Punctuation, space and capital letters.

Kamt — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 16:48:45 GMT

Hello.

I wonder if anyone here could set things straight for me how to use basic punctuation, space and capital letters. Online computer games, the web and english television series/movies being my most source to learning english (I have no real english education from school), I find it most confusing where all sorts of variation is being used.

First, using spaces before and after punctuation. I often see people using a space both before and after a question mark or exclamation mark. Examples: "Would you like a flower ? They are very cheap !", "I need to use the phone, it is an emergency !" This looks confusing and incorrect to me, in my language space is only used after punctuation. An english friend of mine told me this often used in every-day-language, but not in formal. But why would you intentionally use an extra key stroke, and also making it harder to read?

Second, mixed capital and lower case letters. I have noticed that often in english advertising or casual every-day-chatting, people seem to use capital letters in a (for me) totaly random way. Examples: "the children were given Plastic Scissors to avoid cutting themselves", "For sale: Brand New Powerbook Battery, only Â£9.99", "For sale: CI, Boosey & Hawkes 400 'B Flat' Trumpet". In my language, only names and places are presented with a captial letters. But here people seem to mix in a, what seems to me, all random fasion.

What are the rules, or guidelines for this?

Thanks in advance.

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Punctuation, space and capital letters.