Questions tagged [punctuation]
The correct and appropriate usage of punctuation.
15 questions from the last 365 days
2
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How is multi-sentence dialogue in prose punctuated when dialogue tags do not end the sentence?
Dialogue tags conventionally will be punctuated in a way that follows the structure of the dialogue itself:
"This is a sentence," Alice said. "This is another sentence."
But what ...
1
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1
answer
60
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How to use colons for speech marks
I am trying to use colons for dialogue in a creative work. The purpose is to make a distinction between imagined dialogue and actual (fictional!) spoken dialogue, e.g:
An elderly lady opened the door....
- 183
0
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1
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89
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What do you think about the heavy use of colons and semi-colons?
I like using colons and semi-colons to punctuate what I write, as I feel they afford a greater complexity and sophistication of delivery: they allow you to break-up what you want to say into subtle ...
- 101
0
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3
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90
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Should a semicolon be used to attach an adverb like "always" to another sentence fragment?
I'll keep it quick and to the point.
I'm aware semi-colons are used to join two related independent clauses but would it apply in this instance?
"After all this time; always."
For context, ...
2
votes
2
answers
934
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Should punctuation (comma, period, etc.) be placed before or after the inches symbol when listing heights?
Where should the comma and period be placed when writing a series of heights? Should it be
6'2," 6'3," and 6'4."
...or...
6'2", 6'3", and 6'4".
3
votes
2
answers
759
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How to quote ambiguous line-break hyphen?
Say someone wrote this sentence:
I like my co-
workers.
But I'm not sure whether the author meant to write "co-workers" (hard hyphen) or "coworkers" (soft hyphen added only for a ...
- 131
1
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1
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42
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How do I punctuate a long character story in a poem structured with stanzas?
Indenting without quotes won't work because it will be a children's book with stanzas on different pages. It is a character telling a story with very few "he said" included...most of it is ...
- 11
0
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2
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Which expressions do you find the most suitable in this data report?
This is the first time I've used the writing site of Stack Exchange.
I'm writing a data report on the percentages of males and females playing different sports in the UK. The data for males and ...
7
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3
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Which comma(s) can I remove in this sentence? I feel like there are too many here but all seem necessary to me
We can see that the London subway system, which was opened in 1863, has the longest total track length, at 394 kilometers, followed by those in Paris and Tokyo, at 199 and 155 kilometers respectively.
...
- 71
0
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1
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131
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How would you format dialogue that is in the middle of a sentence?
Below I will provide an example sentence in various forms to demonstrate what I mean. I want to see which punctuation is correct or most widely accepted. My assumption is an example will be correct ...
0
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Question about how to punctuate inaccuracy in a quote
In the following sentence, the speaker is quoting the title of a book, but stumbles on a word in the title.
"The Art of Liv -- Living."
The quotation marks and the inclusion of the partial ...
- 3
0
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1
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102
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Question mark for unfinished question?
I am wondering if using a question mark at the end of the following sentence is acceptable:
Is there any— I mean?
Or should an ellipsis be used:
Is there any— I mean...
The words in the sentence ...
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4
votes
1
answer
81
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Location of commas after a series of exclamations?
In keeping with Chicago Manual of Style, where is it appropriate to place commas in a situation like the following sentence?:
The Romans seemed happy with the morning’s entertainment, and to shouts ...
user63482
1
vote
3
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How to "punctualize" this prospective title for a poem I'm writing:
The title: Sick
But I want the 's' to represent:
The capitalization of the title
It actually be written in the lower case, as to represent the Latin word "sic"; the translation meaning to ...
- 11
0
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1
answer
54
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Should hyphens be used at the beginning of a line in compound nouns?
Is there a rule about using two hyphens at the end of the line and at the beginning of the next?
How to hyphen compound word like Bat-Signal?
Is it:
Bat- / -Signal
or
Bat- / Signal
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