If you paraphrased the beginning of the quote above, you wouldn't need to use ellipsis: Keep in mind that you don't need to use the ellipsis to show words omitted at the beginning of a quote. REPHRASED: "The best way to be healthy.is to eat right, exercise, and get plenty of good sleep." ORIGINAL: "The best way to be healthy, according to the most prestigious doctors at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, is to eat right, exercise, and get plenty of sleep." The ellipsis is used to show the deletion of words from a direct quotation. Try paraphrasing to avoid calling attention to others' mistakes whenever possible. Paraphrasing quotations can eliminate the need for this use of brackets. If there is an error in the original quotation, the word sic appears in brackets after the word containing the error.ĬORRECT: "This sentence contains an eror. BRACKETSīrackets are used to enclose words that you add to a direct quotation 10.ĬORRECT: In Slaughterhouse-Five, " he is in a constant state of stage fright, he says, because he never knows what part of his life he is going to have to act in next." Use parentheses to set off extra material, digressions, or afterthoughts.ĬORRECT: After her eggs, bacon, and coffee (her usual breakfast), she leaves for work.ĬORRECT: My mother tolerates (i.e. You can also use two lines (-), not just one (-), which is a hyphen 9. The dashes can be found under special characters. Also remember that a dash is composed of either an em-dash (first three sentences above) or en-dash (bottom sentence). Just be careful not to overuse the dash, as it's less formal than other punctuation. Use a dash to draw attention to parenthetical information, to prepare for changes in tone, or to introduce or emphasize information.ĬORRECT: Everything about the test - especially the surprise essay section - was incredibly difficult.ĬORRECT: He took a deep breath, began to sprint toward the finish line-and collapsed just a few feet before he crossed it.ĬORRECT: I need three things from you - patience, kindness, and understanding.ĬORRECT: I hate - absolutely abhor - that band.ĭashes are fairly versatile, so there aren't many obvious errors related to their usage. The accompanying printable reference sheet of the rules for using colons in English is available for download at The Use of Periods, Question Marks, and Exclamation Marks in Written English Reference Sheet.The following punctuation marks should be used sparingly, as they are more specialized than those that appear above. For example:įor more information on the use of periods, question marks, and exclamation marks within quotation marks, please see The Use of Quotation Marks in Written English. Use exclamation marks with emphatic interjections that are not part of the grammatical structure of the main clause. Exclamation Marks with Emphatic Interjectionsħ. Joan of Arc died when she was 19 (?) years old.Born in 1564 (?), William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26.Experts believe that Jesus was born in November 5 (?) BCE.Use question marks enclosed in parentheses to indicate uncertain dates and numbers. Question Marks with Uncertain Dates and NumbersĦ.For example:Īlso use periods to separate elements of Internet addresses. Use periods to separate computer file names with computer file extensions. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark () Periods with Electronic File Names and Internet Addressesĥ.For Whom the Seagulls Fly 2.4 (act.scene).Place periods between books and lines of poems acts and scenes of prose plays and acts, scenes, and lines of verse plays. Use periods to separate elements in poetry and play citations. $1.25 Periods with Poetry and Play CitationsĤ.Use periods as decimal points to separate integrals from fractional parts of numbers. Workers must arrive at their desks by 9:00 a.m.Use only one period at the end of a sentence when the last word of the sentence is an abbreviation containing periods.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |