Search results for 'tag:Colons tag:Punctuation' matching tags 'Colons' and 'Punctuation'

Re: Kind Regards or Kind regards or kind regards...?

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:14:30 GMT

Written Formula for Ending a Letter (British English)

Informal, personal (to close friends and family):

With love
Best wishes

Semi-formal / informal (emails, notes, business memos):

Kind regards
Best regards
Regards

Formal letters:

Yours sincerely
- Use when you know the addressee by name (Dear John / Dear Mr Smith). You can only be sincere with someone you know.
Yours faithfully
- Use when you don't know the persons name (Dear Sir or Madam).

Case / Capitalisation

Sentence case applies. Only capitalise the first letter of a sentence (with the exception of proper nouns and special conventions).

Punctuation

Open punctuation and mixed punctuation are common in the UK. If you begin the letter with "Dear Jane," (or "Dear Jane:" in American English), then the closing should be punctuated with a comma (e.g. "Kind regards, John"). These commas (or colon and comma in American English) would be omitted when writing a letter in open punctuation (as the line breaks make such punctuation redundant).

Re: Punctuation( strong and weak ones )

Yoong Liat — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:23:52 GMT

bhikkhu1991
Hello,

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language states that the semicolon and colon are stronger than the comma. For example, if the former is placed on the right side of the sentence, the later will be placed on the left side of the sentence. However, why does the following sentence is not complying with the method?

My grandmother has stayed up late four nights in a row; as a result, she cannot seem to get well. ( http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/indep_clauses.htm )

The reason is that as a result, she cannot seem to get well is, in fact, a separate sentence separated by the semi-colon..

Punctuation( strong and weak ones )

bhikkhu1991 — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:29:00 GMT

Hello,

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language states that the semicolon and colon are stronger than the comma. For example, if the former is placed on the right side of the sentence, the later will be placed on the left side of the sentence. However, why does the following sentence is not complying with the method?

My grandmother has stayed up late four nights in a row; as a result, she cannot seem to get well. ( http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/indep_clauses.htm )

Thank you.

With best wishes.

Comma Help - Regarding Title of Movie

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:59:54 GMT

Hello Friends,

I need to know, for what reason, a comma was left out of this title: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. I was viewing the plot description on the website IMDB, and could not help to wonder why a comma wasn't placed in the title of the movie after the word Stock. I do not know if the editors made a mistake or if there is a comma rule that I am unfamiliar with. Please provide some insight by doing the following: defining the comma rule, if there is one; providing some examples, and answering the questions that I have below.

1) Are there are punctuation errors in the paragraph above?
2) After using a colon, do I need to capitalize the following sentence? Would this apply to a list, as well?
3) Are there any grammar websites that you can recommend to me? I could easily do a Google search, but I want to know websites that you highly recommend.

Thanks,

James Arroy

Punctuation rules (parentheses)

Anonymous — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:57:33 GMT

Hi all,

How would you interpret the sentence below and would you accept the alternative interpretation from the student?

âStudents are allowed to bring into the examination ONEA4 piece of paper with up to 39 formulae (no text) written on one side of it, with the equations sequentially numbered. â

The typical student response is to create a sheet of paper with 39 formulas and sequentially numbered.

(I am asking you to take this with a pinch of salt as you read on.)

Now letâs take for example a student applies the rules of punctuation for the parentheses ( ).

The Oxford- A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation^[1] describes the parenthesis as;

âWhen something is put âin parenthesisâ it is separated off from the main part of the sentence by a pair of brackets, commas, or dashes. This is usually because it contains information or ideas that are not essential to an understanding of the sentence.â

And The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language^[2] describes the parentheses as;

âIn their primary use parentheses occur in pairs and enclose what we call a parenthesised element.¹⁵ Their function is to present that element as extraneous to a minimal interpretation of the text, as inessential material that can be omitted without affecting the well-formedness and without any serious loss of information.¹⁶ [...]â

1. In reading the sentence and taking into account the punctuation rule.

2. On the first reading, can the student, choose to first omit the â(no text)â and or at the same time, as an aside, relegate the â(no text)â as âsupplementary materialâ forming the sentence,

âStudents are allowed to bring into the examination ONEA4 piece of paper with up to 39 formulae written on one side of it, with the equations sequentially numbered. â

Which forms a logical sentence on its own and takes it as the first ârequirementâ of the sentence.

The student reads â(no text)â as supplementary material, not as a clarifying statement. Is this acceptable or even correct? BTW is âno textâ considered a sentence itself?

Also note there is no conjunction between the words â39 formulaeâ and the words â(no text)â, the student takes the conjunction âwithâ as in âwith up to 39...or with no text...â

3. On the second reading, he replaces the â(no text)â back into the sentence to form

âStudents are allowed to bring into the examination ONEA4 piece of paper with no text written on one side of it, with the equations sequentially numbered. â

Which also forms a logically sentence on its own and takes it as the second ârequirementâ of the sentence.

In essence the student produces a sheet of paper with 39 formulas, sequentially numbered and with text on one side of the paper.

Questions are, or your views;

Is the application of the punctuation rule correct?
Should the â(no text)â be structured into a sentence to be classified as a clarification?
Can the studentâs interpretation be accepted?
A better way of writing the sentence?
Or should the sentence be using the colon for clarification?
Any other views.

Re: colon dash

Clive — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 03:54:09 GMT

Hi,
As you can perhaps tell, I don't like dashes much.
I, and some people but not all, view them as often being lazy punctuation.
ie I can't be bothered to word my sentence clearly so I'll just use a dash or two and let the reader figure out what I mean.

I wouldn't seriously argue that one dash is a problem, but I would certainly advise you not to fill your writing with them.
Generally speaking, I would say that a page full of dashes usually indicates sloppy writing.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: questions about possibility

Mr Wordy — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:51:33 GMT

Hi Tuongvan, you have continuing problems with spacing around punctuation.

You do not need spaces before question marks:

Who could have broken it ? -- incorrect (or non-standard)

Who could have broken it? -- correct

When you use a full stop, comma, colon or semicolon, put a single space after it, and no space before.

Situation1 :The window was broken yesterday .Now I ask Jim : -- incorrect

Situation 1: The window was broken yesterday. Now I ask Jim: -- correct

As far as your other questions are concerned, I've tried to describe my usage below, as best I can.

Who could/can have broken it? -- Both OK.
Who might have broken it? -- OK, but to me tends to suggest that there are a known group of suspects.
Who may have broken it? -- not natural to me.

Is Jack coming to Ann's birthday party? / Is Jack going to come to Ann's birthday party? -- These are the most common ways to ask.
Will Jack come to Ann's birthday party? -- OK.
Might Jack come to Ann's birthday party? -- Possible; more polite, and tends to imply greater doubt about whether he'll come.
May Jack come to Ann's birthday party? -- Could theoretically mean "does Jack have permission to come", but this use is somewhat old-fashioned, and the sentence is not very natural to me.
Can Jack come to Ann's birthday party? -- Fine. Asks if he is able to come (has permission/opportunity).
Could Jack come to Ann's birthday party? -- Same, but expresses greater doubt/politeness.

Could he have lost his way? -- Fine.
Can he have lost his way? -- OK, but less likely.
Might he have lost his way? -- OK; more formal.
May he have lost his way? -- Not natural to me.

Re: How to use dash, colon, semicolon ?

Grammar Geek — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:31:14 GMT

Pleasecorrectme

Does using too much Colons and semicolons make writing seem very unnatural? Then how can I use or learn to use these punctuation marks naturally ? ( Including other punctuation marks )

Hello PCM,

The key to your question is "too much." Too much of anything is unnatural. Even ice cream. (Although, happily, I haven't found that point yet when it comes to ice cream.)

Colons are really not often used. Your example is a good one. Use them before a list. Until you have written a great deal, don't try to insert them into running text (standard prose).

The comment about not using "and" and a semicolon refers to using the semicolon to seperate two complete thoughts; and so, you would not use it like this. (That was an example of incorrect useage.)

One way to use a semicolon is back to the idea of lists. If items within the list have commas within them, then use the semicolon to seperate each item. You will have a semicolon and an "and" in the list that way. We visited several cites: Portland, ME; Boston, MA; Providence, RI; and Hartord, CT.

Re: How to use dash, colon, semicolon ?

Clive — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:50:52 GMT

Hi,

Here are a few brief additional comments.

Dashes - Don't get into the habit of using them a lot, because they can sometimes lead to lazy punctuation and poor sentence stircture (eg Instead of taking the time to figure out how to make my meaning clear, I'll just use a dash here and let the reader figure out what I mean.)

Colons and semicolons - These should be used sparingly. When I teach them, some of my students write pages full of them. It always makes their writing seem very unnatural. There are often simple ways to word your writing to avoid the need for them.

Let me add that these are my subjective views. Other people may offer you different opinions on this topic.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: ultimate as a verb

CalifJim — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:15:46 GMT

A few examples from Google. My guess is that it means "bring about". This is the first I've ever heard of "ultimate" as a verb.

...but uses modern punctuation (the colon) to ultimate the caesura of Old English alliterative verse. ...

strategy to be applied in order to ultimate a particular goal.

... exceptional a nature is this: though the man's even temper and discreet bearing would seem to ultimate a mind peculiarly subject to the law of reason, ...

(The last example is from Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.)