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—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 coordinating conjunctions
6.23Commas with compound predicates
Commas with Dependent Clauses
6.24Commas with introductory dependent clauses
6.25Commas with dependent clauses following the main clause
6.26Commas with intervening dependent clauses (two consecutive conjunctions)
Commas with Relative Clauses, Appositives, and Descriptive Phrases
6.27Commas with relative clauses—“that” versus “which”
6.28Commas with appositives
6.29Commas with descriptive phrases
Commas with Participial and Adverbial Phrases
6.30Commas with participial phrases
6.31Commas with adverbial phrases
6.32Commas with a participial or adverbial phrase plus a conjunction
Commas with Introductory Words and Phrases
6.33Commas with introductory phrases
6.34Commas with an introductory “yes,” “no,” or the like
6.35Commas with an introductory “oh” or “ah”
Commas with Two or More Adjectives Preceding a Noun
6.36Commas with coordinate adjectives
6.37Commas with repeated adjectives
Commas with Dates and Addresses
6.38Commas with dates
6.39Commas with addresses
Commas with Quotations and Questions
6.40Commas with quotations
6.41Commas with quoted or italicized titles and expressions
6.42Commas with questions
Commas in Personal and Corporate Names
6.43Commas with “Jr.,” “Sr.,” and the like
6.44Commas with “Inc.,” “Ltd.,” and the like
Commas with Antithetical Elements
6.45Commas with “not” phrases
6.46Commas with “not . . . but,” “not only . . . but also,” and the like
6.47Commas with “the more,” “the less,” and so on
Other Uses of the Comma
6.48Commas with parenthetical elements
6.49Commas with “however,” “therefore,” “indeed,” and the like
6.50Commas with “such as” and “including”
6.51Commas with “that is,” “namely,” “for example,” and the like
6.52Commas with “too” and “either”
6.53Commas with direct address
6.54Commas to indicate elision
6.55Commas between homonyms
Semicolons
6.56Use of the semicolon
6.57Semicolons with “however,” “therefore,” “indeed,” and the like
6.58Semicolons with “that is,” “for example,” “namely,” and the like
6.59Semicolons before a conjunction
6.60Semicolons in a complex series
Colons
6.61Use of the colon
6.62Space after colon
6.63Lowercase or capital letter after a colon
6.64Colons with “as follows” and other introductory phrases
6.65Colons to introduce quotations or questions
6.66Colons in formal communication
6.67Some common misuses of colons
Question Marks
6.68Use of the question mark
6.69Direct and indirect questions
6.70Question marks in relation to surrounding text and punctuation
Exclamation Points
6.71Use of the exclamation point
6.72Exclamation rather than question
6.73Exclamation point as editorial protest or amusement
6.74Exclamation points in relation to surrounding punctuation
Hyphens and Dashes
6.75Hyphens and dashes compared
Hyphens
6.76Hyphens in compound words
6.77Hyphens as separators
En Dashes
6.78En dash as “to”
6.79En dash with an unfinished number range
6.80En dashes with compound adjectives
6.81En dashes with campus locations
6.82En dashes and line breaks
6.83En dash as em dash
6.84En dash as minus sign
Em Dashes
6.85Em dashes instead of commas, parentheses, or colons
6.86Em dash between noun and pronoun
6.87Em dashes for sudden breaks or interruptions
6.88Em dashes with “that is,” “namely,” “for example,” and similar expressions
6.89Em dashes with other punctuation
6.90Em dashes and line breaks
6.91Em dashes in lieu of quotation marks
6.92Em dashes in lists, indexes, and tables
2-Em and 3-Em Dashes
6.932-em dash
6.943-em dash
Parentheses
6.95Use of parentheses
6.96Parentheses for glosses or translations
6.97Parentheses within parentheses
6.98Parentheses with other punctuation
Brackets and Braces
6.99Use of square brackets
6.100Square brackets in translated text
6.101Square brackets for parentheses within parentheses
6.102Square brackets in phonetics
6.103Square brackets with other punctuation
6.104Angle brackets and braces
Slashes
6.105Other names for the slash
6.106Slashes to signify alternatives
6.107Slashes with two-year spans
6.108Slashes with dates
6.109Slashes in abbreviations
6.110Slashes as fraction bars
6.111Slashes to show line breaks in quoted poetry
6.112Slashes in URLs and other paths
6.113Slashes and line breaks
Quotation Marks
6.114Quotation marks relative to other punctuation and text
6.115“Smart” quotation marks
Apostrophes
6.116Use of the apostrophe
6.117“Smart” apostrophes
6.118Apostrophes relative to other punctuation
Spaces
6.119Use of the space
6.120Spaces with different widths
6.121Nonbreaking spaces
Multiple Punctuation Marks
6.122Likely combinations for multiple punctuation marks
6.123Abbreviation-ending periods with other punctuation
6.124Periods with question marks or exclamation points
6.125Commas with question marks or exclamation points
6.126Question mark with exclamation point
Lists and Outline Style
6.127Lists and outlines—general principles
6.128Run-in versus vertical lists
6.129Run-in lists
6.130Vertical lists—capitalization, punctuation, and format
6.131Vertical lists punctuated as a sentence
6.132Vertical lists with multiple levels (outlines)