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6: Punctuation

Overview
6.1The role of punctuation and the scope of this chapter
Punctuation in Relation to Surrounding Text
6.2Punctuation and italics
6.3Punctuation and boldface or color
6.4Punctuation and font style—aesthetic considerations
6.5Parentheses and brackets in relation to surrounding text
6.6Quotation marks in relation to surrounding text
6.7Punctuation and space—one space or two?
6.8Punctuation with URLs and email addresses
Punctuation in Relation to Closing Quotation Marks
6.9Periods and commas in relation to closing quotation marks
6.10Other punctuation in relation to closing quotation marks
6.11Single quotation marks next to double quotation marks
Periods
6.12Use of the period
6.13Periods in relation to parentheses and brackets
6.14When to omit a period
6.15Periods in ellipses
Commas
6.16Use of the comma
6.17Commas in pairs
6.18Commas relative to parentheses and brackets
Series and the Serial Comma
6.19Serial commas
6.20Commas with “etc.” and “et al.”
6.21Omitting serial commas before ampersands
Commas with Independent Clauses
6.22Commas with independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction
6.23Run-on sentences (comma splices)
6.24Commas with compound predicates
6.25Imperative clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction
Commas with Dependent Clauses
6.26Commas with introductory dependent clauses
6.27Commas with dependent clauses following the main clause
6.28Commas with two consecutive conjunctions
Commas with Relative Clauses, Appositives, and Descriptive Phrases
6.29Commas with relative clauses—“that” versus “which”
6.30Commas with appositives
6.31Spousal and other relationship commas
6.32Commas with descriptive phrases
Commas with Participial and Adverbial Phrases
6.33Commas with participial phrases
6.34Commas with adverbial phrases
6.35Commas with a participial or adverbial phrase plus a conjunction
Commas with Introductory Words and Phrases
6.36Commas with introductory phrases
6.37Commas with an introductory “yes,” “no,” or the like
6.38Commas with an introductory “oh” or “ah”
Commas with Two or More Adjectives Preceding a Noun
6.39Commas with coordinate adjectives
6.40Commas with repeated adjectives
Commas with Dates and Addresses
6.41Commas with dates
6.42Commas with addresses
Commas with Quotations and Questions
6.43Commas with quotations
6.44Commas with quoted or italicized titles and expressions
6.45Commas with questions
Commas in Personal and Corporate Names
6.46Commas with “Jr.,” “Sr.,” and the like
6.47Commas with “Inc.,” “Ltd.,” and the like
Commas with Antithetical Elements
6.48Commas with “not” phrases
6.49Commas with correlative conjunctions
6.50Commas with “the more,” “the less,” and so on
Other Uses of the Comma
6.51Commas with parenthetical elements
6.52Commas with “however,” “therefore,” “indeed,” and the like
6.53Commas with “such as” and “including”
6.54Commas with “that is,” “namely,” “for example,” and the like
6.55Commas for explanatory alternatives
6.56Commas with “too” and “either”
6.57Commas with direct address (vocative commas)
6.58Commas to indicate elision
6.59Commas between homonyms
Semicolons
6.60Use of the semicolon
6.61Semicolons with “however,” “therefore,” “indeed,” and the like
6.62Semicolons with “that is,” “for example,” “namely,” and the like
6.63Semicolons before a conjunction
6.64Semicolons in a complex series
Colons
6.65Use of the colon
6.66Space after colon
6.67Lowercase or capital letter after a colon
6.68Colons with “as follows” and other introductory phrases
6.69Colons to introduce quotations or questions
6.70Colons in formal communication
6.71Some common misuses of colons
Question Marks
6.72Use of the question mark
6.73Direct and indirect questions
6.74Question marks in relation to surrounding text and punctuation
Exclamation Points
6.75Use of the exclamation point
6.76Exclamation rather than question
6.77Exclamation point as editorial protest or amusement
6.78Exclamation points in relation to surrounding punctuation
Hyphens and Dashes
6.79Hyphens and dashes compared
Hyphens
6.80Hyphens in compound words
6.81Hyphens as separators
En Dashes
6.82En dash as specialized hyphen
6.83En dash as “to”
6.84En dash with an unfinished number range
6.85En dash between personal names
6.86En dashes with compound adjectives
6.87En dashes with campus locations
6.88En dashes and line breaks
6.89En dash as em dash
6.90En dash as minus sign
Em Dashes
6.91Em dashes instead of commas, parentheses, or colons
6.92Em dash between noun and pronoun
6.93Em dashes for sudden breaks or interruptions
6.94Em dashes with “that is,” “namely,” “for example,” and similar expressions
6.95Em dashes with other punctuation
6.96Em dashes and line breaks
6.97Em dashes in lieu of quotation marks
6.98Em dashes in lists, indexes, and tables
2-Em and 3-Em Dashes
6.992-em dash for omissions
6.1003-em dash
Parentheses
6.101Use of parentheses
6.102Parentheses for glosses or translations
6.103Parentheses within parentheses
6.104Parentheses with other punctuation
Brackets and Braces
6.105Use of square brackets
6.106Square brackets in translated text
6.107Square brackets for parentheses within parentheses
6.108Parentheses and brackets in mathematics
6.109Square brackets in phonetics
6.110Square brackets with other punctuation
6.111Angle brackets and braces
Slashes
6.112Other names for the slash
6.113Slashes to signify alternatives
6.114Slashes with two-year spans
6.115Slashes with dates
6.116Slashes in abbreviations
6.117Slashes as fraction bars
6.118Slashes to show line breaks in quoted poetry
6.119Slashes for pronunciations
6.120Slashes in URLs and other paths
6.121Slashes and line breaks
Quotation Marks
6.122Quotation marks relative to other punctuation and text
6.123“Smart” quotation marks
Apostrophes
6.124Use of the apostrophe
6.125“Smart” apostrophes
6.126Apostrophes relative to other punctuation
Spaces
6.127Use of the space
6.128Spaces with different widths
6.129Nonbreaking spaces
6.130Spaces in mathematical expressions
Multiple Punctuation Marks
6.131Likely combinations for multiple punctuation marks
6.132Abbreviation-ending periods with other punctuation
6.133Periods with question marks or exclamation points
6.134Commas with question marks or exclamation points
6.135Question mark with exclamation point
6.136Question mark or colon?
6.137Punctuation with emojis
Lists and Outline Style
6.138Lists and outlines—general principles
6.139Run-in versus vertical lists
6.140Run-in lists
6.141Vertical lists—capitalization, punctuation, and format
6.142Vertical lists punctuated as a sentence
6.143Vertical lists with multiple levels (outlines)

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