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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 ellipsis (/ ə ˈ l ɪ p s ɪ s /, plural ellipses; from Ancient Greek: ἔλλειψις, élleipsis, lit. ' leave out ' [1]), rendered ..., alternatively described as suspension points [2]: 19 /dots, points [2]: 19 /periods of ellipsis, or ellipsis points, [2]: 19 or colloquially, dot-dot-dot, [3] [4] is a punctuation mark consisting of a series of three dots.
A periodic sentence is a sentence with a stylistic device featuring syntactical subordination to a single main idea, which usually is not complete until the very end of the sentence. [1] The periodic sentence emphasizes its main idea by placing it at the end, following all the subordinate clauses and other modifiers that support the principal ...
Arthur said, "The situation is deplorable." (The full sentence is quoted; the period is part of the quotation.) Arthur said that the situation "was the most deplorable he had seen in years." (Although the full sentence is not quoted, the sense of finality conveyed by the period is part of the quotation.)
Punctuation marks are marks indicating how a piece of written text should be read (silently or aloud) and, consequently, understood. [1] The oldest known examples of punctuation marks were found in the Mesha Stele from the 9th century BC, consisting of points between the words and horizontal strokes between sections.
Any one article should use a consistent approach throughout. Most captions are not complete sentences, but merely sentence fragments, which should not end with a period or full stop. If any complete sentence occurs in a caption, then all sentences, and any sentence fragments, in that caption should end with a period or full stop.
For example, the 1998 edition of Fowler's Modern English Usage used full point for the mark used after an abbreviation, but full stop or full point when it was employed at the end of a sentence; [9] the 2015 edition, however, treats them as synonymous (and prefers full stop), [10] and New Hart's Rules does likewise (but prefers full point). [11]
Use a colon (spaced) when one or more decimal points is present (a 3.5 : 1 ratio (markup: a 3.5 : 1 ratio)). Do not use the colon form where units are involved (dissolve using a 3 ml : 1 g ratio)—instead see ratios section of table at § Unit names and symbols, below.