatical consistency

You also need to be consistent with the way each point relates to the stem statement. You should be able to read each point with the stem statement and it forms a sentence.

When signing up a new client, you must: enter them into the database (verb) open a new file (verb) management notification. (noun – should be ‗notify management‘)

Adding extra information to run-on bullet points

When you‘re using a run-on list and want to add extra information to a bullet point, you need to think about your punctuation. While it is acceptable to have an additional sentence with no full stop, it looks odd.

If you are going on holiday you need to: consider the weather. You may need to take an umbrella (no full stop) pack sensibly travel light.

Consider using a dash before the additional information, or putting it in brackets.

Before you travel overseas, remember to: make sure your passport is current – you have to pay a premium to get a passport in a hurry or make sure your passport is current (You have to pay a premium to get a passport in a hurry.)

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Question marks ?

A question mark at the end of a string of words indicates that the words are a question, irrespective of the word order. A common way of making a question is to invert the verb and subject, but not all questions have this structure.

Are you coming this evening? You are coming this evening?

In the first sentence, both word order and question mark indicate it is a question. In the second sentence, the question mark is the only indicator.

Questions also often start with what, where, why, when, who or how.

What are you doing this evening?

Question mark usages

We use question marks for direct questions, rhetorical questions and to express doubt.

Direct questions

The most common use of the question mark is after direct questions.

Are you leaving soon? What time are you leaving?

Rhetorical questions

We use question marks for rhetorical questions.

You‘re not wearing that dress, are you? Why you and not me?

Doubt

You can use a question mark to express doubt. In informal writing, we may even use them in the middle of a sentence.

I think she wrote the play in 1999? In 2005 (?) I saw a stage version of that play.

No question marks needed

No question marks are needed – despite what Microsoft grammar check may think – with indirect or reported questions or polite requests.

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Indirect or reported questions

You don‘t need a question mark with indirect or reported questions.

I‘d like to know the answer to the question. He wondered if he could sit the exam without doing any work. She asked if he would like to go the movies that night.

Polite requests

Can you please send us your invoice by the end of the month. Can you please shut the door behind you.

Other punctuation with question marks

The question mark takes the place of a full stop or comma (at the end of a quote) in sentences.

She asked, ‗Are you coming?‘ (no full stop after the question mark) ‗Are you coming?‘ she asked. (no comma after the question mark)

If a sentence has a question mark within it, you don‘t need to follow it with an initial capital.

‗Who won?‘ asked the columnist and proceeded to explain why no one had.

Question mark inside or outside quotation marks?

Question marks go outside the quoted statement unless they are part of the question.

Didn‘t you say, ‗I never find grammar difficult‘? I said, ‗Do you like grammar?‘

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Quotation marks “ ” or „ ‟

Quotation marks are used for direct speech, quotes, and titles of articles, songs and poems.

Either single or double quotation marks are used for direct speech. If you use single quotation marks for direct speech, switch to double quotation marks for quotes within quotes and vice versa.

―I wish I had invented Nike‘s ‗Just do it‘ slogan,‖ said Jane. ‗I wish I had invented Nike‘s ―Just do it‖ slogan,‘ said Jane.

In press releases, you don‘t need quotation marks at the end of a paragraph if the person is quoted again in the next paragraph.

―We were so close to winning,‖ he said. ―We had a tail wind behind us. ―Then the wind dropped and we stalled.‖

Use italics, not quotation marks, for the full titles of Acts of Parliaments, books, plays and movies. Use single quotation marks for the titles of articles, songs and poems.

Spare quotes

Quotation marks used to quote fragments from someone‘s speech are known as spare quotes. Once again, whether you use single or double quotation marks is a style choice.

The bank said the rise in interest rates was ‗absolutely essential‘. The bank said the rise in interest rates was ―absolutely essential‖.

Full stops and quotation marks

In Australia, New Zealand and Britain, the rule is that the punctuation marks (commas, full stops, exclamation marks etc.) go inside the quotation marks if they relate to the quoted words, but outside if they relate to the whole sentence.

The manager said clients had complained, saying ‗she was always on Facebook‘. x The manager said clients had complained, saying ‗she was always on Facebook.‘

American English does not follow this rule. In American writing, all punctuation marks precede the final quotation marks. This rule does not seem as logical to me, but it is simpler.

Sally said she was not a ‗Facebook junkie.‘

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Semicolons ;

Semicolons create a stronger break than a comma, but a weaker break than a full stop. They lessen the break between sentences that could be separated by a full stop and increase the break between sentences that could be connected by conjunctions.

Although they have a function, I think you can write perfectly well without ever using a semicolon. If I had to banish any punctuation mark from my writing, it would be the semicolon, but some writers, such as Hilary Mantel and Oscar Wilde, use them to their full potential.

Connect and separate at the same time

Semicolons show a connection between two independent clauses and yet keep them separate at the same time. Oscar Wilde quotes are wonderful examples of such semicolon use.

Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much. My own business always bores me to death; I prefer other people's. To be poor and not complain is difficult; to be rich and not complain is easy.

Although few of us have Oscar Wilde‘s wit, you can use a semicolon in business writing or essays to link two independent clauses (i.e. two sentences) that are not joined with a conjunction.

The meeting ended at 8pm; an agreement had been reached.

You shouldn‘t use a comma to separate two independent clauses (result = comma splice), but you could rewrite the above sentence with a conjunction, full stop or dash.

The meeting ended at 8pm and an agreement had been reached. The meeting ended at 8pm. An agreement had been reached. The meeting ended at 8pm – an agreement had been reached.

Before some transitional words

You don‘t need semicolons before conjunctions such as but, and or so, but you do with adverbial conjuncts, such as however, therefore and moreover. You also need a comma after these words.

The company was behind in its repayments; however, it promised to pay before the end of the month. The company was behind in its repayments; therefore, the liquidators moved in.

You can avoid the need for a semicolon by rewriting the sentences.

Although the company was behind in its repayments, it promised to pay before the end of the month. The liquidators moved in because the company was behind in its repayments.

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Separate items in a list

Use semicolons to separate units in a sentence when one or more of the units have commas.

The meeting included Jane Smith, economics adviser; Tom Brown, director; Sally Young, team leader; Jonathan Lee, employee representative; and Ann Parker, general manager.

Semicolons are also used in more traditional bulleted lists (see Lists).

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Shortened word and phrase forms

There are three categories of shortened word and phrase forms

Shortened words – abbreviations (Prof, Mon) and contractions (Ltd, Dr)

Shortened phrases – acronyms (scuba) and initialisms (FAQs)

Symbols (%)

Shortened words – abbreviations and contractions

Abbreviations

When a word is abbreviated after the first few letters, the traditional rule is to put a full stop after the abbreviation. If the abbreviation comes at the end of a sentence, you don‘t have to add an extra full stop, but you still need it with a question mark or exclamation mark.

Inc. cont. Why does that name need Inc.?

However, many organisations no longer use a full stop with some common abbreviations, such as days of the week or months.

Formerly Now (mostly) 6 a.m. 6 am or 6am 20 Jan. 20 Jan Tues. Tues Prof. Prof

Days of the week

Standard abbreviations for days are:

Sun Thurs Mon Fri Tues Sat Wed

Some people still put full stops after these abbreviations.

Months

Months that have four or fewer letters are not abbreviated. Abbreviations for the other months (with or without full stops) are:

Jan Sept Feb Oct Mar Nov Aug Dec

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Countries

Names of countries are usually spelt out in full, and abbreviations used in tables and currency.

However, many organisations consistently abbreviate the following country names:

United States of America U.S., US or USA United Kingdom U.K., UK New Zealand N.Z., NZ

Latin abbreviations

Latin abbreviations have become so commonly used in English there is no need to put them in italics. Some writers make an exception of sic used in square brackets to indicate that archaic or incorrect usage is reported faithfully.

I‘m gunna [sic] catch them.

Some Latin abbreviations and their meanings are:

c. (short for circa) about, approximately e.g. (short for exampli gratia) for example et al. (short for et alii) and others etc. (short for et cetera) and so on i.e. (short for id est) that is MS (short for manuscriptus) manuscript NB (short for nota bene) take careful note PS (short for postscriptum) postscript viz. (short for videlicet) namely

Some writers spell out words such as for example and that is in the body of a document, but use their abbreviations (e.g., i.e.) in brackets and tables.

In the trend towards more minimal punctuation, some organisations are dropping the full stop with some abbreviations. For example:

eg ie

Contractions

When a word is shortened by using the first and last letters, you do not need a full stop. This type of abbreviation is known as a contraction.

Mr Dr Pty

American English often uses a full stop after such abbreviations.

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Acronyms and initialisms

We often use the term acronym for all first-letter abbreviations, but strictly speaking, an acronym is a string of initial letters that are pronounced as a word, for example, AIDS, which stands for ‗acquired immune deficiency syndrome‘.

Some acronyms have become such an accepted part of the language that they are seldom spelt out, for example, scuba, sonar, Anzac, AIDS and Qantas. Indeed, most people struggle to remember what scuba and sonar and Qantas originally stood for.

scuba – self-contained underwater breathing apparatus sonar – sound navigation and ranging Qantas – Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service

An initialism is a string of initial letters that are not pronounced as a word, for example, FAQ, which stands for ‗frequently asked question‘. In most instances, you need to spell out the full name of a term when you use it for the first time, then put the initialism in brackets directly after it.

The New South Wales Fire Brigades (NSWFB) released its annual report.

Traps for acronyms and initialisms

Avoid overusing initialisms, as they can be confusing if your readers are not familiar with them. Often it is best to spell out terms in external documents, especially if they are only used once or if the abbreviation is an in-house style (e.g. AM for account manager).

Sometimes you may be better off providing a brief explanation rather than spelling out an acronym or initialism. For example, for dsl (digital subscriber line), you could say dsl (high-speed internet).

If you are writing a document that contains several different initialisms or acronyms, consider ways to avoid constantly repeating them . For example, environmental impact statement (EIS) could become the statement, and Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) could become the program.

Alternatively, you could provide a glossary of terms at the back.

Common style mistakes writers make are putting:

Quotation marks inside the brackets (―NSWFB‖)

Full stops between each letter (F.A.Q.) (I think this may be an American style.)

Apostrophes with plural initialisms (FAQs not FAQ‘s)

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Guidelines for using acronyms and initialisms

Initialisms and capitals

Many initialisms are written in capitals, but when you spell out the words, the normal rules of capitals apply.

New South Wales (NSW) earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA)

A/an and the with initialisms and acronyms

Let the spoken word be your guide when deciding whether to use a or an before an initialism or acronym.

He made an STD call to talk to his mother.

If an initialism or acronym can be pronounced as a word (NATO, UNESCO, ASIC), it does not generally need to take the definite article (the). Other abbreviated names should usually be preceded by the.

NATO has its headquarters in Brussels. The KGB is a Russian organisation.

Plurals of initialisms and acronyms

Most initialisms are made plural by adding an s. There is no need for an apostrophe.

MPs not MP‘s ISPs not ISP‘s

If an acronym ends with s, you add an s, not es, for example, SOSs (not SOSes).

Pronunciation

Some shortened forms, for example, RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) can be pronounced as an initialism or acronym.

Starting a sentence

You can start sentences with an acronym or initialism, but not with an abbreviation.

NATO issued a press release. Appendix 2 shows ... X App. 2 shows ...

Australian states and territories

Shorten states and territories as follows:

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ACT NSW NT Qld SA Tas Vic WA

Symbols

Symbols are internationally recognised representations of units of measurement, words and concepts. They only take an initial capital if they stand for a person‘s name. For example, a watt is named after James Watt so when abbreviated is a capital W.

Some symbols have a space before them and others don‘t. But even with symbols that traditionally had a space (6 pm), many writers are closing up the spaces (6pm). The advantage of closing the spaces is that items don‘t get split at the end of a line.

10% not 10 % $5 not $ 5 5 km or, increasingly, 5km

Shortened forms checklist

Term Example Short for Style convention

Abbreviation Inc. Incorporated Use the first few letters of the word, followed by a full stop.

Contraction Dr, Ltd Doctor Limited

Use the first and last letters of the word, with no full stop.

Acronym Qantas Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services

The first letters from a phrase are pronounced as a new word. Sometimes the original meaning is forgotten (scuba, sonar).

Initialism FAQ Frequently asked question

Similar to acronyms, but each letter of the initialism is pronounced, rather than being read as a single word.

Symbol cm centimetre Set by international standards for units of measurement and concepts.

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Slashes /

A slash is sometimes called a forward slash, solidus, virgule or oblique. In computing, backslashes are also used ( \ ).

I think the slash is useful, but if overused, can look ugly. Some people leave spaces around either side, but most style guides recommend no spaces.

and/or X and / or

Alternatives

We use the solidus to indicate alternatives. Symptoms include dizziness and/or loss of balance.

Link items

The solidus is also used to link items.

our Western Australia/Bali holiday

We use slashes in fractions.

2/3

And/or is a ‗visual and mental monstrosity that should be avoided.‘

Theodore Bernstein, 20th century US author

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Glossary

Adjectives: modify nouns or pronouns and tell which, whose, what kind and how many, i.e. they‘re describing words (beautiful, several, tall).

Adverbs: modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs, and tell how, when, where and how much (quickly, slowly, later).

Apostrophe: punctuation mark used in contractions (can’t) and to indicate possession (the cat’s bowl).

Articles: the definite article (the) and the indefinite article (a and an).

Clause: group of related words containing a subject and a verb. A clause may be a whole sentence or part of a sentence. She likes swimming.

Conjunctions: these short words join other words, phrases and clauses (and, however, but).

Dependent clause: cannot stand alone. Sometimes called a subordinate clause. Although he felt miserable, he attended the party.

Determiners: little words that tell us which ones, whose and how many (the, a, three, that, my).

Independent clause: can stand alone. An independent clause may be a complete sentence or part of a sentence. He finished the crossword. He finished the crossword while she drank her coffee.

Nouns: the names of persons, places or things (cat, book, report).

Object: noun or pronoun that represents the goal of the action. An indirect object either comes before the direct object or is used with a preposition (to or for).

She hit the ball. (direct object) He gave the boy a bat. (indirect object) She gave the bat to the boy. (indirect object)

Phrase: group of words containing a subject or a verb, but not both. They work as a unit, but cannot stand alone. Fed up and bored, he ate his lunch in silence.

Prepositions: are used before nouns or pronouns to relate them to other words. Common prepositions are by, for, in, of, to.

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Pronouns: take the place of nouns. Personal pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they. Possessive pronouns are mine, his, hers, its, ours, your/yours, theirs.

Proper nouns: have capitals and are used to name a specific person, place or thing (Ms Smith, Sydney).

Verbs: show action or state of being. They are ‗doing words‘ (play, write, sit).

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King, Graham, Improve Your Punctuation, 3rd edn, HarperCollins Publishers, Glasgow, 2009.

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