 Section 1 of Stops or How to Punctuate a Practical Handbook for Writers and Students. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Nicholas James Bridgewater. And Stepheather. Stops or How to Punctuate by Paul Allardy, Section 1. Introduction. The Use of Punctuation. Punctuation is a device for making out the arrangement of a writer's ideas. Reading is thereby made easier than it otherwise would be. A writer's ideas are expressed by a number of words arranged in groups. The words in one group being more closely connected with one another than they are with those in the next group. An example will show this grouping in its simplest form. Example 1. He never convinces the reason or fills the imagination or touches the heart. To understand what is written, the reader must group the words together in the way intended by the writer. And in doing this, he can receive assistance in various ways. Partly by the inflection of the words, partly by their arrangement, partly also by punctuation. As to inflection we see in Latin an adjective and a substantive standing together. Yet differing in gender, in number or in case. And we know that the adjective does not qualify the substantive. But English has not the numerous inflections of Latin. More scrupulous care therefore is needed in the arrangement of words in order to bring together in position such as are connected in meaning. Yet this is not always enough. Except in the very simplest sentences, there are generally several arrangements which are grammatically possible. And though all save one may be absurd in meaning, the reader may waver for a moment before the absurdity strikes him. Some artificial aid is thus needed to prevent him from thinking of any arrangement but the right one. There is no fault, for instance, to be found with the arrangement of the following words. Yet, printed without points, they form a mere puzzle. Example 2. He had arrived already prepossessed with a strong feeling of the neglect. Which he had experienced from the wings, his old friends. However, all of them appeared ravished to see him, offered apologies for the mode in which they had treated him and caught at him. As at a twig when they were drowning the influence of his talents, they understood and were willing to see it thrown into the opposite scale. Of course, with a little effort the meaning can be discovered. But if such a little effort had to be put forth in every page of a whole book, reading would become a serious task. By means of points or stops we are spared much of this. The groups are presented ready made to the eye and the mind bent in understanding the thought is not distracted by having first to discover the connection of the words. The reader's task is more difficult where two or more ways of grouping the words not only are grammatically possible but lead each to a more or less intelligible meaning. As a rule he can find out from the context which way the writer meant him to take. One politician writes to another, I ask you as the recognized leader of our party what you think of this measure. And nobody accuses the writer of presumption. We might even pass over the following startling sentence without observing the reflection which it casts on a respectable body of men. Example 3. Hence he considered marriage with a modern political economist as dangerous. But when we read that the state may impose restrictions on the mothers of young children employed in factories, we may well have some doubt whether it is the mothers of the children who are employed in factories. And it would not be easy to give an answer if we were to state the precise meaning of Gray's line. Example 4. And all the air a solemn stillness holds. In longer and more involved sentences the risk of ambiguity is obviously much greater. Now by the judicious use of points ambiguous language can occasionally be made clear. The mothers of young children employed in factories is no doubt a bold form. But it leaves us in no doubt as to the meaning. So the ambiguous word too does not embarrass us when we read this problem too easy as it may seem remains unsolved. See other examples under rules 14 and 15. Only occasionally however can clearness be secured by punctuation. No pointing can help us much in Gray's line. Or could have given to Pyrrhus the true reading of And even where it would make the meaning clear it is a lazy device. The overuse of which is the sure sign of careless or unskillful composition. The true remedy for ambiguity is not punctuation but rewriting. Punctuation it is sometimes said serves to mark the pauses that would be made in speaking. This is so far true. For by the pause we arrange our spoken words into proper groups thereby enabling our hearers readily to seize the meaning. But between the punctuation of the pen and that of the voice there is a great difference in degree. By the voice we can express the most delicate shades of thought while only in the roughest way can the comma the semicolon and the other points imitate its effects. As to how far the attempted imitation should be carried, every writer will have to use his own discretion. But whether we point freely or sparingly we must for the reader's sake point consistently. It should at the same time be borne in mind that the lavish use of points often leads to confusion. General rules. Keeping in view the use of punctuation we can now form two general rules to guide us when we are in doubt which point we should insert or whether we should insert a point at all. Rule 1. The point that will keep the passage most free from ambiguity or make it easiest to read is the right point to use. Rule 2. If the passage be perfectly free from ambiguity and be not less easy to understand without any point, let no point be used. The relativity of points. In order to decide in any given case what point ought to be used, we begin by considering the nature of the pause in itself. But we must do more. We must consider how we have pointed the rest of the passage. The pause that should be marked by a comma in one case may require a semicolon in another case. The colon may take the place that the semicolon would generally fill. This will be best understood by means of the examples that will afterwards be given. See rules 23, 25. Usage. Except within somewhat narrow limits, usage does not help us much. Different writers have different methods and fewer consistent. To some extent there is a fair degree of uniformity. For instance, in the placing of colons before quotations, and in the use of inverted commas. But in many cases there can hardly be said to be any fixed usage, and in these we can freely apply the general rules already laid down. Much might be said for a complete disregard of usage, for a thorough recasting of our system of punctuation. Sooner or later something must be done to relieve the overburdened comma of part of the work which it is expected to perform. Not only is the comma a less effective point than it might be, but the habit of using it for so many purposes is exercising a really mischievous effect on English style. In the meantime, as a step towards a better system, there is an evident advantage in giving to the existing vague usage a more or less precise form. Nothing more than this has been aimed at in the present work. In giving rules of punctuation, we cannot hope to deal with all, or with nearly all, the cases that may arise in writing. Punctuation is intimately connected with style, as forms of thought are infinite in number, so are the modes of expression, and punctuation, adapting itself to these, is an instrument capable of manipulation in a thousand ways. We can therefore set forth only some typical concepts we can therefore set forth only some typical cases, forming a body of examples to which a little reflection will suggest a variety both of applications and of exceptions. It will be noticed that we do not take the points exactly in their order of strength. It seemed better to deal with a full stop before passing to the punctuation of the parts of a sentence. Again, it may be said that, strictly speaking, italics do not form part of the subject, but they are at any rate so intimately connected with it that to have passed them over would have been merely pedantic. Even the sections on references to notes and on the correction of proofs may not be considered altogether out of place, as few grammatical terms as possible have been made use of. Some have been found necessary in order to secure the brevity of statement proper to a little work on a little subject. End of section one. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Zachary Brewster Geis and Laurie Ann Walden. Stops, or How to Punctuate, by Paul Allardies. Section two. Rule one. A full stop is placed at the end of every sentence that is neither exclamatory nor interrogative. Example one. A penal statute is virtually annulled if the penalties which it imposes are regularly remitted as often as they are incurred stop. A penal statute is virtually annulled if the penalties which it imposes are regularly remitted as often as they are incurred stop. The sovereign was undoubtedly competent to remit penalties without limit stop. He was, therefore, competent to annull virtually a penal statute stop. It might seem that there could be no serious objection to his doing formally what he might do virtually stop. How much should be put into a sentence is rather a matter of style than of punctuation. The tendency of modern literature is in favour of the short sentence. In the prose of Milton and of Jeremy Taylor the full stop does not come to release the thought till all the circumstances have been grouped around it and the necessary qualifications made. In Macaulay the circumstances and the qualifications are set out sentence by sentence. So the steps of reasoning in the example which we have given are stated with that distinct pause between each of them which the reader would make if he thought them out for himself. Example two, seeing that a penal statute is virtually annulled if the penalties which it imposes are regularly remitted as often as they are incurred comma and seeing that the sovereign was undoubtedly competent to remit penalties without limit comma it follows that he was competent to annull virtually a penal statute semicolon and it might seem that there could be no serious objection to his doing formally what he might do virtually stop. might do virtually stalk. Both forms are correct in point of punctuation, which is the better form is a question of style. Take another example. Example three. The sides of the mountain were covered with trees, semi-colon. The banks of the brooks were diversified with flowers, semi-colon. Every blast shook spices from the rocks, semi-colon, and every mouth dropped fruits upon the round. Stop. There is here an advantage in putting these four statements together instead of making four separate sentences. We can more easily combine the details and so form a single picture, a picture of fertility. Rule two. As a rule the full stop is not to be inserted till the sentence be grammatically complete, but some parts of the sentence necessary to make it grammatically complete may be left for the reader to supply. Example four. It is well said in every sense that a man's religion is the chief fact with regard to him. Stop. A man's or a nation of men's. Stop. By religion I do not mean here the church creed which he professes, the articles of faith which he will sign and, in words or otherwise, assert. Stop. Not this holy, in many cases, not this at all. Stop. Rule three. When a sentence is purposely left unfinished, the dash takes the place of the full stop. See Rule 40. Example five. Excuse me, said I, but I am a sort of collector. Stop. Not income tax, question mark, cried his majesty, hastily removing his pipe from his lips. Stop. Rule four. A full stop is placed after most abbreviations, after initial letters, and after ordinal numbers in Roman characters. Example six. Genesis 120 denoted GEN stop, small I stop, 20. Two pounds denoted to LBS stop. AD 1883 denoted A stop, D stop, 1883. 3 p.m. denoted 3 p. stop, M stop, etc. denoted ampersand C stop, and ETC stop. MD denoted M stop, D stop. J.S. Mill denoted J stop, S stop, Mill. William III, King of England, denoted William, capital I, I, I, stop, comma, King of England. MS denoted MS stop, LLD denoted LL stop, D stop. Parentheses, not M stop, S stop, and L stop, L stop, D stop. Close parentheses. Note that the use of the full stop in these cases does not prevent another point from being used immediately after it. But if they occur at the end of a sentence, another full stop is not added. Or, more correctly, it may be said that rule four does not apply at the end of a sentence. Mr., messieurs, doctor, abbreviations which retain the last letter of the whole word, are written without a point. End of section two. Section three of stops, or how to punctuate, a practical handbook for writers and students. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Miranda Stinson. And Sarah Jennings. Stops, or how to punctuate, by Paul Allardies. The comma. Rule five. The comma indicates a short pause in a sentence. It is used when we wish to separate words that stand together, and at the same time to stop as little as possible the flow of the sentence. Example one. When the Earl reached his own province, comma, he found that preparations had been made to repel him. Example two. Though it is difficult, comma, or almost impossible, comma, to reclaim a savage, comma, bred from his youth to war and the chase, comma, to the restraints and duties of civilized life, comma. Nothing is more easy or common than to find men who have been educated in all the habits and comforts of improved society, comma, willing to exchange them for the wild labours of the hunter and the fisher. Rule six. Where there is no danger of obscurity, the subject must not be separated from the predicate by any point. Example one. The eminence of your station gave you a commanding prospect of your duty. Rule eight. When the subject is long, a comma may be placed after it. Example one. To say that he endured without a murmur the misfortune that now came upon him, comma, is to say only what his previous life would have led us to expect. In every sentence the subject, whether expressed in one word or in several words, must be grasped as a whole, and, when the subject is long, one is often assisted in doing this by having a point to mark its termination. The eye at once observes the separating line. Note the corresponding pause in the reading of such sentences. Rule eight. When the subject consists of several parts, for example of several nouns, a comma is placed after the last part. Example one. A few daring jests, comma, a brawl, comma, and a fatal stab, comma, make up the life of Marlowe. Example two. Time, comma, money, comma, and friends, comma, were needed to carry on the work. This rule will appear reasonable if we consider an apparent exception to it. When the last noun sums up all the others, or marks the highest point of a climax, no comma is placed after it. Example three. Freedom, comma, honor, comma, religion was at stake. If religion be regarded as marking the highest point of a climax, the predicate is read with religion and with it alone. When so great a thing as religion is said to be at stake, everything else is dropped out of sight, or is held to be included. But write the three names as if they were of equal importance. The comma should then be inserted. Example four. Freedom, comma, honor, comma, and religion, comma, were at stake. But it is not necessary to use a point in such a sentence as this. Time and tide wait for no man. For we see without the aid of a point that the predicate is to be read with the two nouns equally. The principle might be applied also in cases like the following, though few writers carry it so far. Example five. It was the act of a high-spirited, comma, generous, comma, just nation. Example six. It was the act of a high-spirited, comma, generous, comma, and just, comma, nation. Rule nine. Dependent clauses are generally separated from the rest of the sentence in which they occur. The usual point is the comma. Example one. Be his motives what they may, comma. He must soon disperse his followers. Example two. This relation of your own army to the crown will, comma, if I am not greatly mistaken, comma, become a serious dilemma in your politics. Of course, this rule must be qualified by the rules for the stronger points, especially by those for the semicolon and the colon. It is often necessary to separate the clause from the rest of the sentence by a strong point. Exceptions. Part one. No point is needed if either the dependent clause or the principal clause be short. Example three. He would be shocked if he were to know the truth. But if the dependent clause be inserted parenthetically, it is marked off by commas or the other marks of parenthesis, however short it may be. See rule ten. If the sentence last quoted were inverted, a comma would be placed after the dependent clause. Example four. If he were to know the truth, comma, he would be shocked. In the first form of this example, he would be shocked is a definite finished statement, the necessary qualification to which should follow with as little pause as possible. But in the inverted form, the first part of the sentence, if he were to know the truth, is not a finished statement, and the mind may pause for a moment before going on to the consequence knowing that the consequence must follow. Part two. No point is needed if there be a very close grammatical connection between the dependent clause and some word or words preceding it. Example five. They had so long brooded over their own distresses that they knew nothing of how the world was changing around them. Note that by the word so, the clause that they knew nothing, is joined very closely to the previous part of the sentence, and that the two clauses that they knew nothing and how the world was changing around them, are even more closely joined to one another by the preposition of. For the same reason, where the object is a clause, there is no point before it. Example six. He confessed to us that he had not thought over the matter. A useful distinction will afterwards be drawn between the different kinds of relative clauses. See Rule 14. Rule 10. Words thrown in so as to interrupt slightly the flow of a sentence are marked off by commas. Example one. He resolved comma therefore comma to visit the prisoner early in the morning. Example two. This comma I think comma is the right view of the case. Example three. The first ideas of beauty formed by the mind are comma in all probability comma derived from colors. The following are some of the words and phrases that come under this rule. Therefore, to, indeed, however, moreover, then, accordingly, consequently. In short, in fine, in truth, in fact, to a certain extent, all things considered. This rule of high pointing should be applied very sparingly and might really be restricted to cases like the I think of the second example. Nowadays the tendency is against the pointing of such words as therefore and indeed. Where the words thrown in make a very distinct break in the sentence, they should be pointed off by means of the dash or of brackets. Rule 11. Where two parts of a sentence have some words in common which are not expressed for each of them, but are given only when the words in which they differ have been separately stated, the second part is marked off by commas. Example one. His classification is different from comma and more comprehensive than comma any other which we have met. Example two. This foundation is a nursing mother of lay comma as distinguished from religious comma oratorios. These examples come within the principle of rule 10. Rule 12. When words are common to two or more parts of a sentence and are expressed only in one part, a comma is often used to show that they are omitted in the other parts. Example one. London is the capital of England. Semicolon. Paris comma of France. Semicolon. Berlin comma of Germany. Example two. In the worst volume of elder date comma, the historian may find something to assist or direct his inquiries. Semicolon. The antiquarian comma something to elucidate what requires illustration. Semicolon. The philologist comma something to insert in the margin of his dictionary. Though many writers constantly punctuate contracted sentences in this way, it is not well to insert the comma when the meaning is equally clear without it. It is unnecessary in the following sentence. Example three. Saul hath slain his thousands comma and David his ten thousands. Rule 13. Words placed out of their natural position in the sentence are often followed by a comma. Part one. The object is usually placed after the verb. When placed at the beginning of the sentence, it should be separated from the subject by a comma, unless the meaning would otherwise be perfectly clear and readily seized. Example one. The proportions of belief and of unbelief in the human mind in such cases, comma, no human judgment can determine. There is the same reason for inserting the comma in such cases as there is for inserting it after a long subject. Moreover, there is often need of some device to remove the ambiguities that are caused by inversion. In English, the meaning of words is so greatly determined by their position that, in altering the usual arrangement of a sentence, there is risk of being misunderstood. The danger of inserting the point in this case is that the object may be read with the words going before and not with its own verb. If there is a possibility of this, the point should not be used. Of course, no point should be placed after the object in such a sentence as the following. One I love and the other I hate. Part two. An adverbial phrase, that is a phrase used as an adverb, is usually placed after the verb. When it begins the sentence, a comma follows unless it is very short. Example two. From the ridge a little way to the east, comma, one can easily trace the windings of the river. Example three. In order to gain his point, comma, he did not hesitate to use deception. Example four. In ordinary circumstances, I should have acted differently. No point would be used in the above sentences if the adverbial phrases occurred in their usual position. Example five. He did not hesitate to use deception in order to gain his point. Nor is any point used when, as often happens in such sentences, the verb precedes the subject. Example six. Not very far from the foot of the mountain lies the village we hope to reach. Part three. An adjective phrase, that is a phrase used as an adjective, is usually placed immediately after the word which it qualifies. When it appears in any other place, a comma is often usefully placed before it. Example seven. A question was next put to the assembly, comma, of supreme importance at such a moment. The phrase, of supreme importance at such a moment, is to be taken along with question. The comma shows that it is not to be taken along with, assembly. There is here a further reason for the point, in as much as the phrase acquires from its position, almost the importance of an independent statement. But, where the connection between the adjective phrase and the substantive is very close, and where there is no risk of ambiguity, no point is to be used. The morning was come of a mighty day. Such a sentence needs no point. Observe also that coordinate adjective phrases take a comma before them, wherever they are placed. See next rule. Rule 14. Adjective clauses and contracted adjective clauses are marked off by commas, if they are used parenthetically or co-ordinately. No point is used if they are used restrictively. See note one. Example one. The religio leici, comma, which borrows its title from the religio merici of brown, comma, is almost the only work of Dryden which can be considered as a voluntary effusion. Example two. That sentiment of homely benevolence was worth all the splendid sayings that are recorded of kings. Example three. The advocates for this revolution, comma, not satisfied with exaggerating the vices of their ancient government, comma, strike at the fame of their country itself. Example four. The ships bound on these voyages were not advertised. Example five. Chapter seven, comma, where we stopped reading, comma, is full of interest. Example six. The chapter where we stopped reading is full of interest. We must explain this distinction at some length, for on the one hand it is hardly ever observed, and on the other hand almost every sentence that we write furnishes an example of it. Examine the first sentence which we have quoted. It contains both a co-ordinate clause, which borrows its title, etc., and a restrictive clause, which can be considered as a voluntary effusion. In distinguishing them we may begin by applying tests of almost a mechanical nature. Part one. The first clause may be thrown into the form of an independent statement. The second cannot. Thus the religio-laici borrows its title from the religio-medici of brown. It is almost the only work, etc. Or the religio-laici, it borrows its title from the religio-medici of brown, is almost the only work, etc. We cannot in the same way destroy the close connection of the second clause with the only work of Dryden. Part two. The first clause may be omitted and still leave a complete and intelligent sentence. If we were to omit the second clause the sentence would cease to have any meaning. These tests may be practically useful, but they are rough and by no means infallible. Let us see the reason for the distinction. The name religio-laici of itself tells us what the thing is spoken about. It is the name of one thing and only of one thing. The clause that follows informs us, indeed, of a fact concerning the poem. But the information is given purely as information, not in order to keep us from confounding this religio-laici with some other religio-laici that did not borrow its title. Work of Dryden, however, is the name of a class, for Dryden wrote many works. Now the whole class is not here in question. It must be limited, narrowed, or restricted to one part of it, namely Dryden's voluntary effusions. And it is thus limited, narrowed, or restricted by the relative clause, which can be considered as a voluntary effusion. Take another example, where the name in both cases is that of a class, and note the difference of meaning which results from different pointing. The houses in London which are badly built, comma, ought to be pulled down. The houses in London expresses a class of objects. The relative clause limits the name to a smaller class, the badly built houses, and the meaning is that houses of this smaller class ought to be pulled down. Now insert the comma. The houses in London, comma, which are badly built, comma, ought to be pulled down. The class is not narrowed, and the meaning is that all houses in London, seeing they are badly built, ought to be pulled down. The difference between the two kinds of relative clauses being understood, there will be no difficulty in implying the rule where an adjective clause is contracted. Compare the fourth example given under the rule with the following sentence. People not satisfied with their present condition, comma, should strive to alter it. In this sentence, not satisfied limits the general name, people. The advice is given only to one section of the people, the dissatisfied as distinguished from the satisfied people. So a single adjective may be used co-ordinately. Example seven. What? replied the emperor, comma. You do not see it? It is my star, comma, brilliant. This is a case where a dash would be more expressive. Note that the rule applies only where the adjunct immediately follows the substantive. If the adjunct is placed elsewhere, different considerations apply. See rule 13. Example eight. Now there can any man marvel at the play of puppets, comma, that goeth behind the curtain and adviseeth well of the motion. Footnote one. To distinguish the different kinds of adjective clauses, different names have been used, co-ordinating, and restrictive, bane, continuative, and definitive, or restrictive. Mason. Rule 15. Words in opposition are generally marked off by commas. Example one. James Watt, comma, the great improver of the steam engine, comma, died on the 25th of August, comma, 1819. But where the words in opposition are used in limiting or distinguishing sense, the principle of rule 14 applies, and no point is used. Thus we should write Burns, comma, the poet, Dickens, comma, the novelist. But if we wish to distinguish them from another Burns and another Dickens, we should omit the comma. Example two. It is of Pliny the naturalist, comma, not of Pliny the letter writer, comma, that we are now speaking. Again, where the general name precedes, we should in most cases use no point, for the special name will be restrictive. The poet Burns, the novelist Dickens. There is perhaps not much authority for the consistent carrying out of this distinction, but it seems useful and logical. Some cases such as Paul the Apostle, William the Conqueror, Thomas the Rimer, Peter the Hermit present no difficulty. The name and the descriptive title are blended together, and form as distinctly one name, as does Roderick Random. Rule 16. A conjunction marks a transition to something new, enforcing, qualifying, or explaining what has gone before, and is therefore generally preceded by some point. The proper point before a conjunction is determined by many circumstances, among others by the more or less close connection of the things joined, by the number of words, and by the use of points for other purposes in the same sentence. To deal with the different conjunctions one by one would involve a repetition of much that is said in other rules, for instance, if, unless, though, for, because, since, and the like, will be pointed in accordance with Rule 14. It will be well, however, to lay down separate rules for the pointing of the common conjunctions, and, and or, and, part one, sub-part one, where and joins two single words, as a rule no point is used. Example one. No work has been so much studied and discussed. Compare this with the following sentence where groups of words are joined. Example two. The work has been much studied, comma, and has been much discussed. In the following sentence the insertion of a comma would change the meaning. Example three. On this shelf you will put books and pamphlets published in the present year. As the sentence stands, published in the present year, applies both to books and to pamphlets, books published in the present year, and pamphlets published in the present year. If there were a comma before and, the meaning would be, on this shelf you will put books of any date and pamphlets of the present year. Sub-part two. When and joins the separate words of a series of three or more words, a comma is placed before it. Example four. Trees, comma, and bridges, comma, and houses, comma, were swept down by the flooded stream. Sub-part three. But where the different words are intended to be combined quickly, so as to present to the mind only one picture, they would be spoken without any pause, and in writing must not be separated by any point. Example five. Whirling and boiling and roaring like thunder, comma, the stream came down upon them. Sub-part four. Two of the words of the series may be more closely connected with one another than with the other words of the series, and are therefore not to be separated by any point. In the following sentence, all qualifies both tracts and pamphlets, and thus joins them closely. Example six. My unbound books, comma, and all my tracts and pamphlets, comma, are to be tied up with pink tape. Sub-part five. When and occurs only between the two last words of the series, the comma is usually inserted before it. Example seven. Trumpets, comma, drums, comma, and kettle drums, comma, contended in noise with the shouts of a numerous rabble. Many writers omit this comma, but it seems useful in order to make the previous rule. Sub-part four. Effective. Sub-part two. When and joins two phrases, a comma generally precedes it. Example eight. The ceremony was performed in the accustomed manner, comma, and with due solemnity. If, as in the following sentence, a preposition is common to two phrases and is not repeated in the second, no comma is used. Example nine. With proper care and good instruments, comma, the work may be successfully carried out. Part three. When and joins two clauses, the preceding point may be the comma, the semicolon, or even the full stop. Which point is right in any particular case will depend on considerations set out in other rules. The following example illustrates different cases. Example ten. Within that charmed rock, comma, so Torridge Boatman tell, comma, sleeps now the old Norse viking in his leaden coffin, comma, with all his fairy treasure in his crown of gold. And, comma, as the boy looks at the spot, comma, he fancies, comma, and almost hopes, comma, that the day may come when he shall have to do his duty against the invader as boldly as the men of Devon did then. And past him, comma, far below, comma, upon the soft southeastern breeze, comma, the stately ships go sliding out to sea. Or. The rules for the conjunction and apply with little change to the conjunction or, but there are one or two special points to note. Part one. When or is preceded at no great distance by either or whether, the two words should be separated by no point. Example eleven. They must either yield this point or resign. Example twelve. It does not matter whether we go or stay. But a point is inserted if the words stand farther apart, or if each is followed by a complete clause. Example thirteen. Either this road leads to the town, comma, or we have misunderstood the directions. Part two. Or joining two alternatives takes no point before it, but when it joins two words that are used not as real alternatives, but as synonyms, a comma is inserted. Example fourteen. England or France might be asked to join the alliance. Here or is used as a real alternative conjecture and therefore without any point. In the following example, the or joins equivalent expressions. Example fifteen. England, comma, or the nation of shopkeepers, comma, would never be asked to join such an alliance. Example sixteen. We perceive, comma, or our conscious of, comma, nothing but changes, comma, or events. As a reason for the insertion of the comma in these two examples, it may be said that the repetition of an idea already expressed does for a moment stop the flow of the sentence. A real alternative, on the other hand, forms an essential part of it and is within its current. Rule seventeen. In cases where no point would be used before a conjunction, a comma is inserted if the conjunction be omitted. Example one. I pay this tribute to the memory of that noble, comma, reverend, comma, learned, comma, excellent person. In the following examples no point occurs, for it cannot be said that a conjunction is omitted. To insert the conjunction would be to express a slightly different shade of meaning. Example two. A grand old man. Example three. Three tall young soldiers. Old man is virtually a single word and in fact many languages use only a single word to express the idea. Rule eighteen. Where a comma would be used if the conjunction were expressed, some stronger point may be used if it be omitted. Example one. Let us get an American revenue as we have got an American empire. English privileges have made it all that it is. Semicolon. English privileges alone will make it all that it can be. Rule nineteen. A comma is placed after a noun or a pronoun in the vocative case if a mark of exclamation be not used or be reserved till the first distinct pause in the sentence. Example one. Yet I own comma, my lord, comma, that yours is not an uncommon character. Example two. I am comma, sir, comma, yours truly, comma, John Smith. Example three. O Italy, comma, gather thy blood into thy heart, mark of exclamation. Example four. O thou, comma, who in the heavens dust dwell, mark of exclamation. Whether a comma or a mark of exclamation ought to be used after the vocative case depends entirely on the degree of emphasis with which the words would be spoken. If, in speaking, a slight pause would be made, the comma, not the mark of exclamation, is the proper point. Rule twenty. If a word be repeated in order to give it intensive force, a comma follows it each time that it occurs. But in the case of an adjective repeated before a noun, not after the last expression of it. Example one. It was work, comma, work, comma, work, comma, from morning till night. Example two. He travelled a long, comma, long way. Dean Alfred in The Queen's English says that this mode of pointing such expressions as the wide, wide world, the deep, deep sea, makes them absolute nonsense. The suggestion of a pause seems to us to bring out more effectively the intensive force of the repetition. And we doubt whether Dean Alfred himself would have omitted the comma in our first example. End of section three. Section four of Stops or How to Punctuate, a practical handbook for writers and students. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Zachary Boostergeis and Shirtical. Stops or How to Punctuate by Paul Allardies. The Semicolon. Rule 21. The semicolon is the point usually employed to separate parts of a sentence between which there is a very distinct break, but which are too intimately connected to be made to separate sentences. Example one. The patient dates his pleasure from the day when he feels that his cure has begun, semicolon, and perhaps the day of his perfect reestablishment does not yield him pleasure so great. Example two. The author himself is the best judge of his own performance, semicolon. No one has so deeply meditated on the subject, semicolon. No one is so sincerely interested in the event. Example three. Not one word is said nor one suggestion made of a general right to choose our own governors, semicolon, to casture them from misconduct, semicolon, and to form a government for ourselves. The semicolon is used in enumerations, as in the last example, in order to keep the parts more distinctly separate. Rule 22. When a sentence consists of two or more independent clauses not joined by conjunctions, the clauses are separated by semicolons. Example four. To command a crime is to commit one, semicolon. He who commands an assassination is by everyone regarded as an assassin. Example five. His knowledge was too multifarious to be always exact, semicolon. His pursuits were too eager to be always cautious. If the conjunction and were inserted in the last sentence, the comma would be used instead of the semicolon. A conjunction forms a bridge over the gap between two statements, and, where they are neither long nor complicated, we pass from one to the other without noticing any distinct break. But there is such a break when the conjunction is omitted, and therefore we use a stronger point. The two parts of an antithesis are generally separated in this way. Rule 23. A pause generally indicated by a comma may be indicated by a semicolon when commas are used in the sentence for other purposes. See introduction, relativity of points. Example six. I got several things of less value, but not all less useful to me, which I omitted studying down before, as in particular pens, ink, and paper, semicolon. Several parcels in the captain's mates, gunners, and carpenters keeping, semicolon. Three or four compasses, some mathematical instruments, dials, perspectives, charts, and books of navigation. Example seven. In this, I was certainly in the wrong, too. The honest, grateful creature, having no thought but were consisted of the best principles, both as a religious Christian and as a grateful friend, semicolon, as appeared afterward to my full-size faction. In the first sentence, the semicolon enables us to group the objects enumerated. Had commas being used throughout, the reader would have been left to find out the arrangement for himself. End of section four. The semicolon. Section five of stops, or how to punctuate, a practical handbook for writers and students. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This recording by Sarah Jennings. End Zachary Brewster Geis. Stops, or how to punctuate, by Paul Allardies. Section five, the colon. Rule 24. The colon is used to indicate pauses more abrupt than those indicated by the semicolon. Example one. God has willed it, colon, submit in thankfulness. Example two. The wind raged and the rain beat against the window, colon, it was a miserable day. Example three. Nevertheless, you will say that there must be a difference between true poetry and true speech, not poetical, colon. What is the difference? The first example contains two clauses that are connected in such a way as to justify us putting them into one sentence. That it is God's will is a reason for submitting. The proper point, therefore, should be something less than the full stop. But there is a striking difference between the clauses, for we pass from an affirmation to a command. Therefore something more than the semicolon is needed. Had the clauses been similar in construction, the pause would have been sufficiently indicated by the semicolon. God has willed it, semicolon, man has resisted. In the second example there is not the same change of grammatical construction, but the change in thought is equally great. We pass from a statement of details to a statement of the general result. The colon is frequently used in sentences of this kind, where the phrase, in short, is implied but not expressed. Many writers indicate such abrupt changes by means of the dash. Real twenty-five. A pause generally indicated by a semicolon may be indicated by a colon, when the semicolon is used in the sentence for pauses of a different nature. Example four. The essay plainly appears the fabric of a poet, colon. What Bolingbroke supplied could be only the first principles, semicolon. The order, illustration, and embellishments must all be popes. Example five. Not that we are to think that Homer wanted judgment, because Virgil had it in a more eminent degree, semicolon. Or that Virgil wanted invention, because Homer possessed a larger share of it, colon. Each of these great authors had more of both than, perhaps, any man besides, and are only said to have less in comparison with one another. Example six. Homer hurries and transports us with a commanding in petruosity, semicolon. Virgil leads us with an attractive majesty, colon. Homer scatters with a generous perfusion, semicolon. Virgil bestows with a careful magnificence. Compare these examples with those given to show how the semicolon replaces the comma, rule twenty-three. Note also how the last sentence is divided in the middle into two parts, and that each of these two parts is itself divided into two parts. By rule twenty-two, the second division is indicated by the semicolon, and we bring out the grouping of the sentence by using a colon for the first division. Rule twenty-six. The colon is used before enumerations, especially where namely, or vis, is implied but is not expressed. And when so used it is sometimes followed by the dash. Example seven. Three nations adopted this law, colon, England, France, and Germany. Example eight. One thing thou lackest, colon, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor. Example nine. Dr. Johnson's chief works are the following, colon, dash. Rasselas, the dictionary, the lives of the poets, and the vanity of human wishes. When, as in the last example, a list of things is given in a formal way, the dash is generally added. The combination of the two points is partly an attempt to find a point stronger than the colon, and not so strong as the full stop. Partly, perhaps, an imitation of a finger post. Rule twenty-seven. The colon is generally placed before a quotation, when notice of the quotation is given by some introductory words. In this case, also the dash is sometimes used. Example ten. In this passage, exception may fairly be taken to one short sentence, that in which he says, colon, the law ought to forbid it, because conscience does not permit it. Example eleven. On the last morning of his life, he wrote these words, colon, dash. I have named none to their disadvantage, I thank God he hath supported me wonderfully. The colon and the dash are used together where the quotation is introduced by formal words such as the following. He spoke these words. He spoke as follows. He made this speech. But in the first sentence quoted above, the introductory words are grammatically incomplete without the quotation, which forms the object of the verb says. The colon accordingly is the strongest point that can be used. Sometimes the connection between the introductory words and the quotation may be so close, or the quotation itself may be so short, as to make the comma sufficient. Example twelve. He kept repeating to us, comma, the world has sadly changed. Short phrases quoted in the course of a sentence need not have any point before them. Example thirteen. It was a usual saying of his own, comma, that he had no genius for friendship. World twenty-eight. The colon may be placed after such words and phrases as the following, when used in marking a new stage in an argument. Again, further, to proceed, to sum up, to resume. Example fourteen. To sum up, colon, if you will conform to the conditions I have mentioned, I will sign the agreement. Example fifteen. But to bring this sermon to its proper conclusion, colon, if Australia or justice never finally took her leave of the world till that day, that, etc. After these words, we have a choice of the comma, the colon, and the full stop. The comma will generally be used if the argument be contained in a single sentence, the full stop if the argument be of very considerable length. And a section five. Chapter six of Stops or How to Punctuate, a Practical Handbook for Writers and Students by Paul Allerges. This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to see how you can volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Read by Schertigl and Kara Schallenberg. Section six. The Point of Interrogation. Rule twenty-nine. The Point of Interrogation is placed after a direct question. Example one. Where are you going, my pretty maid? Point of Interrogation. Example two. Whether of them Twain did the will of his father. Point of Interrogation. The question may end in the middle of a sentence. Example. Is he happy? Point of Interrogation. You ask. You have sometimes the choice of putting the point of interrogation in the middle or at the end of the sentence. Example one. You would not consent to that by whom so ever proposed. Example two. You would not consent to that point of interrogation by whom so ever proposed. There's a slight shade of difference in meaning in the second form by whom so ever proposed is added as an afterthought. Rule thirty. Indirect questions are not strictly questions at all and therefore should not be followed by point of interrogation. Example. He asked me whether I had seen his friend, whether I had spoken to him, and how I liked him. If we restore these questions in the direct form, the point of interrogation is inserted. Example. He asked me, have you seen my friend? Point of Interrogation. Have you spoken to him? Point of Interrogation. How do you like him? Point of Interrogation. Rule thirty one. When a sentence contains more than one question, sometimes the point of interrogation is placed after each of them, sometimes it is placed only at the end of the sentence. It is placed after each if each is in reality a distinct question. It is placed only at the end if a separate question so unite as to need but a single answer. In many cases it will be a matter of individual taste to say what they do so unite. Example one. Is it better that estates should be held by those who have no duty than by those who have one? Point of Interrogation. By those whose character and destination point to virtues than by those who have no rule and direction in the expenditure of their estates but their own will and appetite? Point of Interrogation. Example two. Do you imagine that it is the Land Tax Act, which raises your revenue, that it is the annual vote in the Committee of Supply which gives you your army, or that it is the Mutiny Bill which inspires it with bravery and discipline? Point of Interrogation. No, surely no. Example three. Oh, why should Hyman ever blight the Rose's Cupid War? Point of Interrogation. Point of Interrogation. Or why should it be ever night where it was day before? Point of Interrogation. Or why should women have a tongue? Or why should it be cursed in being like my second long and louder than my first? Point of Interrogation. Will 32. Exclamation in an interrogative form. Take a mark of exclamation after them, not a point of interrogation. See Will 35. Will 33. A point of interrogation enclosed within brackets is sometimes used to indicate that there is doubt whether the statement preceding it is true or whether the expression preceding it is well applied, whether some statement or expression is made or used ironically. Example. While you are reveling in the delights, bracket, point of interrogation, bracket, of the London season, I am leading a hermit life with no companions save my books. End of Chapter 6. Examples read by Kara Schellenberg, www.kray.org, on April 20, 2007, in Oceanside, California. Body recorded by Scherzegal, on May 7, 2007. Section 7 of Stops, or How to Punctuate, a practical handbook for writers and students. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Clarica. And Step Heather. Stops, or How to Punctuate, by Paul Allardice. Section 7. The Mark of Exclamation. Rule 34. The Mark of Exclamation is placed after interjections and words used interjectionally, that is to say, after expressions of an exclamatory nature. The exclamations may be one of surprise or of fear, or the utterance of a wish, a command, or a prayer. Example 1. Quick, Mark of Exclamation. Be gone, Mark of Exclamation. Out of my sight, Mark of Exclamation. Example 2. Heaven preserve us, Mark of Exclamation. Example 3. Would that better feelings moved them? Mark of Exclamation. Example 4. O Lord, be merciful unto me, a sinner, Mark of Exclamation. Interjections are not always followed immediately, and are sometimes not allowed at all, by a Mark of Exclamation. No rule can be given more precise than this. One, that we should not insert a Mark of Exclamation immediately after an interjection, unless we should make a distinct pause after it in speaking, and, two, that no Mark of Exclamation is to be used at all, unless the exclamatory nature of the sentence is more or less strongly marked. It is useful to notice the difference between O and O. The former is used only before the vocative case, and never has a Mark of Exclamation, or indeed any point placed immediately after it. Example 5. Alas! Mark of Exclamation. All our hopes are blasted. Lo, he cometh, Mark of Exclamation. O dido, dido, most unhappy dido, Mark of Exclamation. Unhappy wife, still more unhappy widow, Mark of Exclamation. O do not reckon that old debt to my account today, Mark of Exclamation. Rule 35. The Mark of Exclamation is placed after sentences which, though interrogatory in form, are really exclamatory. Example 1. How could he have been so foolish, Mark of Exclamation? Example 2. And shall he never see an end to this state of things, Mark of Exclamation? Shall he never have the due reward of labor, Mark of Exclamation? Shall unsparing taxation never cease to make him a miserable, dejected being, a creature famishing in the midst of abundance, fainting, expiring with hunger's feeble moan, surrounded by a caroling creation, Mark of Exclamation? Is placed after what are called rhetorical questions, or statements made more striking by being put in the form of questions? They are not asked for the sake of receiving a direct answer, and are, in reality, exclamations. Since all rhetorical questions are not thus punctuated, the point of interrogation is sometimes more effective. The sentences quoted under Rule 31 would lose much of their force if Marks of Exclamation were used. In each case we must decide whether the sentence strikes us most as a question or as the expression of emotion. Rule 36. The Mark of Exclamation is sometimes placed after an ironical statement. Example 1. They did not fight tens against thousands. They did not fight for wives and children, but for lands and plunder. Therefore, they are heroes, Mark of Exclamation. The Mark of Exclamation keeps up the semblance of seriousness, which is of the essence of irony. Rule 37. The Mark of Exclamation is placed after the statement of some absurdity. Example 1. He has been laboring to prove that Shakespeare's plays were written by Bacon. Mark of Exclamation. To him the parliamentary vote was a panacea for all human ills, and the ballot box and object is sacred as the Holy Grail to a night of the round table. Mark of Exclamation. The same reason applies to its use after such sentences as after ironical statements. Rule 38. The Mark of Exclamation may be placed after any impressive or striking thought. Example 1. The Angel of Death has been abroad throughout the land. You may almost hear the very beating of his wings. Mark of Exclamation. It may be doubted whether the Mark of Exclamation is in such cases of any great service for the impressiveness of a sentence ought to appear in the sentence itself, or to be given it by its context. There is a real danger, as the style of many people shows, in thinking that punctuation is intended to save the trouble of careful composition. In putting the Mark after pure exclamations, usage is more or less uniform, with regard to impressive sentences we are left entirely to our own discretion. Rule 39. When a sentence contains more than one exclamation, sometimes the Mark of Exclamation is placed only after the last. Sometimes it is placed after each of them, the test being whether or not they are in reality, as well as in form, several exclamations. Example 1. Though all are thus satisfied with the dispensations of nature, how few listen to her voice, Mark of Exclamation, how few follow her as a guide, Mark of Exclamation. Example 2. What a mighty work he has thus brought to a successful end, with what perseverance, what energy, with what fruitfulness of resource, Mark of Exclamation. Example 1. When I remember how we have worked together, and together borne misfortune, when I remember dash, but what avails it to remember? Example 2. And all this long story was about dash. What do you think? Example 3. We cannot hope to succeed unless dash, but we must succeed. Note that it is the long dash that is used at the end of a sentence. The full stop is not added where the dash marks an unfinished sentence, but it is common to add the point of interrogation or the mark of exclamation. Rule 41. The dash is used to mark a faltering or hesitating speech. Example 1. Well, dash, I don't know, dash, that is, dash, no, I cannot accept it. Rule 42. An unexpected turn of the thought may be marked by the dash. Example 1. He entered smiling and dash embarrassed. He holdeth out his hand to you to shake and dash, draweth it back again. He casually looketh in about dinnertime, dash, when the table is full. He offers to go away, seeing you have company, dash, but is induced to stay. Example 2. French history tends naturally to memoirs and anecdotes, in which there is no improvement to desire but that they were dash true. Rule 43. When the subject of a sentence is of such length or of such complexity that its connection with the verb might easily be lost side of, it is sometimes left hanging in the sentence and its place supplied by some short expression that sums it up. A dash follows the subject when thus abandoned. Example 1. Physical science, including chemistry, geology, geography, astronomy, metaphysics, philology, theology, economics, including taxation and finance, politics and general literature, dash, all occupied by turn and almost simultaneously his excessively active mind. The colon is sometimes used in such cases, but the dash seems preferable as it is the point that marks a change in the structure of a sentence. Rule 44. The dash is sometimes used instead of brackets before and after a parentheses. Example 1. This was amongst the strongest pledges for thy truth. That never once, dash, no, not for a moment of weakness, dash, didst thou revel in the vision of cornets an honour for man. Rule 45. The dash is sometimes used instead of the colon, where the word namely is implied, but is not expressed. Example 1. The most extreme example of such theories is perhaps to be found in the attempt to distribute all law under two great commandments, dash, love to God and love to one's neighbour. In this sentence, however, the colon is preferable. See Rule 26. The dash should be used for this purpose only when it is necessary to use the colon in the same sentence for other purposes. Rule 46. The dash is used in rhetorical repetition. For instance, where one part of the sentence, such as the subject, is repeated at intervals throughout the sentence, and the rest of the sentence is kept suspended. Example 1. Cannot you in England, dash, cannot you at this time of day, dash, cannot you a house of commons, trust to the principle which has raised so mighty a revenue. Rule 47. A dash following a full stop occurs between the side heading of a paragraph and the paragraph itself. Example 1. Extent and boundaries, dash. England, including Wales, is bounded on the north by Scotland, on the west by the Irish Sea, St George's Channel, and the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the English Channel, and on the east by the German Ocean. Rule 48. When we place after a quotation the name of the author from whom it is taken, the full stop and the dash are used in the same way. Example 1. One touch of nature makes the whole world kin, dash, Shakespeare. Rule 49. The dash is sometimes used in place of, or in addition to, other points in order to indicate a pause greater than usual. Example 1. Now where is the revenue which is to do all these mighty things? Five sixths repealed, dash, abandoned, dash, sunk, dash, gone, dash, lost forever. Example 2. The highest rank, semicolon, dash. A splendid fortune, semicolon, dash, and a name glorious till it was yours, comma, dash, were sufficient to have supported you with meaner abilities than I think you possess. There is seldom any reason for the use of double points. In the last example they cannot be said to be of any real service, but the dash may sometimes be rightly employed in addition to the full stop in order to mark a division of discourse midway between the sentence and the paragraph. Even Cobert, who abhors the dash, permits it to be used for this purpose. The report of a conversation is often printed in this way. End of Section 8. Section 9 of Stops or How to Punctuate A practical handbook for writers and students. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Kara Schellenberg. And Schertzegel. Stops or How to Punctuate by Paul Allardyce. Section 9. Brackets or The Parenthesis. Footnote. It seems better to use the term brackets, both for the curved and for the square brackets. Parenthesis can then be kept to its proper use, as the name for the words themselves which form the break in the sentence. We may note that, in like manner the terms, comma, colon, semicolon, originally signify divisions of a sentence, not marks denoting the divisions. Period meant a complete sentence, and it still retains the meaning, somewhat specialized. End of Footnote. Rule 50. When a clause not strictly belonging to a sentence is thrown in, so to speak, in passing, the clause is enclosed within brackets. Example 1. It is said, because the priests are paid by the people, bracket, the pay is four shillings per family yearly, bracket. Therefore, they object to their leaving. Example 2. In full confidence of this unalterable truth, I now bracket, quid felix fastum quesit bracket, lay the first stone of the temple of peace. Over and above the enclosing brackets, a parenthesis causes no change in the punctuation of the sentence that contains it. In other words, if we were to omit the parenthesis, no change ought to be necessary in the punctuation of the rest of the sentence. The comma is inserted after the parenthesis in the first example, because the comma would be needed even if there were no parenthesis. In the second example, there would be no comma before lay if there were no parenthesis. Accordingly, the comma is not to be inserted merely because there is a parenthesis. A parenthesis is sufficiently marked off by brackets. Observe also that the comma in the first example is placed after, not before, the parenthesis. The reason for this is that the parenthesis belongs to the first part of the sentence, not to the second. Rule 51. A complete sentence occurring parenthetically in a paragraph is sometimes placed within brackets. Example 1. Godfrey knew all this and felt it with the greater force because they constantly suffered annoyance from witnessing his father's sudden fits of unrelentingness, for which his own habitual irresolution deprived him of all sympathy. Bracket, who was not critical on the faulty indulgence, which preceded these fits. That seemed to him natural enough. Bracket. Still, there was just the chance, Godfrey knew, that his father's pride might see this marriage in a light that would induce him to hush it up, rather than turn his son out and make the family the talk of the country for ten miles round. Note that the full stop should be placed inside, not outside, the brackets. Rule 52. Where, in quoting a passage, we throw in parenthetically something of our own, we may use square brackets. Example 1. Bracket, say that he occasionally found that they, Bracket, foreign ministers, Bracket, had been deceived by the open manner in which he told them the truth. Example 2. Bracket, and not better known now than in Bentham's time, Bracket, and detested through prejudice, and at second hand, as a defense of despotism, is an attempt to base all political society upon a pretended contract between people and the sovereign, principles of legislation. To use the square brackets in this way is often more convenient than to break the inverted commas and to begin them again. But in the case of the word, sick, where it is inserted in a quotation to point out that the word preceding it is rightly quoted and is not inserted by mistake, the ordinary brackets are used. Example 3. The number of inhabitants were sick, not more than four million. Another case may be mentioned in which the square brackets are used, where in the passage quoted some words have been lost and are filled in by conjecture. Professor Stubbs quotes from one of the Anglo-Saxon laws. Example 4. If surals had a common meadow or other partable land fence, and some had fenced their part, some have not, and bracket, strange cattle come in and bracket, eat up the common corn or grass, let those go who own the gap and compensate to the others. End of Section 9. The Brackets or Parenthesis. Section 10. Of stops or how to punctuate a practical handbook for writers and students. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Kristen McQuillan. And Zachary Roostergeist. Stops or how to punctuate by Paul Allardies. Inverted commas. 53. When we quote without any change the words of another person, they are enclosed within inverted commas. If they are quoted in the indirect form or if we quote merely the substance and neglect the exact words, inverted commas are not used. Example 1. There upon the mob bursts in and inquires, inverted comma, what are you doing for the people and inverted comma? Example 2. There upon the mob bursts in and inquires what you are doing for the people. Example 3. He says, inverted comma, there is no property of any description if it be rightfully held which had not its foundation in labor. And inverted comma. Example 4. He frequently calls them inverted comma, absurd and inverted comma, and applies to them such epithets as inverted comma, jargon and inverted comma, inverted comma, fustian and inverted comma, and the like. The last sentence might be written without inverted commas. By using them we call special attention to the fact that these were the words actually employed and are not simply words like them. So in a passage quoted in the indirect form, if part be quoted exactly, it is placed within inverted commas. Example 5. The Duke of Portland warmly approved of the work, but justly remarked that the king was not inverted comma, so absolute a thing of straw and inverted comma as he was represented in it. Words referred to simply as words are either placed within inverted commas or put in italics. Example 6. The word inverted comma, friendship and inverted comma, in the sense we commonly mean by it, is not so much as named in the New Testament. 54. When a quotation is interrupted, as in the report of a conversation, each continuous part of the quotation is enclosed within inverted commas. Example 7. Inverted comma. Pardon me, madam. And inverted comma. Answered Henry. Inverted comma. It was of one Silas Morton I spoke. And inverted comma. 55. When a quotation occurs in another quotation, single inverted commas are used for the former. Example 8. Inverted comma. What have you done? And inverted comma. Said one of Balfour's brother officers. Inverted comma. My duty! And inverted comma. Said Balfour firmly. Inverted comma. Is it not written? Single inverted comma. Thou shalt be zealous, even to slaying? And single inverted comma. And inverted comma. Some writers use the single comma in ordinary cases, for the inner quotations they would then use the double commas. 56. A word that is not classical English, or is used in a sense which is not classical English, is either enclosed within inverted commas, or talisized. Example 9. Those that have inverted comma, located, and inverted comma, italicized, located, previous to this period, are left in undisputed possession, provided they have improved the land. Example 10. Before long Becky received not only inverted comma, the best and inverted comma foreigners, as the phrase is in our noble and admirable society slang, but some of inverted comma, the best and inverted comma, English people too. Foreign words are always italicized. 57. The titles of books of essays and of other compositions, the names of periodicals, and the names of ships, are either enclosed within inverted commas, or italicized. Example 11. In these inverted comma, miscellaneous and inverted comma, was first published inverted comma, the art of sinking in poetry and inverted comma, which by such a train of consequences, as usually passes in literary quarrels, gave in a short time, according to Pope's account, occasion to the inverted comma, d'Ancien and inverted comma. Example 12. The inverted comma, Emily Saint-Pierre, and inverted comma, or italicized, Emily Saint-Pierre. A British ship was captured on the 18th March, 1862. Example 13. It appeared in the inverted comma, London Gazette, and inverted comma, or italicized, London Gazette. The names of periodicals and of ships are more often written in italics than enclosed within inverted commas. 58. If a quotation contains a question, the point of interrogation stands within the inverted commas. Example 14. In a voice which was fascination itself, the being addressed me, saying inverted comma, wilts thou come with me, wilts thou be mine, and inverted comma. 59. If an interrogative sentence ends with a quotation, the point of interrogation stands outside the inverted commas. Example 15. What does this honorable person mean by inverted comma, a tempest that outrides the wind and inverted comma? Point of interrogation. Observe how, in the example given under rule 55, the point of interrogation stands within the double inverted commas, but outside the single inverted commas. 60. If an interrogative sentence ends with a quotation, which itself is interrogatory, the point of interrogation is placed outside the inverted commas. Example 16. Hast thou ever cried, inverted comma, what must I do to be saved, and inverted comma, point of interrogation? The reason is that the question to be answered is not the quoted question, but hast thou never cried. No writer has been bold enough to insert two points of interrogation. 61. The last three rules apply also to exclamatory sentences. 62. Example 17. 1. But I boldly cried out, inverted comma, woe unto this city point of exclamation, and inverted comma. 2. Alas, how few of them can say inverted comma, I have striven to the very utmost, and inverted comma, point of exclamation. 3. How fearful was the cry, inverted comma, help, or we perish, and inverted comma, point of exclamation. 62. Where an interrogative sentence ends with a quotation of an exclamatory nature, or an exclamatory sentence ends with a quotation of an interrogative nature, it seems better to place, at the end, both the point of interrogation and the mark of exclamation, the one inside the other outside the inverted commas. Example 18. Do you remember who it was that wrote inverted comma? Whatever England's fields display, the fairest scenes are thine, torbay, point of exclamation, and inverted comma, point of interrogation. Example 19. How much better to cease asking the question, inverted comma? What would he have done in different circumstances, point of interrogation, and inverted comma, point of exclamation? Where inverted commas are not used, it seems sufficient to have only one point, which must be the one required by the whole sentence, not by the quotation. Example 20. Do you remember the passage where Burke alludes to the old warning of the church, italics, sursum corda? End of section 10, inverted commas. Section 11 of stops, or how to punctuate, a practical handbook for writers and students. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Clarica. And Robin Cotter. Stops, or how to punctuate, by Paul Allardice. Section 11, italics. Rule 63. Words to be specially emphasized may be put in italics. In writing, the substitute for italics is underlining. Example. What, it may well be asked, can the interests of the community be those of, I do not say, italicized and unitalicized individual, but italicized the unitalicized individual? The voice can unmistakably indicate what are the emphatic words. But italics, only a feeble substitute, ought not to be used unless every other means of emphasizing fail. Many writers of authority have strongly and very justly condemned the two frequent use of them. Double underlining in letter writing need not be here adverted to. If the person to whom one writes a letter is likely to read it without appreciation or care, one is entitled to adopt any means that will ensure attention. But if double underlining is allowable only on this ground, general rules are obviously of no use. Rule 64. Words from a foreign language which have not become classical English words are written in italics. Example 1. The slightest italicized double entendre unitalicized made him blush to the eyes. Example 2. Knowledge of French is a italicized seen qu'un autre. Unitalicized. When foreign words become English they are no longer italicized. Among such words are rationale, aid to camp, quartet, naïve, libretto. It is often a matter of discretion to say whether a word is so far naturalized that it should be written in the ordinary way. Rule 65. Names of newspapers and magazines and names of ships are generally written in italics as The Times, The Fortnightly Review, The Great Eastern. End of Section 11, Italics. Section 12 of Stops or How to Punctuate A practical handbook for writers and students. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Clarica and Sarah Jennings. Stops or How to Punctuate by Paul Allardice. Section 12, The Hyphen. Rule 66. The hyphen is used between the component parts of some compound words. Paper, knife, bookkeeping, coal, pit, water carrier, printing press, seawater, man of war, man hyphen of hyphen war. Nowadays, now hyphen ah, hyphen days, high art decoration, high hyphen art decoration. Good looking. There is no rule to distinguish the compound words that take a hyphen from those that do not. If one be in doubt about a particular word, the best thing to do is to refer to a dictionary. Rule 67. When one syllable of a word ends with a vowel, and the next syllable begins with the same vowel, the hyphen is placed between the syllables to indicate that the two vowels do not form a diphthong. That is, that they should not be pronounced together. Example one. Co-operative. Co-ordinate. Pre-eminently. Re-establish. Re-echo. In the same way, the hyphen sometimes ensures that two consonants shall be pronounced separately, as in bookkeeping, shell-less, cock-crow, sword-dance. Rule 68. As a rule, a hyphen should not be placed after a simple prefix, contravene, preternatural, hypercritical, bilateral. To this, there are some exceptions. Subpart A. Anti-religious, ultra-liberal, semi-lunar, co-eval. In these words, the pronunciation is more clearly marked by inserting the hyphen. Compare antiseptic, antinomian, ultramontane, semi-circle. Perhaps among these exceptions should also be included such words as pseudocritic, non-ego, non-existent. Compare pseudonym where the prefix is contracted and non-entity. Words like pre-eminent, divided for the same reason, have already been noted. Subpart B. Recreation, remark. The hyphen distinguishes the etymological meaning of these words as distinguished from their derived and ordinary meaning. Subpart C. Pre-norman, anti-Darwinian, philoturk. If the capital letter be retained where a prefix is put to a proper name, the hyphen is obviously necessary. Rule 69. When a number is written in words and not in figures, the words making up the number, if there be more words than one, are in certain cases separated from each other by the hyphen. The numbers to which this rule applies are the cardinal and the ordinal numbers from 21 and 21st to 99 and 99th inclusive. The hyphen is used also when the words are inverted as 4 and 30, 6 and 40th. Rule 70. Fractional parts written in words are separated in the same way, a hyphen being placed between the numerator and denominator, as two-thirds, three-sixteenths. But if the word part or the word share follows, the hyphen is not used as two-third parts. Rule 71. Several words may be joined by hyphens in order to indicate that they are to be read together. Rule 72. Example one. The I believe of Eastern derivation, monosyllable Bosch. Example two. Additional restrictions were advocated in the cases of mothers of young children employed in factories. As this last sentence stands, the hyphen is really the only means of making it perfectly clear that those who are referred to as employed in factories are the mothers, not the children. Hyphens are sometimes used in cases like the following. A never-to-be-forgotten event. P said any rate, principles. They are almost invariably used in, well to do, a lack a day. Rule 72. The prefix A, before the gerund, is followed by a hyphen. Example one. They went a hunting. Example two. I lay a thinking. Note that a going is not divided. Rule 73. When a word is divided at the end of a line, part of the word being in the next line, a hyphen is placed after the part at the end of the line. So far as rules can be given for the division of the word, it may be said. Subpart A. The division must be at the end of a syllable. The syllable according to etymological derivation and the syllable according to pronunciation are not always the same. In the case of conflict, the pronunciation is to be the guide. Subpart B. The part in the next line should, if possible, begin with a consonant. An examination of a number of words will show that this is only another way of saying that we should be guided by pronunciation. Subpart C. Double letters are divided as attract, profession, difficulty. The following examples are given consecutively from a book taken at random. This seems to be the best way of illustrating the rule. Example one. Confidently. Investor gated. Some thing. Institution. Difficulty. Attractions. Exclusively. Kins. Men. Self-organized. N. Tangled. Collective. Intermission. Materials. Chancellor. Call ledge. Industrious. Subject. History. Condition. Lowlanders. Organization. Recognized. Infamous. Some selected examples may also be given. Example two. Resemblance. Humble. Second. Translator. Justify. Eble. East. Earn. Ande. Ver. End of section 12, the hyphen. Chapter 13 of Stops. Or How to Punctuate. A practical handbook for writers and students. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Reading by Robin Cotter. And Ada Kerlin. Stops. Or How to Punctuate. By Paul Allardice. Chapter 13, The Apostrophe. Rule 74. The apostrophe is used to indicate that some letter or letters of a word are left out. Example one. The apostrophe bear forever. Example two. Can apostrophe T for cannot? Example three. Don't apostrophe T for do not? Example four. Apostrophe begin for begin. The apostrophe is not used when the word, though contracted in the middle, retains its original pronunciation as doctor or mister. But it is used where the contraction is at the end of the word. Though apostrophe. Peterborough apostrophe. Rule 75. The apostrophe marks the possessive case of nouns. The following rules determine where it is to be placed. Nouns in the singular number. One. The letter S is added and the apostrophe is placed before it. Example one. The king apostrophe S, quote. Example two. Our patriot apostrophe S, reward. Two. If the nominative singular of the noun ends in S, another S is not added if the repetition of hissing sounds would be displeasing to the ear. The apostrophe is then placed at the end of the word. Example one. Hercules apostrophe club. Example two. Augustus apostrophe dignity. Words of one syllable follow the first rule. James's chair, apostrophe S. Some words of two syllables follow the first rule. Some the second. The princess's birthday, apostrophe S. Francis's style, apostrophe. This distinction is sanctioned by usage, but it may judiciously be disregarded. In speaking, we almost entirely ignore it. Why should we trouble ourselves with it in writing? Nouns in the plural number. One. The apostrophe is placed after the S of the plural. Example one. Boy's apostrophe clothing. Example two. Example two. Our friend's apostrophe troubles. Two. If the plural do not end in S, an S is added, and the apostrophe is placed before it. Example one. Men apostrophe S opinions. Example two. The children apostrophe S pleasure. Rule 76. The apostrophe is used before the S of the plural when single letters are used as words. Example one. Mind your P apostrophe S and Q apostrophe S. Example two. He does not dot his I apostrophe S nor crosses T apostrophe S. End of chapter 13. Section 14 of Stops or How to Punctuate, a practical handbook for writers and students. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Clarica. And Step Heather. Stops or How to Punctuate by Paul Allardice. Section 14, Marks of Ellipsis. Rule 77. When, in the middle of a quotation, a part is omitted, several asterisks or several full stops are placed in a line to mark the omission. Example one. Clarendon makes the following remark about Lord Falkland. Yet two things he could never bring himself to whilst he continued in that office. That was to his death. That was to his death, for which he was contented to be reproached as for omissions and a most necessary part of his place. The one employing a spies or giving any countenance or entertainment to them. Asterisk, asterisk, asterisk, or mark of ellipsis. The other, the liberty of opening letters upon a suspicion that they might contain matter of a dangerous consequence. One sentence omitted. Example two. The French and Spanish nations, said Louis XIV, are so united that they will henceforth be only one. Period, period, period, or mark of ellipsis. My grandson at the head of the Spaniards will defend the French. I at the head of the French will defend the Spaniards. Example three. He who in former years wrote Horace Walpole of his father was asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. Period, period, period, or mark of ellipsis. Now never sleeps above an hour without waking. If the passage omitted be of very considerable length, for instance if it be a complete paragraph, or if a line of poetry be omitted, the asterisks are placed in a line by themselves. There is a tendency to confine the asterisk to such cases and to use the full stop for shorter ellipses. If a complete sentence be omitted, the number of additional full stops is generally four. If a passage be omitted in the middle of a sentence, the number is generally three. When some of the letters of a name are omitted, their place is supplied by a line or dash, whose length depends on the number of letters omitted. Example four. The scene of our story is laid in the town of B, dash, dash, or mark of ellipsis. There was one H, dash, dash, or mark of ellipsis, who, I learned in after days, was seen expiating some mature offence in the hulks. Example five. Blake's more in H, dash, dash, or mark of ellipsis, sure. End of section 14. Section 15 of stops or how to punctuate, a practical handbook from writers and students. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Kristen McQuillan. Stops or how to punctuate, by Paul Allardies. References to notes. Notes are generally placed at the foot of a page, though sometimes they are collected at the end of a chapter or even at the end of a book. Various devices are in use for indicating the passage in the text to which the note refers. One, the six reference signs. The asterisk, the dagger, also called the obelisk, the double dagger, the section, the parallels, the paragraph. They are suitable only where their notes are placed at the foot of a page and are invariably used in the order in which we have mentioned them. If the number of notes in one page exceeds six, the signs are doubled. The seventh note is marked asterisk asterisk, the eighth dagger dagger, the ninth double dagger double dagger, and so on. But it is better in cases where the notes are so numerous to use other means of reference. Two, figures either within parentheses as open parent, one closed parent, etc., or more usually printed in the raised or superior form as superscript one, superscript two, etc. Sometimes the first note in each page is marked, but it is now common in books divided into chapters to mark the first note in each chapter with superscript one, and then go on with continuous numbers to the end of the chapter. Superior figures are now the most usual marks of reference in English books. Three, letters, which may also be either placed within parentheses or be printed in superior form, open parent, a closed parent, open parent, closed parent, etc., or superscript a, superscript b, etc. Italic letters are sometimes used. As a rule, the first note in each page is marked a. If in one page there are more notes than there are letters in the alphabet, which sometimes happens, we go on to a, a, b, b, c, c, etc. The letter j is often omitted. It is less common to make the letters continuous from page to page. The sign, whatever it may be, is placed at the beginning of the note, and also in the text immediately after the part to which the note refers. The note may refer to a whole sentence, to a part of a sentence, even to a single word. The sign is placed as the case may be at the end of the sentence, at the end of the part referred to, or after the single word.