Colons, periods, quotation marks and commas

ahmed_allaithy

رئيس الجمعية

تاريخ التسجيل: May 2006

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Colons, periods, quotation marks and commas

03-19-2007, 08:35 AM

Dr. Grammar Says: Colon Use? Use a colon to introduce an explanation, example, list, or quotation. The colon used this way must be preceded by an independent clause, a clause which contains a subject and a verb and can stand alone as a complete sentence. An explanation or example can be a single word,a phrase,or a clause: Examples: "She has but one goal:success." "One task remains: to script the final project." "The financial agreement put a block between defense and education: No [no] money was to be transferred between the two." When the second of two independent clauses explains, elaborates, or illustrates the first, you may use a colon to join the clauses. Example: "Our team is inexperienced:six of the players are sophomores,and two are freshmen." Some writers capitalize the first word after the colon, but capitalization is optional;a lowercase letter after a colon is always correct. Use a colon to introduce a list that follows an independent clause. The independent clause before the list will contain expressions such as "the following" or "as follows." Example: "Her arguments were as follows: don't link love and...." Do not use a colon after a verb. Example: "They are: ready, willing, and able." <a name="88"></a>Commas and periods inside quotation marks? All commas and periods go inside quotation marks. There are no exceptions.Commas? These are the basic comma rules; learn them, download them, laminate them, keep the copy with you whenever you write, and you will solve 98% of your comma problems. 1) Put a comma before and, but, for,or, nor, so, yet when they connect two independent clauses [that is, sentences that can stand alone: read both aloud;each could start with a capital letter and end with a period]. EXAMPLES: "She hit the shot, and he cheered for her." "She hit the shot." and "He cheered for her." "The dog bit him, and he bit the dog." "The dog bit him." and "He bit the dog." 2) Separate three or more items in a series with a comma. EXAMPLES: "I like Corvettes, Porsches, and Buicks." "We want to protect cats, dogs, and horses." NOT: "I like cats, dogs and horses." "In...formal writing..., the 'serial' or 'series' comma is ordinarily retained before the conjunction that joins the last item in a sequence of three or more words or phrases--'hither, thither, and yon'; 'of the people, by the people, and for the people.' I stoutly defend the use of the serial comma because I have found that in many sentences the comma before the conjunction is an aid to clarity and emphasis. Consider these examples: 'For dinner, the Girl Scouts ate steak, onions and ice cream.' 'For dinner, the Girl Scouts ate steak, onions, and ice cream.' 'We believe in freedom, justice and equality.' 'We believe in freedom, justice, and equality.' The first sentence sounds as if the Scouts devoured a yucky concoction of onions and (urp!) ice cream. The serial comma in the second sentence avoids such gastronomic ambiguity. In the third sentence, the rhythm of the series sounds jerky to the ear, while the serial comma in the fourth helps the final term, equality, to ring out as loudly as the others. So don't be commatose. Use your comma sense and press into service the serial comma" (Lederer, Richard. Adventures of a Verbivore 225). 3) Put a comma after introductory modifiers. EXAMPLES: "Because I was hungry, I bought a hamburger." "Hungry and tired, I bought a hamburger." "When I get hungry, I do stupid stuff." "After dieting for weeks, I bought a hamburger." "Dying for a burger, I settled for a cheese sandwich." 4) Set off interrupters with pairs of commas, pairs of parentheses, or pairs of dashes. Examples: "The hamburger, hot and juicy, tasted great." "The hamburger--which was hot and juicy--tasted great." "The hamburger (made from ground beef and tofu) tasted great." 5) Put commas around the name of a person or group spoken to. EXAMPLES: "I hope, Carlene, that you're going with me." "Carlene, you're five minutes late." "You're five minutes late, Carlene." "Study hard, Carlene, and you'll pass." 6) Put commas around an expression that interrupts the flow of the sentence. EXAMPLES: "It will, I think, take only two days." "I hope, of course, that they will arrive on time." "We took our poles, therefore, and got into the boat." WARNING: Whether a word is an interrupter or not depends on where it is in the sentence. If it is in the middle of a sentence, it's more likely to be an interrupter than if it's at the beginning or the end. The expressions that were interrupters in the above examples are not interrupters in the following sentences and do not require commas. EXAMPLES: "I think it will take only two days." "Of course I hope they will arrive on time." "Therefore we took our poles and got into the boat." WARNING: When one of the above words like however comes between two independent clauses (sentences that can stand alone), it requires a semicolon before it and a comma after it. EXAMPLES: "The cab was late; however, I made it to the train on time." "She did not want to go; furthermore, she had only shabby clothes." "She wanted an A; therefore, she worked harder than the other students." "I spent months on the car; finally, I made it a show-stopper." Separate three or more items in a series with a comma. EXAMPLES: "I like Corvettes, Porsches, and Buicks." "We want to protect cats, dogs, and horses." 

د. أحـمـد اللَّيثـي
رئيس الجمعية الدولية لمترجمي العربية
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Colons, periods, quotation marks and commas

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