Newsletter 015
Spelling and Punctuation: . , ; ‘ “ -– —
A cryptic title this time around? Not exactly; but who knows — maybe some alien-ish readers will find meaning in these symbols.
This series will deal with a wider scope of things, as we will do our best to point out the importance of proper spelling and punctuation in semi-formal and formal settings. We will discuss different ways to use the listed symbols as well as the ways we can utilize them to improve our writing.
Full Stop vs. Comma vs. Semicolon (. , ;)
Starting from the obvious one — a full stop is used to mark the end of a sentence (duh, right?).
However, what if I told you that you don’t have to finish your sentences with a full stop; and what if there is another way to do so without ending one thought and starting a new one, but simply making a pause in the middle of your thought process? Something like taking a pause while speaking on one topic.
Well, the example is in the previous paragraph. A semicolon is between a full stop (a complete ending of one thought) and a comma (a pause that helps us split parts of one thought). We use it when we want to finish one thought and start a new one with the goal to connect the thoughts better. We don’t want to split the thoughts completely and we don’t want to split them in the way that a comma would. The truth is somewhere out there… in the middle.
Nexy likes eggs; Mile does not.
The cat slept through the storm; the dog hid under the bed.
Apostrophe vs. Quotation Marks (‘ “)
First and foremost — we NEVER use the apostrophe to mark plural forms.
The apostrophe is used when we want to shorten an expression:
he has — he’s; he is — he’s;
Čogić’s a good football player;
Zeka’s scored 3 goals;
or to say that one thing/person belongs to another thing/person:
Jeka’s crazy socks; Vrba’s knives;
our engineers’ code;
their women’s desks.
The plural is always made without an apostrophe:
We have many Nemanjas in our hub.
I’ve bought the amazing GBYTXs — these headphones are amazing!
They were born in the early 1940s.
Apostrophes can be also used as quotation marks — especially when we have a quote within a quote:
@Dejle said: “Thanks for the tag.”
@Karlo replied: ‘No problemo.’
@Sibar wrote: “Ask Sreten: ‘Are you sleeping peacefully?’ ”
Feel free to choose your style, but remember — stay consistent.
Hyphen vs. En Dash vs. Em Dash (-– — )
The reason why they call them En and Em is because of the length — the length of the line is comparable to the length of the capital ‘N’ and ‘M’, respectively.
A hyphen (-) is used to connect two parts of one word:
semi-finals, a well-done burger.
En dashes (–) are used to indicate spans of time or ranges of numbers:
Children aged 10–25 (from-to); pages 20–22.
They are also used similarly to hyphens — when we want to connect two expressions which are not easy to connect, e.g. longer phrases or words that normally are not connected:
The pre-war period vs. The pre–World War One period (the pre-world-war-one period is too strange, but can be used as well)
Em dashes ( — ) are used instead of commas or colons or even semicolons:
The lunch — which Bilja and Ivan beautifully prepared — is served.
We had to postpone the match — the one that was supposed to be tonight.
In my days, we knew all the dances — tango, waltz, samba, you name it!
Depending on the platform, this dash will either just extend itself or it will extend and connect the two words (like here).
Not all platforms support all symbols, but that does not mean that we should neglect their proper usage. Knowing how and when to use them makes us better writers, which is why we should always strive towards perfection.
Hope you enjoyed this read. Next week, a similar topic is to be discussed; but until then — stay mindful and keep practicing.
Take care!
