That basically answers what a semicolon does. If you are studying for the SAT exam, you definitely need to master the semicolon; it appears frequently. (See what we did there?)
The comma, on the other hand, is much more complicated. Luckily, an excellent piece from the New York Times delves into the misunderstood punctuation that is the comma.
If you have additional questions, feel free to tweet us @The_YUNiversity. Cheers.
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All of the above information was provided from an American English perspective. In other words, the above is considered standard in America.
And if you’re interested in knowing when quotation marks are appropriate in citing sources, click HERE.
If you live outside the U.S., were you taught the opposite of what we in America were instructed. Let us know. Cheers.
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The colon is a versatile punctuation that does a lot more than start a list of items.
Put it to good use.
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Before we get started, the answer to your question actually depends on where you live.
More specifically, THE FOLLOWING RULES ARE FOR AMERICAN ENGLISH, which is very strict when it comes to putting commas and periods in and around quotation marks. British English uses rules that allow the writer to determine whether the period or comma belong with the quotation or are part of the larger sentence. (See below.)
If you want to be “safe,” go with the rules for American English: if nothing else, it’s consistent and “predictable.” (See what we did there with “safe” and “predictable”?)
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The colon is a versatile punctuation. One important thing to remember about the colon is that it almost always follows an independent clause, i.e., a complete sentence.
We hope this post answers your question on the usage of the colon. If you have additional questions on this topic, tweet us @The_YUNiversity. Cheers.
That basically answers what a semicolon does. The comma, on the other hand, is much more complicated. Click HERE for an excellent piece from the New York Times that tackles the comma.
If you have additional questions, feel free to tweet us @The_YUNiversity. Cheers.
(Source: theyuniversity, via theyuniversity)
In summary, here are the punctuations that should always be placed inside the closing quotation mark:
Here are the punctuations that should always be placed outside the closing quotation mark:
Here are the punctuations that depend on what is actually being quoted:
- question mark
- exclamation mark
If you still have a question about this topic and would like a faster response than waiting in line for us to go through our Tumblr inbox that currently has over 1,400 questions, hit us up on Twitter (@The_YUNiversity). Cheers!
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