Apostrophe
Use an apostrophe and the letter s to
form a possessive noun. Do not use 's to form the
plural of an abbreviation or
number.
We will issue many RFPs this year.
The size 10s and 12s are on the rack. |
Some acronyms are inherently plural or may be either singular
or plural. MIS may be singular (management information
system) or plural (management information systems).
An MIS is being installed in the Office of the
Director.
Several MIS are already installed elsewhere on campus. |
Comma
In the past, it was the rule always to insert
a comma
(called the serial comma) before and or or in a series of more
than two elements.
red, white, and green
from the South, from the North, or from the West |
Some style manuals now sanction the omission of the serial
comma.
red, white and green
from the South, from the North or from the West |
If you opt to eliminate the serial comma, you must be consistent
in that usage, except in certain cases where the serial comma
is needed to avoid ambiguity.
Use a comma before the conjunction in a compound sentence
but not in a sentence with a compound predicate.
He arrived early, but the party had already begun.
He arrived early but waited outside.
|
Place the comma inside any accompanying quotation marks.
"That is correct," he stated.
Items labeled "1," "2," and "3" are
to be deleted.
|
Use a comma after a complete date and after the city
and state in a sentence.
The first meeting will be held on April 3, 2003,
in Bethesda.
The second meeting will be held in Boston, Massachusetts,
next year.
|
Do not use a comma when only the month and year are given
or when only a city or state is mentioned.
The first meeting will be held in April 2003 in
Bethesda.
The second meeting will be held in Chicago in September.
The third meeting will be held in Utah in December |
Use a comma before (and after) Jr., M.D., Ph.D., etc.,
but not before II, III, IV, etc.
John Jones, Jr., chaired the meeting.
Henry Jones III presented his findings.
|
In general, do not use a comma between two nouns that
modify each other.
The musical comedy "Rio Rita" is sold
out.
The meeting "Toxic Effects of Water" has
been canceled.
|
Ellipsis
Use
an ellipsis (...) to indicate when words have been omitted
within a quotation. To avoid any chance of having an ellipsis
split between two lines by a word processor's automatic return
feature, do not leave spaces between the three dots but do
leave a space on each end of the ellipsis:
In his speech at Gettysburg, Lincoln
said, "Four score and seven years ago our fathers
brought forth on this continent a new nation ... dedicated
to the proposition that all men are created equal." |
In general, words omitted in an ellipsis should be from
within a single sentence, so that the sense of the original
language is not lost.
If you are omitting words from the end of a quoted sentence,
include the period, marking the end of the sentence, as a
fourth dot in the ellipsis. In this case, do not leave a
space before the ellipsis.
Abraham Lincoln's most famous speech begins, "Four
score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth
on this continent a new nation...." |
Hyphen
Review the guidance
on when to hyphenate compound words.
In text, no more than two successive lines should end with
a hyphen; no more than three lines in a paragraph should
end in a hyphen. Neither the first line of a paragraph nor
the last line of a page should end in a hyphen. The easiest
way to avoid problems with end-of-line hyphenation is to
divide only hyphenated compounds; divide these only at the
hyphen.
Period
Use the period consistently in honorifics (Ms.,
Dr., etc.) and in academic degrees (Ph.D., M.D., etc.). Align the periods (as well as colons) accompanying numerals
in a list.
I. 8. 8:30
II. 9. 10:15
III. 10. 12:15 |
Quotation Marks
Always place quotation marks outside
periods and commas. Placement of quotation marks with question
marks and exclamation points depends on whether the question
or emphasis is part of the quotation.
The lecturer asked, "Are there any questions?"
What do you mean, "almost accurate"? |
Always place semicolons and colons outside quotation marks. |