Polish your punctuation and grammar

 

The divinity of a Krishna, a Gautama, or a Jesus is the crowning glory of self-abnegation, the end of the soul's pilgrimage in matter and mortality, and the world will not have finished its long journey until every soul has become as these, and has entered into the blissful realization of its own divinity.

—J Allen, 1901, The Way of Peace, Kindle version, location 607

 

Does this excerpt make sense? If not, you may suspect the problem lies in the punctuation and grammar.

Grammar covers the structure of words, phrases, clauses and sentences. More specifically, the structure of words is known as morphology, whereas the structure of phrases, clauses and sentences is known as syntax. This means that syntax is a part of grammar. So it is incorrect to say "grammar and syntax", because syntax is part of grammar.

As for punctuation, let us read what The Observer (23 October 1938) has to say about the subject:

 

Intellectually, stops [punctuation] matter a great deal. If you are getting your commas, semi-colons, and full-stops wrong, it means that you are not getting your thoughts right, and your mind is muddled.

 

So, in short, you need to polish your punctuation and grammar to avoid writing gibberish. For a practical summary of these topics, read the Style manual: for authors, editors and printers, pp. 63–161, and The Elements of Style, pp. 1–14. For lengthier discussions there is Collins Easy Learning: Grammar & Punctuation. But note that punctuation varies from publisher to publisher, so there is no single "correct" way to punctuate. In the brief discussions following, we will use the same house style as applied to this book.

 

 

The colon (:)

You use the colon (:) to introduce information, such as lists, examples, or quotations.

 

A carbohydrate consists of three types of atoms: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

 

(Note: Be careful of how you use "consists of" and "comprises". "A carbohydrate comprises three types of atoms," not, "A carbohydrate comprises of three types of atoms." But it is correct to write: "A carbohydrate consists of three types of atoms.")

 

Many problems are festering in the company, but this is the major one: it is bankrupt.

 

I want you to buy the following items: three pens, 15 pencils, and a ream of white paper.

 

Smith believes that biology precedes culture: "Biology comes before culture because biology gave birth to culture; culture did not give birth to biology. First there must be biology and then culture can emerge from biology."

 

But the questions raised are many: How many subjects were in the placebo group? How did you choose them? And how many subjects received the drug?

 

In the last example, we use a capital "H" after the colon, because there is more than one question after the colon. Also use a capital to introduce a quotation, such as in the penultimate example.

 

 

The semicolon (;)

The semicolon (;) indicates a longer pause than a comma, but a shorter pause than a full stop, which is also known as a period in the United Sates. Your sentences on either side of the semicolon must be complete—you cannot use a semicolon with dependent clauses or phrases.

 

The frogs will not recover quickly; they will recover slowly.

 

You can also use semicolons to separate a series of items that includes commas.

 

The Fabians decided on a system of socioeconomic and political change that would: introduce collectivism gradually and without alarm; weaken traditional, conservative influence on education; instil progressive ideas at every stage of education, including academia; influence the media and public opinion, that is, the voice and thoughts of the masses; encourage grass-roots campaigning and social change through various social justice organisations; and unite world governments and social orders into one central body.

 

 

Quotation marks (" ")(' ')

This book uses the traditional double quotation marks, although a few publications now use single quotation marks.

 

Jai said, "He hates okra and spinach." He also said he could not bear "life without lettuce".

 

Did you notice where I placed the full stop in each quotation? If your quotation is a sentence, place the full stop or comma within the quotation marks, as in, "He hates okra and spinach." If your quotation is a word or phrase, place the full stop or comma outside the quotation marks, as in "life without lettuce". Yet many magazines and newspapers do not follow this rule—they place all commas and full stops within the quotation marks.

If you are going to use a quotation within a quotation, use single quotation marks within double quotation marks.

 

Jai said, "Dmitri said 'that life is very tough'."

 

But instead of doing this, it is better to rephrase a sentence so that you avoid using quotation marks altogether.

 

Jai said that Dmitri was finding life tough.

 

 

The serial comma (x, y, and z)

Here are two sentences, each with a series of items:

 

Many boys, girls and dogs were running around the park. But there were also many fathers screaming with their children, mothers chasing after their children, and joggers trying to avoid collisions.

 

We use a serial comma, also called an Oxford comma, after the final "children" in the second sentence, because the items in this series have more than one word. This reduces any confusion within the series. But we omit the serial comma after "girls" in the first sentence, because each item in the series is one word with little room for confusion. A few publishers follow this rule; other publishers always use a serial comma. (Notice how I used the semicolon in the previous sentence.) When using "or" instead of "and" in a series, the serial comma follows the same rules as for "and".

 

 

The possessive apostrophe (')

Here is a list showing you how to use the possessive apostrophe with singular and plural nouns:

 

the dog's water—the water of the dog

the dogs' water—the water of the dogs

the car's windows—the windows of the car

the cars' windows—the windows of the cars

James' (or James's) jokes—the jokes of James

the princess' (or princess's) hair—the hair of the princess

the princesses' cars—the cars of the princesses

the Jones' (or Joneses') party—the party of the Joneses

the children's toys—the toys of the children

the men's club—the club of the men

the women's gym—the gym of the women

the people's revolution—the revolution of the people

Father's Day, Mother's Day, and New Year's Eve.

 

 

Shortened words and symbols

Shortened words (abbreviations), which do not contain the last letter of the word, take a full stop.

 

para.  Mon.  Dec.  Vic.  ch.  fig.  p.  pp.  Co.  Prof.  Rev.

 

Shortened words (contractions), which contain the last letter of the word, do not take a full stop.

 

Mr  Ms  Mrs  Dr  Rd  Ave  St  Qld  dept  Pty Ltd  Cwlth

 

Symbols do not take a full stop.

 

mm  cm  m  km  mg  g  kg  Li  Na  Au  Hg  K

 

As a writer, you must be active. But I do not mean go jogging or swimming, although these activities are also recommended. I mean, write using the active voice. Do not use the passive voice.

Have a look at the following sentences. Which style do you prefer?

The book was read by the radiographer. passive voice

The radiographer read the book. active voice

George was hit by the angry sonographer. passive voice

The sonographer hit George. active voice

It was discovered by the radiotherapist. passive voice

The radiotherapist discovered it. active voice

Mary is known by the radiologist. passive voice

The radiologist knows Mary. active voice

I know which style I like: the active voice. It is vibrant, energetic and jumps out of the page, whereas the passive voice is dull, dead and robotic.

The "voice" resides in the verb. If the subject of the verb is doing the action, then the voice is active. But if the subject of the verb is being acted upon, the voice is passive.

There are also clues, other than the verb, to help you identify the passive voice: the word “by”. Whenever you read a passage littered with the word “by”, you know the writer is using the passive voice—for example, "George was hit by the angry sonographer." You can also detect the passive voice when you read sentences dotted with the word “is”, or “was” for the past tense. "Mary is known by the radiologist." "The radiologist knows Mary."

Yet sometimes we must use the words “by” and “is”. Here are two examples of the active voice using the words “by” and “is”:

Water is necessary for life.

George stopped by the restaurant.

There is another problem with the passive voice: it is verbose. Look at all the previous examples, and you will see that it takes more words to build a passive sentence than its equivalent active form. "Mary is known by the radiologist." "The radiologist knows Mary." There are six words using the passive voice, and four words using the active voice—a saving of two words. So imagine how much shorter your writing will be after hundreds of sentences using the active voice. And this is important because readers reward brevity.

Let us look at an example of the passive voice taken from a respected scientific journal (I have changed key details to avoid legal problems).

Bad scientific writing—passive voice—wordy, weak, boring, robotic (58 words):

It was demonstrated by the researchers that there was no correlation between the administered dose and effect. In fact, it was discovered that the drug in question was not absorbed by the subjects, and therefore bioavailability was very low. The recommendations by the researchers is that this drug is not worth further examination at this point in time.

Now compare it to my rewrite using the active voice.

Good scientific writing—active voice—concise, vibrant, alive, human (29 words, which is half of the original):

The research results showed no correlation between dosage and effect, because of the subjects' poor absorption of the drug (low bioavailability). Hence, the researchers recommend stopping further drug trials.

The em dash (—), also known as an em rule, is roughly the size of a capital "M". It is used to set apart ideas parenthetically, insert an explanation, or change a sentence's direction. Unlike an en dash, you do not insert a space before or after an em dash. To type an em dash using MS Word (Mac edition), press simultaneously the "option", "command" and "-" keys. Here are some examples of the em dash in action.

 

There are many ways to cook corn—an important food source also known as maize—without masking its natural flavour.

 

So many laboratory animals suffer in the name of humanity—there are many articles in the appendix citing numbers—that to ignore this injustice is to deny our humanity.

 

There are three dosage forms available—a tablet, a capsule, and a pessary (you can look up the definition)—and it is up to your pharmacist to prescribe the correct one.

 

The disease wreaks havoc on the young and old—not the healthy adult.

 

A few publishers use the en dash—with a space preceding and following it—instead of the em dash. So the previous sentence would look like this: A few publishers use the en dash – with a space preceding and following it – instead of the em dash. Both forms are acceptable, but the em dash is clearer.

And this closes the discussion about the hyphen (-), en dash (–), and em dash (—). You can now use these punctuation marks with the prowess of a professional writer—and impress an editor.

Do you know the difference between a hyphen and an en dash? If you are not a professional writer or an editor, I am willing to wager that you do not know the difference. The en dash (–), also known as the en rule, is used to link words together. To type an en dash using MS Word (Mac edition), you press simultaneously the "command" and "-" keys.

For spans of figures, including distances and times, you should use an en dash without any spaces preceding or following it. For instance:

 

Pages 45–55 of the manuscript should be deleted.

 

During 1850–62, disease wiped out many villagers.

 

Last financial year, 2005–6, I filled out my tax return incorrectly.

 

My business is located at 220–230 Bankrupt Street, Capital City.

 

Only 5–8 per cent of the students responded to my survey.

 

But look at the following exception: "The wolves devastated the livestock during his reign (5 BC – 10 AD)." A space is inserted before and after the en dash, otherwise, if it is written as "5 BC–10 AD" without any spaces preceding and following the en dash, then a link is only suggested between BC and 10. This concept also applies to the "United States – Australia agreement", or the "New York – Sydney flight", because United States is two words and Australia is one, and New York is also two words and Sydney is one. But it is an "Australia–Japan agreement", or a "London–Paris flight", because Australia and Japan are single words, as are London and Paris.

Also note that it is "cost–benefit analysis" with an en dash, not "cost-benefit analysis" with a hyphen. "Cost" is associated with "benefit", but both words maintain their own identity and do not modify "analysis". This rule applies to other word associations that maintain their own identity—for instance, a state–federal partnership.

And yet there are more rules about the confusing en dash. The following examples, with the words "from" or "between", omit the en dash:

 

I lost 60 kg between 1990 and 1995 (do not write "between 1990–1995").

 

The shop is open between 9 am and 5 pm (do not write "between 9 am – 5 pm").

 

The stock market was pummeled from 2007 to 2009 (do not write "from 2007–2009").

 

For the mathematical minus sign use the en dash, with a space preceding and following, instead of the hyphen. Also use an en dash for negative numbers but omit the space between the en dash and the number.

 

5 + 10 – 3 = 12

15 – 20 = –5

–5 – 5 – 5 – 5 = –20

You probably know how to use the hyphen (-). Here are a few examples to clarify its function.

 

Evidence-based research forms the foundation of good science.

 

"Evidence-based" is a compound modifier and needs a hyphen to clarify what is affecting the "research". The research is not being affected by evidence—it is not "evidence research". And the research is not being affected by based—it is not "based research". The research is being affected by evidence-based—it is "evidence-based research". Consider the following compound modifier:

 

Marlene lost $100,000 in the short term. But these short-term losses did not stop her from gambling her remaining $200,000 on her friend's stock tip.

 

The second use of "short-term" takes a hyphen because it is a compound modifier. This rule also applies to:

 

In the long term, Marlene lost $300,000. Unfortunately for Marlene, her long-term losses were crippling.

 

Following the Style manual, we hyphenate a prefix for clarity only. If there is no confusion, then omit hyphenating prefixes. For instance:

 

I re-entered the storage room to restock the oil-stained shelves.

 

"Re-entered" takes a hyphen for clarity, because "reentered" may cause confusion. "Restock" does not take a hyphen, because there is no confusion about the meaning. Also notice that "oil-stained" is another example of a compound modifier. Here are a few random examples of the hyphen in action.

 

"Re-creation" (creating something again) is different to "recreation" (rest-related activity).

 

The 35-year-old man signed up for a clinical trial. The other man who signed up is also 35 years.

 

The doctor is well known for her empathy. She uses well-known techniques to calm her patients.

 

The disease-free rat was infected with Toxoplasma gondii. (Scientific names and genes must be italicised.)

 

There are more colour-blind men than colour-blind women.

 

The website is up to date. It is an up-to-date website.

 

Adverbial phrases—such as "up to date" in, "The website is up to date,"—are not hyphenated. Adjectival compounds (compound modifiers)—such as "up-to-date" in, "It is an up-to-date website,"—are hyphenated.

And this final example shows how to use a hanging hyphen:

 

There is full- and part-time work available. Just tell the boss if you want to work full time, or if you want to work part time.

 

A hanging hyphen, such as in "full-", connects the hyphenated word to the base, "work".