Ty: typo.

If your teacher marks “Ty” on your paper, identify the typographical error(s) and make the necessary corrections.

END PUNCTUATION

EP: end punctuation.

If your teacher marks “EP,” identify which error you made:

1. Do not forget to write the necessary punctuation mark at the close of a sentence.

The error occurs most in long questions when a writer forgets the original sentence structure:

WRONG: How could I be so cruel to someone who had been my friend for years.

2. Do not confuse indirect questions with direct questions.

INDIRECT: I wondered how he could be so cruel.

DIRECT: How could he be so cruel?

3. Use only one end punctuation mark.

Using more makes your writing look like a comic book: “How did he know?!” Even if you are using quotation marks, use only one end mark:

WRONG: “How true!”, he exclaimed.

RIGHT: “How true!” he exclaimed.

WRONG: Somewhere in America a sixth-grade girl is asking, “Are you serious???”

RIGHT: Somewhere in America a sixth-grade girl is asking, “Are you serious?”

4. Do not overuse exclamation points.

OVERUSED: Suddenly the phone rang! I picked it up and answered! It was a wrong number!

PARENTHESES, BRACKETS and ELLIPSES

Paren: use parentheses to set off an interruption.

Without the parenthesis in the sentence below, readers might think one uncle served dishonorably:

Three of my four uncles served with honor in the war (the other was too young to enlist).

The most common errors with parentheses involve punctuation marks:

Usually a punctuation mark goes outside the close of a parenthesis. No punctuation mark can precede a parenthesis, but a comma can follow one:

Like three of my four uncles (the other was too young), my father served with honor.

Occasionally a parenthesis stands on its own as a sentence; if so, capitalize the first word and place end punctuation inside the parenthesis.

Three of my four uncles served with honor in the war. (The other was too young to enlist.)

A question mark or exclamation point, if it is part of the parenthetical material, can go inside a parenthesis, but another punctuation mark is needed to close the sentence:

Miranda’s frequent exclamations express pity (“O, woe the day!” “O the heavens!” “Alack, for mercy!”) and wonder (“O, wonder!” “O brave new world. . . !”).

Parentheses have several conventional uses: to set off (a) publication dates in bibliography entries, (b) page and line references (see QL: Quoting Literature), and (c) dates of birth and death: Waslaw Nijinsky (1890-1950).

Paren.X: use parentheses sparingly.

Like dashes, they make a page ugly and give the impression of carelessness. If something is worth mentioning, it deserves a sentence of its own.

Brackets

Br: brackets.

If your teacher marks “Br,” identify which rule you violated:

1. Use brackets to indicate additions to a quotation.

Samuel Johnson observed, “he that tries to recommend [Shakespeare] by select quotations will succeed like the pedant . . . who, when he offered his house to sale, carried a brick in his pocket as a specimen” (264).

2. Use brackets to indicate parentheses within parentheses.

The Lord Byron who visited Hawai‘i in 1825 was a cousin (George Anson [1789-1868]) of the famous poet.

BrX: use brackets sparingly.

Brackets make a page ugly. With a little imagination, you can find a better alternative:

UGLY: Emily Dickinson paradoxically claims, “I [she] taste[s] a liquor never brewed.”

BETTER: Emily Dickinson paradoxically claims to “taste a liquor never brewed.”

Ellipses

Ell: use an ellipsis to mark an omission.

A series of spaced periods is called an “ellipsis” (the plural, “ellipses,” rhymes with “Gypsies”). In academic writing, an ellipsis marks an omission from a quotation.

(For more information on ellipses in quotations, see Q.Ell in Part Five.)

Like the shipwrecked Lycidas, his hopes lie “Sunk . . . beneath the watery floor” (167).

Most college style manuals no longer recommend using brackets with ellipses.

UNNECESSARY: Like Lycidas, his hopes lie “Sunk [. . .] beneath the watery floor” (167).

RIGHT: Like Lycidas, his hopes lie “Sunk . . . beneath the watery floor” (167).

Writers of narrative use the ellipsis to mark an unfinished statement:

The last sound on the flight recorder box was the voice of a flight attendant saying, “I wonder if the strange ticking could be . . .”

Ell.T: typography.

One blank space should precede and follow each period in an ellipsis.

WRONG: “I ... I guess so,” he stammered.

WRONG: “I. . .I guess so,” he stammered.

RIGHT: “I . . . I guess so,” he stammered.

Do not divide an ellipsis between lines; all the periods should end one line or begin the next line.

Ell.X: avoid ellipses.

Like dashes, parentheses and slashes, ellipses make a page ugly. Instead of hacking up sentences you quote, consider rephrasing or dividing one quotation into two:

UGLY: Jane compares the night sky to “a blue sea . . . and . . . fathomless depth” (108).

BETTER: Jane compares the night sky to a “blue sea” and a “fathomless depth” (108).

Avoid the ellipsis in narrative writing too; it easily sounds like a cliché:

TRITE: She gasped, “Can it really be . . . ? I would never have dreamed . . .”

CAPITALIZATION and ITALICS

Capitalization

Cap: use capitals for proper nouns and lower case for common nouns.

If your teacher marks “Cap,” write the rule you violated.

Do not confuse Cap with C.App.

COMMON NOUNS: nation, baseball player

PROPER NOUNS: Ghana, Babe Ruth

Cap.F: capitalize the first word of a sentence, even if it is quoted or in dialogue.

Do not capitalize the first word after a colon unless it is the first word of a quoted sentence.

Cap.N: capitalize an honorary title when it is part of an individual’s name:

Use lower case when a title refers to a category of people (doctors, kings, popes):

LOWER CASE: the doctor, many admirals, past presidents

CAPITALIZED: Dr. Mamiya, Admiral Nimitz, President Ford

If only one person holds the title, capitalize it if you are referring to the person and not the office:

LOWER CASE: In the American system, the Electoral College elects the president.

CAPITALIZED: I listened to the President’s speech.

Capitalize a word like “mother” or “uncle” only when it is part of a familiar name:

I have two uncles.

He is Uncle Chet.

I love my mother.

I love you, Mother.

Cap.D: capitalize directions only when you use them as nouns to refer to regions.

LOWER CASE: Ohio is north of Kentucky.

LOWER CASE: We live three miles to the east.

CAPITALS: Fugitive slaves fled to the North.

CAPITALS: We toured the Middle East.

Cap.T: capitalize titles of literary and other works.

In both titles and subtitles, capitalize the first and last word, and all other words except articles (“a,” “an,” “the”), conjunctions and prepositions. Capitalize the words that follow hyphens in compound words.

Self-Consuming Artifacts: The Experience of Seventeenth-Century Literature

Capitalize titles of academic subjects and courses and college majors.

Academic subject: He is taking History.

Course title: I loved Design Science.

College major: Her degree is in Economics.

Subject areas take lower case, but they are usually capitalized when they refer to academic study:

LOWER CASE: They hired an expert in marine biology. Newton was a pioneer in physics.

CAPITALS: He took Mathematics and History. The school requires three years of Science.

Cap.G: capitalize “God” and pronouns referring to God or Jesus.

The rule is traditional in Christian countries; it does not apply to Greek and Roman deities. The tradition is not widely established with other religions.

CAPITALIZED: The devout worshipers prayed to God and asked for His mercy.

CAPITALIZED: Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.

LOWER CASE: Zeus, the ruler of the Olympian gods, hurls his thunderbolt.

Cap.X: do not use capitals for common nouns or to indicate emphasis.

If your teacher marks “Cap.X,” identify which error you made.

Do not use a capital for a phrase like “she said” that follows the dialogue it introduces. In the example below, “he announced” is not a separate sentence.

WRONG: “I’m back!” He announced.

RIGHT: “I’m back!” he announced.

Other common errors include the use of capitals for common nouns, to indicate emphasis, or following semicolons and colons:

WRONG: The referee spoke to both Coaches.

RIGHT: The referee spoke to both coaches.

WRONG: I cried, “OH, NO!”

RIGHT: I cried, “Oh, no!”

WRONG: They left; However, we stayed.

RIGHT: They left; however, we stayed.

Italics

Ital: italics.

Write the rule you violated. For italics and titles, see Titles in Part Four.

Ital.W: italicize words and letters referred to as words and letters.

Use italics or quotation marks for words, letters and numbers when you refer to them as such:

I can never pronounce “twelfths.”

I can never pronounce twelfths.

The final “e” in “make” is silent.

The final e in make is silent.

Be consistent; use italics or quotation marks, but not both:

INCONSISTENT: I sometimes write “incident” when I mean incidence.

Italics have one advantage. They look better than quotation marks with apostrophes, which are used to indicate plurals of words and letters:

UGLY: Dot your “i”’s and cross your “t”’s.

BETTER: Dot your i’s and cross your t’s.

Do not highlight letters when you are not referring to them as letters:

As a letter: Max Weber’s name has one “b,” but Andrew Lloyd Webber’s has two.

Not as a letter: The correct answer was B, but I chose C.

Not as a letter: My grade on the quiz was a B-.

Ital.F: italicize foreign expressions.

Exception: do not use italics if the expression is common enough to appear in a dictionary of English (“adieu,” “adios,” “aloha”).

Katherine tells the English king, “Pardonnez-moi, I cannot tell wat is ‘like me’” (5.2.108-09).

If you include a foreign expression and its English translation, put the English translation in quotation marks, not italics.

Ital.Q: italics in quotations.

You may use italics to highlight words within a quotation, as long as you immediately add a parenthesis saying “emphasis added” to prevent readers from wondering whether the original passage has italics:

Shakespeare describes his claim upon his beloved using legal and financial terms: “The charter of thy worth,” “My bonds in thee,” “my patent” (emphasis added).

Ital.T: typography.

If you write by hand, indicate the italics with underlines. Underlines should be continuous, not broken.

WRONG: The Woman Warrior

RIGHT: The Woman Warrior

Ital.X: misuse of italics.

The Keables Guide makes two recommendations:

1. The use of italics for emphasis is a gimmick; avoid it. If an intelligent reader cannot tell where the emphasis should lie, your sentence needs rephrasing, not the artificial enhancement of typography.

CHEAP: “Is it really true?” she asked in disbelief.

2. Do not use italics for dialogue or for thoughts. Use quotation marks.

NOT RECOMMENDED:

No, Ann, said the teacher. The square root of eight is not sixty-four.

RECOMMENDED:

"No, Ann," said the teacher. "The square root of eight is not sixty-four."

Treat thoughts just like speech; indicate them with quotation marks or as indirect dialogue:

NOT RECOMMENDED (ITALICS):

Ann tried to concentrate, but she could not avoid her classmate’s stare. Oh, no! He’s giving me that goofy smile again!

BETTER (QUOTATION MARKS):

Ann tried to concentrate, but she could not avoid her classmate’s stare. “Oh, no!” she thought. “He’s giving me that goofy smile again!”

BETTER (INDIRECT DIALOGUE):

Embarrassed by his attentions, Ann had a brainstorm. Every time the teacher asked a question, she would give a stupid answer. It would be worth sacrificing her grade if it cured him of his crush.

ABBREVIATIONS, SYMBOLS and NUMBERS

Abbreviations and Symbols

Abb or Abb.X: abbreviations, symbols and slashes.

If your teacher marks, “Abb” or “Abb.X,” identify the rule that applies.

1. Avoid abbreviations, symbols and slashes in formal writing.

In science reports, abbreviations of measurements (like “cc.” and “kg.”) may be used. Use symbols like “$” and “%” only for specific numbers, and only if your topic requires you to refer repeatedly to amounts. In other kinds of writing, avoid them:

WRONG: a %age of the population

RIGHT: a percentage of the population

WRONG: My library fine was $5.

RIGHT: My library fine was five dollars.

WRONG: I weigh 110 lbs.

RIGHT: I weigh 110 pounds.

Use “a.m.” and “p.m.” for time of day (“7:30 a.m.”) but not as substitutes for “morning” and “afternoon.” “BC” follows a date; “AD” precedes a date (“43 BC and AD 17”).

2. Use no periods with names of organizations and common abbreviations.

NO PERIODS

ORGANIZATIONS: ACLU, AOL, BYU, IBM, IRS, NFL

OTHER: BC, CEO, FAQ, PhD, RSVP, USA

3. Do not use apostrophes for the plurals of abbreviations.

WRONG: Many PhD’s are unemployed.

RIGHT: Many PhDs are unemployed.

Numbers

N: numbers.

If your teacher marks “N,” identify the error that you made.

1. Write out numbers that require one or two words.

WORDS: one, ninety-nine, one hundred

FIGURES: 101 but 1,760

The same rules apply for ordinal numbers (those that indicate order):

WORDS: first, nineteenth, ninety-ninth, one hundredth, one thousandth

FIGURES: 101st, 102nd, 103rd, 1,000th, 1,001st

There is no need to add the suffix “-ly” to ordinals, because ordinals like “first” can be either adjectives or adverbs:

WRONG: firstly, secondly

RIGHT: first, second

Occasionally figures are useful to avoid confusion:

AMBIGUOUS: two fifty-dollar tickets

CLEAR: two 50-dollar tickets

2. Use figures for fractions, decimals, times, dates, percentages, statistics, scores, and divisions in books.

22/7 or 3.14

chapter 2

Enrollment of 57

Green Bay won 35-10

Use hyphens for numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine and for all fractions.

3. Do not begin sentences on numerals.

Rephrase the sentence:

AWKWARD: 156 people died in the crash.

BETTER: In the crash 156 people died.

4. Do not use apostrophes with plurals of numbers or dates.

WRONG: size five’s, size 5’s, the 1990’s

RIGHT: size fives, size 5s, the 1990s

An abbreviated form of a decade takes an apostrophe at the beginning, but in formal writing the use of words, not numerals, is preferable. Note the orientation of the apostrophe:

WRONG: born in the 90s RIGHT: born in the ’90s

WRONG: born in the ‘90s BETTER: born in the nineties

5. In a range of numbers or years, only the last two digits repeat.

If the number passes ninety-nine, the third digit changes.

WRONG: 57-8 127-131 299-01 1834-1863

RIGHT: 57-58 127-31 299-301 1834-63

Formatting Fractions and Ordinal Numbers

There are two ways to format fractions and ordinals:

Ordinals without superscript: 1st Ordinals with superscript: 1^st

Fractions: 1/2 Fraction characters: ½

Both Microsoft Word and Google Docs change common fractions into characters automatically when you leave a single space after the denominator. If you want them to appear without the special character, type Delete immediately after it converts.

To set Microsoft Word to change the appearance of fractions:

Tools > AutoCorrect > AutoFormat as You Type > Replace as you type > Ordinals (1st) with superscript and Fractions (1/2) with fraction character (½) > OK.