Q. Is it necessary to use a comma after words like next, then, after that, last, and finally when they are the beginning of a sentence? I am a lower-school teacher and need to clarify this.
A. Punctuation is not so simple that you can make a rule that a comma “always” follows
a given word or phrase. Commas depend on syntax as well as pacing, tone, and personal preference. Two examples with next:
Next comes the scene where he buries the toenails.
Next, since he was still breathing, she worked a crossword puzzle.
Please don’t teach your students punctuation until you understand this. Find a grammar book and read
the punctuation chapter. CMOS is a good place to start.
Q. Is it “Hello Mr. Doe” or “Hello, Mr. Doe”?
A. Commas should be used to set off words in what’s called “direct address”:
Thanks, Joe, I needed that.
That’s quite all right, Sarah. Everybody needs a large deep-dish pizza now and again.
Q. Please tell me if it’s permissible to use a comma rather than a semicolon in the following sentence:
“The idea isn’t to use the test to get people in trouble, it’s
to help them avoid decisions they’ll regret later.” The rules seem to suggest
that a semicolon is preferred but not absolutely required; a semicolon feels to me like it separates the thoughts more than
I’d like.
A. Two independent clauses not joined by a conjunction are best separated by a semicolon or a period. This principle has always
been the fifth major rule put forth in The Elements of Style—starting with Strunk’s original (Ithaca, NY, 1918) and continuing almost unchanged
(“Stevenson’s romances” are exchanged for “Shelley’s
works” in one of the examples, possibly for reasons of political correctness) through the latest (fourth)
edition of Strunk and White (New York, 2000). If your example isn’t an exception to this rule, it probably
should be. It’s a variation on the not . . . but construction:
The idea isn’t [or is not] to use the test to get people in trouble but to help them avoid decisions they’ll regret later.
Because your example echoes that form so closely, separation of the negative and positive clauses by a semicolon or period
does seem a bit stilted. In fact, the difference between the two clauses seems to be made stronger by opposing them to each
other more closely. Sometimes the ear is more important than the rulebook.
Q. How should the sentence “Guess what” be punctuated? I realize that it’s
technically an imperative sentence, which should end with a period (or exclamation point), but in many contexts it’s
used as if it were interrogatory, and thus it’s often punctuated with a question mark rather than a
period. Is this simply incorrect?
A. I think the question mark is incorrect when the imperative is intended, although as you say it is common and accepted. The
reason I would quibble is that using the question mark for the statement or exclamation doesn’t allow
us a way to differentiate the actual question when it is called for, as in the following examples.
“Go ahead and guess,” she challenged. “Guess what?”
I asked.
“Guess which variable’s value is estimated as a function of the independent variables,”
demanded the professor. “Guess what?” I stammered.
Q. Hi, CMOS people. You answered a question for me a few days ago, about using a comma or a colon to introduce dialogue in a book project
we are doing. We took your advice and are using commas. My friend, though, would still like to use a colon to introduce internal
dialogue. (Michael thought: if I go home now, Mother will know I forgot something). Would that be OK, or should we stick to
commas for everything? Thanks!!
A. Why is your friend so stuck on colons? Commas have been doing this work forever; they are quiet and unobtrusive and effective.
Colons have other jobs. They are noisier and distracting. I would save the colons for when you really need them.
Q. This may be impossible to answer, but I feel it’s important, so I’m gonna give
it my best shot. This is how I would punctuate the following:
Can you believe that I said, “When she says, ‘Do you know which fruit Jim likes
best: apples, bananas, or oranges?,’ tell her this: ‘Actually, I once overheard
Jim say, “I only eat pears!” ’.”?!
A. Chicago style would omit the comma after “oranges,” and we would omit the period
near the end, and we allow only one colon per sentence, and we would not allow the final exclamation mark, and I seriously
doubt that any editor here would let a sentence like that into a book—but otherwise, your styling is
perfect. Here’s a simpler version, just for fun:
Can you believe that I said, “When she says, ‘Do you know which fruit Jim likes
best—apples, bananas, or oranges?’ tell her that, actually, I once overheard Jim
say that he only eats pears”?
Q. Realizing that every style guide I have read states that periods always go inside quotation marks, I argue that, if a quote
is only a part of a sentence, the period at the end applies to the entire sentence, and not just to the quoted part; therefore,
it should be placed outside the closing quotation mark. Does this reasoning “hold any water”
at all?
A. Sure—but for style rules, unlike buckets, holding water isn’t always the main
goal. Although the British agree with you and punctuate accordingly, the time-honored convention in American-style punctuation
is to put the period inside the quotation marks.
Q. With the author-date system, I know that punctuation is supposed to follow the reference—for example,
“And his other misfortune” (Brown 2001, 1a). But does this still hold true for
questions? It just plain looks wrong to me. For example:
It appears as if, in the culture of breast cancer, death is a taboo: “Why is there no room in this cult
for some gracious acceptance of death, when the time comes, which it surely will, through cancer or other misfortune”
(Ehrenreich 2001, 1a)?
A. Here, the question mark is part of the quotation. The larger, overall sentence (which is a statement) requires its own ending
punctuation:
It appears that death is a taboo, but “why is there no room . . . for
some gracious acceptance?” (Ehrenreich 2001, 1a).
When the overall sentence is a question, the question mark goes at the end, after the reference:
Is death a taboo, with no room for “gracious acceptance” (Ehrenreich 2001, 1a)?
Q. I know the period or comma goes inside both single and double quotation marks, but is an apostrophe treated the same as a
single quotation mark, or does it stay with its word? For example: “That ain’t
nothin’,” Joe replied.
A. Yes, the apostrophe is part of the word. You’ve styled it correctly.
Q. Are the commas in the following placed correctly? (The sentence cannot be recast.) “She took a workshop
titled, ‘Writer’s Workshop,’ several years ago.”
Thank you.
A. The commas should be taken out. If you set off a phrase with commas, you’re implying that it’s
parenthetical in nature, which means that the sentence doesn’t need it: “She took
a workshop titled several years ago.” Obviously, “Writer’s
Workshop” is needed for the sentence to make sense.
