Punctuation

Apostrophes

For proper names ending in -s in the singular, add 's for the possessive:

Brackets

Brackets are only used to show an author's changes to quoted material. They are generally used to enclose material that the "quoter" wishes to add to the quotation.

Additionally, they are used for:

  • Clarification of what something refers to (e.g., personal pronouns, abbreviations)

  • Grammar alteration (e.g., enclosing a verb to change tense from past to present)

  • Ellipses added by the author to compress the quoted text appear as brackets; ellipses that exist in the original text being cited are not enclosed in brackets

See also the section on parentheses.

Colons

In this section we will discuss the most common use of colons in SEEJ articles, but for a more in-depth discussion, please see this page. Colons have three primary functions:

Introduce Quotations

Colons can introduce formal quotations, block quotations and quotations with an introductory tag that includes the following, as follows, or equivalent.

Formal Quotations

Block Quotations

Note: For block quotations, you must wrap the text that is quoted in HVG Callout Tags. Specifically, use[HVG#li begin extract] and [HVG#li end extract] Please see the example below for how this works.

Join Independent Clauses

A colon joining two independent clauses signals a connection between them, indicating that the second clause expands on the first. It alerts the reader to read on for an explanation or expansion of the first clause.

Append List

Use a colon before a series or list only if the words that introduce the list make up a complete sentence:

When to Capitalize?

Use a capital letter after a colon when the colon introduces:

  • A rule or principle

  • Several related sentences

When to NOT Capitalize?

Use a lowercase letter when the word that follows the colon is normally lowercased:

Ellipses

Use in Sentences

Please visit this link for information on how to properly include and space ellipses when used in a normal sentence.

Use In Quotations

Ellipsis points are used to omit material from the middle of a quotation:

When quoting poetry, an ellipsis can be used to denote that some lines have been omitted.

Original Ukrainian

English Translation

Мліти й далі у дитячих снах?

[]

Моя любов – то наче й не любов,

Моє кохання – наче й не кохання.

Shall I continue swooning in childish dreams?

[]

It is as if my passion were not passion,

As if my love were not love. (1: 59-60)

Ellipsis points are not used:

Before the first word of a quotation, even if the beginning of the original sentence has been omitted.

After the last word of a quotation, even if the end of the original sentence has been omitted, unless the sentence as quoted is deliberately incomplete

Dashes

There are two primary types of dashes:

Em dashes (—)

To quickly insert an Em-dash on PC, you can use the Alt code Alt+0151.

On Mac, hold down the Shift and Option keys and press the Minus key. Alternatively, press the Hyphen key twice and press Space.

Em dashes are used to set off an amplifying or explanatory element and can function as an alternative to parentheses, commas, or a colon—especially when an abrupt break in thought is called for. Comparison: commas enclose information without emphasis, parentheses with de-emphasis, and em dashes with emphasis. There are no spaces before or after em dashes.

En dashes (–)

To quickly insert an En-dash on PC, you can use the Alt code: Alt+0150

On Mac, hold down the Option key and press the Minus key.

En dashes are used for:

1. Compound terms when one element of the compound is a non-hyphenated two- or three-word element

2. As a substitute for the word through in a range of inclusive numbers or times

3. To report scores or tallies

Hyphens

Hyphens are used in the following contexts:

Join some compounds words

Attach prefixes

Generally any expression not included in your dictionary. When a compound functions as an adjective, it is hyphenated.

Centuries as adjective

When a century is used as an adjective, a hyphen should be placed in between the ordinal number and "century."

Parentheses

Use parentheses within parentheses (usually for citation purposes), not brackets within parentheses.

See also the section on brackets.

Punctuation and Parentheses

The period goes inside when the parenthetical comment is its own complete sentence, but other wise goes outside

Punctuation marks that are part of the parenthetical comment go inside (e.g., exclamation point, question mark)

Since a parenthetical comment cannot end with a comma or a semicolon, these always go outside the closing parenthesis

Quotations Marks

Punctuation and Quotation Marks

Periods and commas go inside the closing quotation mark

Colons and semicolons go outside the closing quotation mark

Exclamation points, question marks, and dashes go inside if the mark belongs to the quoted material but outside the mark if not part of the quotation

Single Quotation Marks

Single quotations marks (' ') are used when quotation marks are used within a quotation:

Semicolons

Semicolons serve two primary functions:

Join independent clauses more closely together than a period would:

Separate syntactical elements more definitely than a comma

We encourage authors unsure of how to properly use semicolons to consult the following pages:

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