Punctuation

Period

Use a period at the END OF A SENTENCE that makes a statement, requests something, or gives a mils command.

Note: It is not necessary to place a period after a statement that has parentheses around it and is part of anothe sentence.

EXAMPLE: One time, when my friend was driving, our teacher, Mr. Spock (we called him that because he had funny ears and showed no emotion), told her to make a left turn, and she quickly responded by turning on the windshield wipers.

Place a period after an initial or an abbreviation.

EXAMPLE: Ms. Sen. M.D Jr.

A period is used as a decimal point.

EXAMPLE: New York City has around 7.3 million people; its last budget was $33.4 billion.

Using an ELLIPSIS

Use an ellipsis (three periods) to show that one or more words have been omitted in a quotation. (Leave one space before and after each period.)

EXAMPLE:

(Original)

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the generat welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain, and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. -Preamble, U.S. Constitution

(Quotation)

"We the people . . . in order to form a more perfect Union . . . establish this constitution for the United States of America."

Using an ellipsis at the END OF A SENTENCE.

If words from a quotation are omitted at the end of a sentence, place the ellipsis after the period that marks the conclusion of the sentence.

EXAMPLE:

"Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand, signed the Emancipation Proclamation . . . . But one humdred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free." -Martin Luther King, Jr., "I Have a Dream"

Note: If the quoted material is a complete sentence (even if it was not complete in the original), use a period, then an ellipsis.

EXAMPLE:

(Original)

"I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun is now stands

I will fight no more forever." -Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce

(Quotation)

"I am tired . . . . From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever."

OR

"I am tired . . . . I will fight no more . . . . "