Punctuation rules
Lessons for copyeditors

By Jeff South
VCU School of Mass Communications
1
In general
 Use punctuation to clarify meaning
 Profuse punctuation weakens
sentence structure
 Newswriting uses less punctuation
(commas, periods) than more formal
writing
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Periods
 Often omitted from abbreviations
 No periods in abbreviating names of
organization names or gov’t. agencies
CIA, FBI, VCU, UCLA
 No periods for dead presidents!
JFK, LBJ, FDR
3
Now you try!
 National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
 NASA
 James Madison University
 JMU
 John Fitzgerald Kennedy
 JFK
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Use periods to abbreviate ...
 Titles of people
Gov., Dr., Mr., Mrs. Ms., Sen., Rep.
 Academic degrees
Ph.D., M.A., B.A.
 Months
Jan. 1; Sept. 28; Nov. 13; Dec. 25
 Places
Streets, state names when appropriate
Follow the rules for abbreviations
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Now you try!
 Raleigh, North Carolina
 Raleigh, N.C.
 doctor of philosophy; medical degree
 Ph.D.; M.D.
 530 East Main Street
 530 E. Main St.
 former Governor L. Douglas Wilder
 former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder
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Periods with quotes
 Always go inside quotation marks
 He said, “It was God’s will.”
 “After five minutes,” she said, with a
flick of her wrist, “it turned to mush.”
 Will she run again? “No -- never.”
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Periods with parentheses
 If the parenthetical material is not a
sentence, the period goes outside the
parentheses
He smiled (with his eyes).
She studied every major language in Asia
(except Mandarin Chinese).
Everyone passed the test (well, almost
everyone).
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Periods with parentheses
 If the parenthetical material is a
sentence, the period goes inside the
parentheses
(He smiled with his eyes.)
(She studied every major language in Asia
except Mandarin Chinese.)
(Everyone passed the test -- well, almost
everyone.)
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Now you try!
 It happens in summer (and never in
spring).
 Correct.
 He cried. (He had been crying a lot
lately).
 No: He cried. (He had been crying a lot
lately.)
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Periods as ellipsis
 3 periods indicates omission of a word or
words
 Put a space on either side of “…”
 Use four periods if an ellipsis ends the
sentence
He sighed. “I wish there was something I could do
to turn back time … .”
 Use ellipses rarely in Newswriting
 Never use 2 in one quote; better to
paraphrase
11
Copyedit
 She said, “No, you’re out of order”.
 No: She said, “No, you’re out of order.”
 (The flag was at half-staff.)
 Correct.
 Bush said, “This war will be…fought in
unconventional ways.”
 Need spaces: Bush said, “This war will
be … fought in unconventional ways.”
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Commas
 Use when linking 2 independent clauses
with a conjunction, such as ‘and’:
He will announce the budget cuts on
Monday, and VCU is braced for the worst.
Twenty-five inches of rain fell in five hours,
and the resulting flood killed more than
200 Virginians near Charlottesville.
 But don’t use if there’s 1 subject and a
compound verb:
She dropped the gun and surrendered.
13
Commas
 Use when beginning a sentence with a
clause, phrase, adverb -- usually
anything except the subject:
During Hurricane Camille, more than 200
people died in Virginia.
If the drought continues, local governments
may have to ration water.
On Friday, VCU President Eugene Trani will
address the Board of Visitors.
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Commas
 Omit comma before conjuction
red, white and blue
 Omit comma between
closely related words
10 a.m. Saturday
11:30 p.m. EDT
Jesse Jackson Jr.
No commas before Jr., Sr., III
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Commas
 Commas go inside quotation marks
“That’s right,” she said.
“It ain’t over,” he said, “until the fat lady
sings.”
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Commas
 Commas set off apposition (a word,
phrase or clause used as explanation)
Dr. Terry Oggel, the school’s former director,
said …
Jeff George, the Redskins’ quarterback, ...
17
Commas
 Omit comma between ‘name’ and ‘of …’
The prize was awarded to Will Jones of the
Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Julie Rodriguez of Hopewell offered to
organize the blood drive.
The Smith family of Roanoke will represent
Virginia at the national competition.
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Commas
 Usually used in > 999
 But not for years, ZIP codes,
phone numbers or serial numbers
In 1997, …
She lives in ZIP code 23229.
828-2660
The serial number is 84512.
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Commas
 Must set off the source in a quotation if:
The source comes within the sentence.
Canada, he said, looks to England.
The source comes at the end of the
sentence.
Canada looks to England, he said.
It is a direct quote, capitalized and a
sentence.
He said, “Canada looks to England.”
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But not: He said Canada looks to England.
Copyedit
 The lawyer said “If it doesn’t fit, you
must acquit.”
 The lawyer said, “If it doesn’t fit, you
must acquit.”
 The lawyer said the jury should acquit
his client.
 Correct.
21
Copyedit
 men, women, and children
 No: men, women and children
 Richard Petty, Jr.
 No: Richard Petty Jr.
 Bob Seger of Detroit will perform at
Farm Aid.
 Correct.
22
Copyedit
 Because of the drought people can’t
water their lawns.
 No: Because of the drought, people
can’t water their lawns.
 The president will visit the Middle East,
and then travel to Asia.
 No: The president will visit the Middle
East and then travel to Asia.
23
Copyedit
 Texas A&M scored first, but the Hokies
came storming back.
 Correct.
 The students might hold a candlelight
vigil or they might do a walk-a-thon.
 No: The students might hold a
candlelight vigil, or they might do a
walk-a-thon.
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Colon
 Indicate time
3:30 p.m.; 11:45 a.m.
 To set up direct quotes,
especially long direct quotes
He said: “This is a day that will live in
infamy. It shall not stand. We will hunt
down these terrorists and bring them to
justice.”
He winked: “That’s not all, folks.”
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Colon
 To introduce a list
The professor listed several reasons for
using commas: ...
 Legal, religious or literary citations
Matthew 14:22; Hamlet 1:3:28
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Colon
 Can be used to present an idea with a
flourish -- to announce something.
 He learned the most important
lesson of all: honesty.
 The governor has a bold idea: She will
give every student a laptop computer.
Note the capitalization:
If a complete sentence follows the
colon, capitalize it.
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Semicolons
 Use to link two independent clauses
with no connecting words
 Use with ‘however,’ ‘moreover,’
‘therefore’
They couldn't make it to the summit; they
were too tired.
He wanted to protest; however, his friends
told him to keep his mouth shut.
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Semicolons
 Set off a series of groupings
that contain commas
 Example:
… 901 W. Main St., Richmond;
459 Elm Ave., Charlottesville; and 531
Oak Drive, Danville.
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Dash
 Use 2 hyphens, with space on either
side
 Sets off information, too
VCU -- along with the University of Richmond
-- will hold a memorial service Sunday.
 Use sparingly
 Often indicates surprise or a twist
She later found her keys -- in the pocket of
her jacket.
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Hyphen
 Joins two or more words
functioning as an adjective
 Often joins a prefix and a word,
especially if:
Capped word (anti-American)
Meaning unclear (re-create)
Like information (20-20 vision)
 Check AP Stylebook
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Now you try!
 He was an ex Marine.
 He was an ex-Marine.
 She hit the jackpot. To the tune of $100
million.
 She hit the jackpot -- to the tune of
$100 million.
 “I won’t leave” he said.
 “I won’t leave,” he said.
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Now you try!
 She had just one friend; her cat.
 No; use a dash or colon:
She had just one friend -- her cat.
She had just one friend: her cat.
 The bombs started falling; soon, the
city was evacuated.
 Correct.
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Quotation marks
 Nicknames
 Titles of books, movies, songs, poems
(but not newspapers & magazines)
 Periods and commas always go inside
quotation marks
 No comma after a quoted question:
“Is that right?” she asked.
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Now you try!
 His book, “Jaws,” became a hit movie.
 Correct.
 The New York Times reported …
 Correct.
 The crowd sang The Star-Spangled
Banner.
 No: The crowd sang “The Star-Spangled
Banner.”
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Apostrophe
 For possession
VCU’s new policy; John’s bicycle
 Contractions
isn’t; can’t; won’t; it’s
 To pluralize single letters
(but not numbers or multiple letters)
A’s; F’s; B’s
But ABCs; PDQs; low 20s
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Copyedit
 Its your dog but its its foot.
 It’s your dog but it’s its foot.
 Pat’s F’s were in economics.
 Correct.
 She went from all Cs to all As.
 She went from all C’s to all A’s.
 The high will be in the low 70s.
 Correct.
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Need help? Try ...
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/
http://www.tc.cc.va.us/writcent/handouts/grammar/
http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm
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