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Punctuation in the English language helps the reader to understand a sentence through visual means other than just the letters of the alphabet. [1] English punctuation has two complementary aspects: phonological punctuation, linked to how the sentence can be read aloud, particularly to pausing; [2] and grammatical punctuation, linked to the structure of the sentence. [3]
The difference between an Oxford comma and a regular comma is that an Oxford comma refers to the final comma in a series that would come before the last conjunction of a sentence.
As in the second of the two examples below, if a semicolon separates the two sentences and the second sentence starts with an adverb, this adverb is preceded by a semicolon and followed by a comma. In this sentence, furthermore, commas would also be called for. This sentence is a bit different; however, a comma is necessary as well.
The question comma has a comma instead of the dot at the bottom of a question mark, while the exclamation comma has a comma in place of the point at the bottom of an exclamation mark. These were intended for use as question and exclamation marks within a sentence, a function for which normal question and exclamation marks can also be used, but ...
If the quoted sentence is followed by a clause that should be preceded by a comma, omit the full stop (period), and do not replace it with a comma inside the quotation. [p] Other terminal punctuation, such as a question mark or exclamation mark, may be retained. Livingston then said, "It is done", and turned to the people.
[8] [1] The word period was used as a name for what printers often called the "full point", the punctuation mark that was a dot on the baseline and used in several situations. The phrase full stop was only used to refer to the punctuation mark when it was used to terminate a sentence. [ 1 ]
(The full stop (period) is not part of the quotation.) The aesthetic style, which is only really now used in North America, [citation needed] was developed as early typesetters thought it was more aesthetically pleasing to present punctuation that way. In the aesthetic style, the punctuation goes within the quotation marks: For example:
Avoid comma splices. Picture captions should not end in a full stop (a period) unless they are complete sentences. Avoid using a hyphen after a standard -ly adverb (a newly available home). A hyphen is not a dash. Hyphens are used within words or to join words, but not in punctuating the parts of a sentence.