Search results for 'tag:Punctuation tag:Question marks' matching tags 'Punctuation' and 'Question marks'

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: dash vs. three dots

Grammar Geek — Thu, 08 May 2008 01:47:21 GMT

An ellipsis is properly used only to indicate that text has been omitted.

There are people writing these days who seem to know no other form of punctuation besides the ellipses, and, although they don't seem committed to always using exatly three dots, do seem dedicate to using in place of all other marks except the apostrophe and the question mark.

If you are writing dialogue, you can use it to indicate a trailing away of the voice, as though the speaker started to say something, but then changed his mind.

So your first sentence uses the ... incorrectly.

Your second sentence makes what I consider an appropriate use of the dash.

Your third sentence should simply not use the elllipsis there at all. Put a period.

Your fourth sentence should use a period where you have a dash.

Many people consider the dash to be rather an informal punctuation mark as well. I actually use them regularly in my business writing -- but regularly is not the same as excessively.

Re: Correct Punctuation within Parentheses

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:53:52 GMT

Guest
Hello all,

I have a question that is not addressed in any section that I've perused so far, here or elsewhere. I know that punctuation normally goes outside of the parentheses (like this). (However, if the entire sentence goes inside, then keep the punctuation inside as well.) The exception to this is when a question mark or an exclamation mark (dang it!) is necessary. My question comes from this last rule. What if that is the end of the sentence, as follows?

In the end, everyone felt better about each other (even if certain members wanted to kill certain others!)

Everything I've seen so far indicates that there should be an extra period outside of the closed parenthesis (since the exclamation mark pertains only to the parenthetical material), but I'm loathe to do it. Is there a rule about this? Please help!

Yours,
Mark

qtDear Mark,

I had the same question and found this online. Hope it helps!

Lynn

1. Punctuation with parentheses. As in the model sentence above, periods and other end punctuation go outside the close of a parenthesis. No punctuation mark can precede a parenthesis, but a comma can follow one:

Like three of my four uncles (the other was too young), my father served with honor.

Occasionally a parenthesis stands on its own as a sentence; if so, capitalize the first word and place end punctuation inside the parenthesis.

Three of my four uncles served with honor. (The other was too young to enlist.)

A question mark or exclamation point, if it is part of the parenthetical material, can go inside a parenthesis, but another punctuation mark is needed to close the sentence:

Miranda's frequent exclamations express pity ("O, woe the day!" "O the heavens!" "Alack, for mercy!") and wonder ("O, wonder!" "O brave new world!").

Re: The question mark/comma/quotation mark debacle

RayH — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:55:08 GMT

I guess I'm inclined to treat the punctuation as just another character. I'm even more inclined to adopt the BrE method, at which point the whole question becomes moot.
Thus, using the BrE method,
"Oklahoma!", the classic musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, will...

No muss, no fuss.

Re: The question mark/comma/quotation mark debacle

RegCor — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:40:58 GMT

Hi Ray,

Thanks for your help, however, I was wondering if there should be a comma when you have the title of a play (or book, or movie, etc.) with punctuation (like a question mark of exclamation mark) as part of the actual title. If I wanted to say - "Oklahoma!" the classic musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, will be performed on stage next week - would there be a comma between the exclamation point and quotation mark as normally there would be one.

I'm sorry if I'm not explaining this well! It's rather complicated to verbalize. Thanks!

Re: The question mark/comma/quotation mark debacle

RayH — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:30:19 GMT

Please note that American English likes to place the final punctuation mark inside a title or quotation, even though it doesn't form part of it.
The British regard this practice as illogical.
AmE: He's always wanted to read "Moby Dick," "Oliver Twist" and "The Great Gatsby."

BrE: He's always wanted to read "Moby Dick", "Oliver Twist" and "The Great Gatsby".

Here is the link to the site this came from if you want to check it yourself. The relevant section is near the bottom of the screen under the heading "quotation marks".

HTH

http://www.davidappleyard.com/english/punctuation.htm

Re: 1)How can we call the package that helicopters throw on the land when t

Belly — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 08:57:20 GMT

Mister Micawber wrote:

1) What can we call the package that helicopters throw on the land when there is a catastrophe happens? -- (Emergency) Aid packages? Air drops?

2) About punctuation, should we punctuate before or after the : She told me," I want to go out. " or She told me," I want to go out".) -- Most American punctuation guides place the full stop (or period) invariably inside the quotation mark, while British guides place it inside or out depending on the part to which it is applicable. I think. Or is it the other way around? Anyway, there is contention, sometimes heated

" = quotation mark

, = comma

' = apostrophe

/ = slash or backslash

) = parenthesis (AmE) or bracket (BrE)

# = number sign, pound sign, octothorpe

? = question mark, interrogation point

! = exclamation mark/point

There are probably other names as well.

Do I need two )) here or just one? -- Two, but it would be better to rearrange the sentence to avoid the duplication; it is unattractive.

Hi,

Actually, in sentence one, the thing I want to ask is:

If you can imagine, when inundations come to one province, people of other provinces donates food, drink, money etc (I'm still confused when can we use plural or singular for food and drink here).... and they pack them all in packages which is then sent to the poor province... What can we call that?

Re: 1)How can we call the package that helicopters throw on the land when t

Mister Micawber — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 05:32:38 GMT

1) What can we call the package that helicopters throw on the land when there is a catastrophe happens? -- (Emergency) Aid packages? Air drops?

2) About punctuation, should we punctuate before or after the : She told me," I want to go out. " or She told me," I want to go out".) -- Most American punctuation guides place the full stop (or period) invariably inside the quotation mark, while British guides place it inside or out depending on the part to which it is applicable. I think. Or is it the other way around? Anyway, there is contention, sometimes heated

" = quotation mark

, = comma

' = apostrophe

/ = slash or backslash

) = parenthesis (AmE) or bracket (BrE)

# = number sign, pound sign, octothorpe

? = question mark, interrogation point

! = exclamation mark/point

There are probably other names as well.

Do I need two )) here or just one? -- Two, but it would be better to rearrange the sentence to avoid the duplication; it is unattractive.

Re: Punctation after punctuation that end a sentence

Yoong Liat — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 17:55:36 GMT

Grammar Geek wrote:

But we can't change the actual book title.

If the title of the book is Who Shot Mr. Gordon? then Who Shot Mr. Gordon? it must remain.

Thanks, Barbara. I overlooked that. I thought it was a question mark at the end of the post. The question mark should remain.

The punctuation of the sentence should, therefore, be as follows:

She was also reading the book 'Who Shot Mr Gordon?' (Please note that in BrE, the period after Mr is not required.)

She was also reading the book Who Shot Mr. Gordon? (If the title is italicized, no quotation marks are required.)

Re: Comma? Colon? Nothing?

Yoong Liat — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 15:06:58 GMT

Futurehuman11 wrote:

In the sentence below, I'm not sure if I should use punctuation (e.g. a comma or colon) before the quote. Help!

Knight, who was on probation because of previous incidents, was fired in 2000, after 29 years at Indiana, for grabbing the arm of freshman Kent Harvey, who asked him (,?) "Hey, what's up, Knight?" on campus.

Comma is necessary after 'him'. Question mark is not required.