16
American Punctuation
Sometimes you will read a book or an article and observe that aspects of the punctuation
are* strangely at odds with the guidelines suggested in this book The explanation may be
that you are reading an American text, laid out according to the conventions of American
rather than British punctuation. As the previous chapters in this book concentrate on the
British conventions, a separate note is required for those where the Americans diverge.
American punctuation in essence is very dose to British mercifully. But it is slightly more
rigid, and strives more after uniformity. The main differences between American and
British practice are in the following details.
16.1
Commas between daiuess
There is an American tendency to prefer some punctuation (usually a comma) between
clauses in compound sentences. In 1.2 and 3.5, we said that for British English commas
were optional or even unnecessary where there was continuity of subject, instancing the
sentences:
I was late home on Monday because I couldn't start the car.
She works in the evenings in order to save some money for her holidays.
He was a keen sportsman and had won a number of trophies.
She packed an overnight bag and left by the 10 o'clock train.
Mary felt unwell and she went off to bed. In an American text, you would probably see
all these
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sentences set out with a comma:
I was late home on Monday, because I couldn't start
the car.
She works in the evenings, in order to save some money
for her holidays.
He was a keen sportsman, and had won a number of
trophies.
She packed an overnight bag, and left by the 10 o'clock
train.
Mary felt unwell, and she went off to bed.
16.2
Commas in lists
There is an American preference for placing a comma in lists to precede the conjunction
at the end of a list of three or more items. Whereas British practice favours x, y and z, the
American preference is for x, y, and z. So these sentences (from 3.1) would be changed
as follows for an American text:
British punctuation
They played football, cricket, tennis and rounders.
France, Italy, Germany and the Benelux countries
were the founding members of the European
Community.
Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Seve Ballesteros and Steve
Richardson were members of the Ryder Cup team.
American punctuation
They played football, cricket, tennis, and rounders.
France, Italy, Germany, and the Benelux countries
were the founding members of the European
Community.
Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Seve Ballesteros, and Steve
Richardson were members of the Ryder Gup team.
16.S
Punctuation with quotation mark*
The Americans place commas and full stops (but not other punctuation marks) before
quotation marks rather than after them regardless of textual logic. Look at the following
examples of this difference:
71British punctuation
'The man said "yes", not "no".'
By 'abstract object', Professor Foots means 'neither
spatial nor temporal", but Platonic in nature. But first
a word to distinguish between the terms 'abstract' and
'abstracted'.
American punctuation
"The man said 'yes,' not 'no.'"
By "abstract object," Professor Poots means "neither
spatial nor temporal," but Platonic in nature. But first
a word to distinguish between the terms "abstract" and
"abstracted."
16.4 Double quotes versus single
The American preference here is the exact opposite of the British, and tends to go for
double quotes rather than single (see 9.3). And for quotes within quotes, the Americans
go for single quotes within double quotes, whereas the British preference is for double
quotes within single quotes. This point is illustrated directly above, in 16.3.
16.5 Punctuation after abbreviations and in numerals
' American usage is to follow abbreviations such as eg and ie with full stops and a
comma. British usage often drops this. Americans also continue to use commas in
numbers over
1000. So American texts would write:
Don't use vulgar fractions, e.g., write 12.5 rather than
12>/z.
Always put commas in numbers over 1000, e.g., 1,100
or 5,600,000.
m.