Punctuation

Addresses

Set out addresses without punctuation at the end of a line and don’t use shortened forms.

Divisional Director
Advancement Division
PO Box 65
Monash University
Melbourne, Victoria 3800
Australia

Ampersands

Avoid ampersands. (For the uninitiated, they look like ‘&’.) Use ‘and’ instead. You should only use an ampersand where it forms part of an official name.

Art, Design and Architecture
MGW3130 Organisational change and development
Allen & Unwin

Bullet points

End the introductory phrase preceding a list of bullet points in a colon. If the individual bullet points are sentence fragments, don’t use a full stop, comma or semi-colon. Leave it bare until the last bullet point, and then use a full stop. Don’t use capitals.

Disciplines offered at Clayton include:

  • art history
  • engineering
  • marketing
  • management
  • science.

Enrolment gives you the chance to:

  • meet faculty course advisers
  • discuss unit selection and course structure
  • ask any other questions you have about your studies.

Use full stops if each bullet point is a complete sentence.

Five important points to remember on exam day:

  • Get there on time.
  • Take care of the technicalities.
  • Read the instructions.
  • Breathe deeply and don’t panic.
  • Answer the question.

Colons and semi-colons

A colon is commonly used to introduce a series or list. If a colon introduces a complete sentence, more than one sentence, a formal statement, quotation, or speech in a dialogue, capitalise the first word of the sentence.

The sign clearly states: Do not enter.

If the colon introduces a sentence fragment, don’t capitalise the first letter.

I’ve got two words for you: semester break.

Use a semi-colon to join clauses when a conjunction is omitted, or when the connection is close.

The statistical information proves the theory; the doubters are put in their place.

Commas

Introducing information

You can often use commas after an opening clause or phrase.

After the students had discussed the hike in fees, they decided to stage a non-violent protest.
For example, the Indonesian orangutan population could be extinct within 10 years.

You can often omit the comma if the clause or phrase is short and the omission doesn’t cause confusion.

Before the meeting she reviewed the documentation.

The Oxford comma

An Oxford comma is a comma after the penultimate item in a list.

These include degrees in art and design, arts, business, engineering, and information technology.

Where there are several, one-word items listed in a sentence and separated by commas, you don’t need to use an Oxford comma.

By the time you graduate, you’ll have the knowledge, skills and desire to make a positive impact on the world.

However, if readers may be confused from the omission of the comma, leave it in.

It judges universities in 13 areas, including teaching excellence, research that pushes the boundaries of understanding and innovation, knowledge transfer, the quality and diversity of staff, and the ability to provide an inspiring, international teaching environment for undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Extra information

You can also use commas to enclose extra (or parenthetical) information within a sentence. The trick is to work out whether the sentence would retain its meaning if you removed the extra information.

The course, which failed to attract enough students, was cancelled.

While the copy within the commas gives us extra information about why the course was cancelled, if we removed it, the sentence still conveys the same basic information.

The course was cancelled.

The clause ‘which failed to attract enough students’ is called a descriptive clause. In other words, it provides extra description.

But if we are discussing several courses, and I asked you which course was cancelled, you might reply:

The course that failed to attract enough students was cancelled.

Saying ‘The course was cancelled’ would not answer my question. In this case, the clause is restrictive, and does not take commas. Also note that a descriptive clause generally takes the preposition ‘which’, while a restrictive course generally takes a ‘that’.

Numbers

Use a comma in any number with more than four figures.

1000
10,000

If two sets of unrelated numbers are given side-by-side, you can use a comma to separate the numbers as an aid to clarity.

By 1995, 33 per cent of Australia’s population was not so inclined.

Dashes

Generally, hyphens join and dashes separate. A hyphen is the shortest of the horizontal punctuation lines; dashes are longer.

At Monash, we use en dashes ( – ) rather than em dashes (—).

To create an en dash:
PC: Press ‘Ctrl’ + the numeric hyphen.
Mac: Press ‘option’ + ‘hyphen’.

En dashes within sentences have one space before and one space after them to bracket an independent clause, or at the end of a sentence to introduce a sentence fragment. Don’t use more than one set of en dashes in any given sentence.

The skills you gain in academic research – to reason and reflect, to think critically, conceptually and creatively, to analyse data and ideas – will serve you well whether you decide to take on a research degree, or go straight to the workplace.

En dashes without spaces are used to link items that still retain their separate entities (it is because they retain their separate entities that an en dash is used rather than a hyphen).

The American–Australian Free Trade Agreement
hand–eye coordination

However, where an entity is complex (ie more than one word long) you need to add a spaced en dash.

The New South Wales – Victoria border…

See Numbers, dates and times for more information about using en-dashes.

Ellipses

You should begin ellipses immediately after the word they follow, with no space either after the word or between the dots. Microsoft Word will automatically reformat the full stops as ellipses. Place one space after the final dot. Ellipses should always be exactly three dots.

Where a quoted sentence ends with an ellipsis, you don’t need to add a final full stop.

We will pay you… just not with money.
Of course, I could be wrong…

Email addresses

Don’t capitalise people’s names when they form part of an email address.

Full stops

Only insert one space following a full stop at the end of a sentence.

Don’t use full stops with contractions such as Mr, Dr, Mrs, or with terms such as Pty Ltd.

Include spaces between initials and no full stops.

A S Byatt

Quotes and quote marks

Use single quote marks for direct speech. Use double quote marks for quotes within quotes.

In full sentences, include punctuation within the quote marks; for partial quotes, include punctuation outside. Compare these sentences:

“The development is an exciting opportunity for Monash,” the dean announced.

According to the dean, the development is “an exciting opportunity for Monash”.

Pull-out quotes in print materials and online are a design element, and can take different punctuation for effect.

Indented quotes

As a rule of thumb, you should indent quotations that are longer than five lines, or about 60 words. If you’ve indented a quote, you don’t need to use quote marks.

You should maintain the spelling and punctuation of the original source, even if it is not correct by today’s standards or according to this style guide.

If the source quotation is truncated, either in the middle or at the end of the quotation, use ellipses to mark the point of the omitted material. Don’t use ellipses at the start of the quote, even if material has been omitted there.

If you are adjusting the wording slightly to fit the grammar of the sentence, put the new words in brackets.

“It was never my intention to inconvenience [her] in any way.”

[SOURCE]

COMMA RULES

Rule #1: Use a comma to separate independent clauses linked with coordinating conjunctions.

If you have what can be two separate sentences but want to make them one (creating a compound sentence), use a comma and a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) to link them.

My English Instructor was a good teacher, and he taught me a lot about the writing process.

Rule #2: Use a comma at the end of an introductory element.

An introductory element begins a sentence by providing a transition from the last sentence or background information before the independent clause.

In a hard fought contest, the home team prevailed after two overtimes.

Rule #3:  Use a comma to set off nonessential elements.

A nonessential element is a word, phrase, or clause that can be removed and the sentence still makes sense and is grammatically correct.

 

I went to the movies with my neighbours, Ron and Sally, and then we went to dinner.

Rule #4:  Use a comma to separate items in a list or a series. 

Anytime there is a list of three or more items, use a comma to separate them.

In my American literature class we read The Great Gatsby, All the King’s Men, As I Lay Dying, and the Grapes of Wrath.

Rule #5:  Use a comma to separate multiple adjectives.

If more than one adjective is used in a sentence, separate them with commas.

Her shiny, red, expensive, sports car is envied by the neighbours.

Rule #6:  Use a comma to introduce a quotation.

He said to me, “I appreciate your willingness to participate in the classroom discussions.”

Rule #7: Use a comma with addresses and dates.

When using addresses in a sentence, whether specific or not, a comma should be placed between the street and city, between the city and the state, and at the end of the address.

Aims Community College is located in Greeley, Colorado.

When using a specific date in a sentence, a comma should be placed between the day and the year and also after the year.

August 22, 2011, is the day I began my first semester of college.

Capital Letters

The first words of a sentence

When he tells a joke, he sometimes forgets the punch line.

The pronoun “I”

The last time I visited Atlanta was several years ago.

Proper nouns (the names of specific people, places, organizations, and sometimes things)

Worrill Fabrication Company
Golden Gate Bridge
Supreme Court
Livingston, Missouri
Atlantic Ocean
Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Family relationships (when used as proper names)

I sent a thank-you note to Aunt Abigail, but not to my other aunts.
Here is a present I bought for Mother.
Did you buy a present for your mother?

The names of God, specific deities, religious figures, and holy books

God the Father
the Virgin Mary
the Bible
the Greek gods
Moses
Shiva
Buddha
Zeus

Exception: Do not capitalize the nonspecific use of the word “god.”

The word “polytheistic” means the worship of more than one god.

Titles preceding names, but not titles that follow names

She worked as the assistant to Mayor Hanolovi.
I was able to interview Miriam Moss, mayor of Littonville.

Directions that are names (North, South, East, and West when used as sections of the country, but not as compass directions)

The Patels have moved to the Southwest.
Jim’s house is two miles north of Otterbein.

The days of the week, the months of the year, and holidays (but not the seasons used generally)

Halloween
October
Friday
winter
spring
fall

Exception: Seasons are capitalized when used in a title.

The Fall 1999 semester

The names of countries, nationalities, and specific languages

Costa Rica
Spanish
French
English

The first word in a sentence that is a direct quote

Emerson once said, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”

The major words in the titles of books, articles, and songs (but not short prepositions or the articles “the,” “a,” or “an,” if they are not the first word of the title)

One of Jerry’s favorite books is The Catcher in the Rye.

Members of national, political, racial, social, civic, and athletic groups

Green Bay Packers
African-Americans
Anti-Semitic
Democrats
Friends of the Wilderness
Chinese

Periods and events (but not century numbers)

Victorian Era
Great Depression
Constitutional Convention
sixteenth century

Trademarks

Pepsi
Honda
IBM
Microsoft Word

Words and abbreviations of specific names (but not names of things that came from specific things but are now general types)

Freudian
NBC
pasteurize
UN
french fries
italics

The Semicolon


The semicolon (;) has only one major use. It is used to join two complete sentences into a single written sentence when all of the following conditions are met:

(1) The two sentences are felt to be too closely related to be separated by a full stop;
(2) There is no connecting word which would require a comma, such as and or but;
(3) The special conditions requiring a colon are absent.

Here is a famous example:

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

A semicolon can always, in principle, be replaced either by a full stop (yielding two separate sentences) or by the word and (possibly preceded by a joining comma). Thus Dickens might have written:

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. or
It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times.

The use of the semicolon suggests that the writer sees the two smaller sentences as being more closely related than the average two consecutive sentences; preferring the semicolon to and often gives a more vivid sense of the relation between the two. But observe carefully: the semicolon must be both preceded by a complete sentence and followed by a complete sentence. Do not use the semicolon otherwise:

*I don’t like him; not at all.
*In 1991 the music world was shaken by a tragic event; the death of Freddy Mercury.
*We’ve had streams of books on chaos theory; no fewer than twelve since 1988.
*After a long and bitter struggle; Derrida was awarded an honorary degree by Cambridge University.

These are all wrong, since the semicolon does not separate complete sentences. (The first and last of these should have only a bracketing comma, while the second and third meet the requirements for a colon and should have one.) Here are some further examples of correct use:

Tolkien published The Hobbit in 1937; the first volume of The Lord of the Rings followed in 1954.
The Cabernet Sauvignon grape predominates in the Bordeaux region; Pinot Noir holds sway in Burgundy; Syrah is largely confined to the Rhone valley.
Women’s conversation is cooperative; men’s is competitive.

If a suitable connecting word is used, then a joining comma is required, rather than a semicolon:

Women’s conversation is cooperative, while men’s is competitive.

A semicolon would be impossible in the last example, since the sequence after the comma is not a complete sentence.

Note, however, that certain connecting words do require a preceding semicolon. Chief among these are howeverthereforehence , thusconsequentlynevertheless andmeanwhile:

Saturn was long thought to be the only ringed planet; however, this is now known not to be the case.
The two warring sides have refused to withdraw from the airport; consequently aid flights have had to be suspended.

Observe that in these examples the sequence after the semicolon does constitute a complete sentence. And note particularly that the word however must be separated by a semicolon (or a full stop) from a preceding complete sentence; this is a very common mistake.

There is one special circumstance in which a semicolon may be used to separate sequences which are not complete sentences. This occurs when a sentence has become so long and so full of commas that the reader can hardly be expected to follow it without some special marking. In this case, we sometimes find semicolons used instead of commas to mark the most important breaks in the sentence: such semicolons are effectively being used to mark places where the reader can pause to catch his breath. Consider the following example:

In Somalia, where the civil war still rages, western aid workers, in spite of frantic efforts, are unable to operate, and the people, starving, terrified and desperate, are flooding into neighbouring Ethiopia.

This sentence is perfectly punctuated, but the number of commas is somewhat alarming. In such a case, the comma marking the major break in the sentence may be replaced by a semicolon:

In Somalia, where the civil war still rages, western aid workers, in spite of frantic efforts, are unable to operate; and the people, starving, terrified and desperate, are flooding into neighbouring Ethiopia.

Such use of the semicolon as a kind of “super-comma” is not very appealing, and you should do your best to avoid it. If you find one of your sentences becoming dangerously long and full of commas, it is usually better to start over and rewrite it, perhaps as two separate sentences:

In Somalia, where the civil war still rages, western aid workers, in spite of frantic efforts, are unable to operate. Meanwhile the people, starving, terrified and desperate, are flooding into neighbouring Ethiopia.

In any case, don’t get into the habit of using a semicolon (or anything else) merely to mark a breathing space. Your reader will be perfectly capable of doing his own breathing, providing your sentence is well punctuated; punctuation is an aid to understanding, not to respiration.

[SOURCE]

The Listing Comma

The listing comma is used as a kind of substitute for the word and, or sometimes for or. It occurs in two slightly different circumstances. First, it is used in a list when three or more words, phrases or even complete sentences are joined by the word and or or; we might call this construction an X, Y and Z list:

The Three Musketeers were Athos, Porthos and Aramis.
Hungarian is spoken in Hungary, in western Rumania, in northern Serbia and in parts of Austria and Slovakia.
You can fly to Bombay via Moscow, via Athens or via Cairo.
Lisa speaks French, Juliet speaks Italian and I speak Spanish.
We spent our evenings chatting in the cafés, watching the sun set over the harbour, stuffing ourselves with the local crabs and getting pleasantly sloshed on retsina.

Note that in all these examples the commas could be replaced by the word and or or, though the result would be rather clumsy:

The Three Musketeers were Athos and Porthos and Aramis.
Hungarian is spoken in Hungary and in western Rumania and in northern Serbia and in parts of Austria and Slovakia.
You can fly to Bombay via Moscow or via Athens or via Cairo.
Lisa speaks French and Juliet speaks Italian and I speak Spanish.
We spent our evenings chatting in the cafés and watching the sun set over the harbour and stuffing ourselves with the local crabs and getting pleasantly sloshed on retsina.

Observe that you can connect three or more complete sentences with listing commas, as in the Lisa/Juliet example above. Note the difference here:

Lisa speaks French, Juliet speaks Italian and I speak Spanish.
*Lisa speaks French, Juliet speaks Italian.

Remember, you must not join two complete sentences with a comma, but three or more complete sentences may be joined with listing commas plus and or or.

Note also that it is not usual in British usage to put a listing comma before the word and or or itself (though American usage regularly puts one there). So, in British usage, it is notusual to write

The Three Musketeers were Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.

This is reasonable, since the listing comma is a substitute for the word and, not an addition to it. However, you should put a comma in this position if doing so would make your meaning clearer:

My favourite opera composers are Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, and Gilbert and Sullivan.

Here the comma before and shows clearly that Gilbert and Sullivan worked together. If you omit the comma, the result might be confusing:

*My favourite opera composers are Verdi, Puccini, Mozart and Gilbert and Sullivan.

Here, the reader might possibly take Mozart and Gilbert as the pair who worked together. The extra comma removes the problem.

A listing comma is also used in a list of modifiers which all modify the same thing. This time there will usually be no and present at all, but again such a comma could be replaced by and without destroying the sense:

This is a provocative, disturbing book.
Her long, dark, glossy hair fascinated me.

Try replacing the commas by and:

This is a provocative and disturbing book.
Her long and dark and glossy hair fascinated me.

The sense is unchanged, though the second example, at least, is much clumsier without the commas.

Observe the difference in the next two examples:

She gave me an antique ivory box.
I prefer Australian red wines to all others.

This time there are no commas. It would be wrong to write

 

*She gave me an antique, ivory box.
*I prefer Australian, red wines to all others.

Why the difference? In these examples, a listing comma cannot be used because there is no list: the word and cannot possibly be inserted:

*She gave me an antique and ivory box.
*I prefer Australian and red wines to all others.

The reason for the difference is that the modifiers this time do not modify the same thing. In the first example, ivory modifies box, but antique modifies ivory box, not just box. In the second example, Australian modifies red wines, not just wines.

So the rules are clear:

• Use a listing comma in a list wherever you could conceivably use the word and (or or) instead. Do not use a listing comma anywhere else.
• Put a listing comma before and or or only if this is necessary to make your meaning clear.
[SOURCE]

The Joining Comma

The joining comma is only slightly different from the listing comma. It is used to join two complete sentences into a single sentence, and it must be followed by a suitable connecting word. The connecting words which can be used in this way are andorbutwhile and yet. Here are some examples:

Norway has applied to join the EC, and Sweden is expected to do the same.
You must hand in your essay by Friday, or you will receive a mark of zero.
Britain has long been isolated in Europe, but now she is beginning to find allies.
Billions of dollars have been hurled into the Star Wars projects, yet we appear to have nothing to show for this colossal expenditure.
A dropped goal counts three points in rugby union, while in rugby league it only counts one point.

Remember, as I pointed out earlier, you cannot join two sentences with a comma unless you also use one of these connecting words. All of the following examples are therefore wrong:

*Bangladesh is one of the world’s poorest countries, its annual income is only $80 per person.
*The British are notoriously bad at learning foreign languages, the Dutch are famously good at it.
*The proposal to introduce rock music to Radio 3 has caused an outcry, angry letters have been pouring into the BBC.
*Borg won his fifth straight Wimbledon title in 1980, the following year he lost in the final to McEnroe.

Joining two complete sentences with a comma in this way is one of the commonest of all punctuation errors, but one of the easiest to avoid if you pay a little attention to what you’re writing. Either you must follow the comma with one of the connecting words listed above, or you must replace the comma with a semicolon.

Note also that most other connecting words cannot be preceded by a joining comma. For example, the connecting words howeverthereforehenceconsequentlynevertheless and thus cannot be used after a joining comma. Hence the following examples are also wrong:

*Saturn was long thought to be the only ringed planet, however, this is now known not to be the case.
*Two members of the expedition were too ill to continue, nevertheless the others decided to press on.
*Liverpool are five points behind the leaders, therefore they must win both their remaining games.

Sentences like these once again require, not a comma, but a semicolon.

The rule is again easy:

• Use a joining comma to join two complete sentences with one of the words andorbutyet or while.
   Do not use a joining comma in any other way.

030 – FInding My Place In The World

Today we are going to look and a few things:

  1. Punctuation: how to use the semi-colon and where to put punctuation when using speech marks
  2. Share experiences of finding your place in the word: What do you need to feel accepted by your community?
  3. Research into Tania Major: Who is she? Where does she come from? How has she found her place in the world?
Semi-colons and punctuating speech marks

Use a semicolon to join related independent clauses in compound sentences. For example:

Jim worked hard to earn his degree; consequently, he was certain to achieve a distinction.

Jane overslept by three hours; she was going to be late for work again.

Punctuating quotations marks

Quotation marks are used to quote another person’s words exactly, whether they be spoken, or written. For example:

John said, “We are going shopping.” – note the capitalization of “We”. You should do this unless you are quoting in a run-on sentence:

John said “we are going shopping” because they had no milk. Note the omission of the comma in this case also.

If you are quoting a person who is quoting another person, use a single quotation mark like this:

John said, “My neighbor yelled at me today! He said ‘get off my lawn!’”

When introducing a quotation after an independent clause, use a colon and not a comma to begin:

As D. H. Nachas explains, “The gestures used for greeting others differ greatly from one culture to another.” (not an independent clause)

D. H. Nachas explains cultural differences in greeting customs: “Touching is not a universal sign of greeting. (this is an independent clause)

Quotation marks can also be used to denote irony or sarcasm, or to note something unusual about it:

The great march of “progress” has left millions impoverished and hungry.

Punctuation that belongs to the original quote should be inside the quote marks. Punctuation relating to the entire sentence should be outside.

Philip asked, “Do you need this book?”

Does Dr. Lim always say to her students, “You must work harder”?

Put commas and periods inside quotations unless followed by parenthesis:

He said, “I may forget your name, but I never remember a face.”

Mullen, criticizing the apparent inaction, writes, “Donahue’s policy was to do nothing” (27).

Shared Experiences of Finding Your Place in the World

With the person next to you, come up with a list of things that you both agree are essential to feeling part of your community.

You have five minutes to complete this task before you have to feed your answers back to the rest of the class.

Tania Major

Who is she? Where does she come from? How has she found her place in the world?

WHICH OR WHAT

WHICH

You have a limited choice of things.

Which lemonade do you like – green or pink?

WHAT

You have an unlimited choice of things.

What lemonade do you like?

** With nouns that refer to people, sometimes which is used – even if there is

an unlimited choice. E.g. Which Andy are you referring to?

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE