Punctuation

Good writing requires only the minimum of punctuation. If a lot of punctuation is required, it is probably time to revise your text.

The punctuation marks : ; ? and ! should be set close up to the preceding word. Do not separate them with a space. After the punctuation mark, type only one space, not two.

Include full stops after initials in a name, but not after Mr or Ms. So it is Mr C. Dickens.

Colons, semicolons

Use a colon to introduce a list or to indicate that an expansion, qualification or explanation is about to follow. ‘They brought gifts: gold, recycled paper and a bottle of clean air.’

Use a semicolon to mark a pause longer than a comma and shorter than a full stop, where the two independent clauses are not connected by a conjunction such as ‘but’ or ‘and’: ‘He removed the antlers; in their place he hung a portrait’. If in doubt, use a full stop.

Use a semicolon to divide points listed in a sentence if commas do not do the job clearly. ‘The system performs the following tasks: data assessment and analysis; data presentation in maps, figures and tables; and regular updating’.

Parentheses (brackets)

(If a whole sentence is within parentheses, put the full stop inside.) Otherwise the punctuation stays after the parentheses (like this).

Percentages

Do not put a space between the number and the % sign. It is 20% and not 20 %.

While we are at it, there is much confusion about the expressions percentage and percentage point. A percentage point is the simple numerical difference between two percentages while a percentage is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. So: An increase from 10% to 20% is a 10 percentage point increase and a 50% increase.

Quotation marks

Place full points and commas inside the quotes for a complete quoted sentence, otherwise the point comes outside:

Example: Mary said, ‘Your style guide needs updating,’ and I said, ‘I agree.‘

But: ‘Mary said that updating the guide was “a difficult and time-consuming task”.’

Use single quotation marks for quotes and double quotation marks for quotes within quotes.

Example: ‘He described the bicycle as “totally worthless”.’

In general though, try to find alternative ways of writing quotes within quotes as they are very difficult to read.

When beginning a quote with a sentence fragment that is followed by a full sentence, punctuate according to the final part of the quote.

Example: The minister called the allegations ‘blatant lies. But in a position such as mine, it is only to be expected.’

As you can see, these examples become quite complex. Therefore, always try to find other solutions first.

Quotations longer than four lines can be marked with indentation, preferably set in a smaller font. Opening and closing quotation marks are not needed when presented this way. Use single quotation marks for any quotation within the extract.

Take care with direct speech: readers should be confident that words appearing in quotation marks accurately represent the actual words uttered by the speaker, though ums and ahems can be removed and bad grammar improved. If you are not sure of the exact wording, use indirect speech.

Slashes

Avoid writing x/y since the meaning is confusing.

For clarity use one of these terms: x or y, x or y or both, x and y. Be careful with x and/or y. It is often (ab)used when the writer is unsure. Avoid it.

Use a slash for tonnes/day and km/hr, and for fractions such as: 90/100. Simple fractions are better spelt out: one half, two thirds, three quarters.

Square brackets

Square brackets are used for all editorial additions to quotations. Sometimes a quote is easier to understand if non-essential elements are cut out or a longer section is shortened. Such changes made to a quote are placed in brackets.

Examples:

Original quote: “Trade among countries that are still members of the EU after 1 January 2021 is free of tariffs.”

Edited quote: “Trade among [EU Member States] is free of tariffs.”

Original quote: “I think, although many people may disagree or only partially agree, that we made considerable progress.”

Edited quote: “I think […] that we made considerable progress.”

Emojis

Do not use emojis, other than in text messages. Be particularly mindful of this when writing and responding to emails from your phone. Emojis ‘translate’ very poorly across apps and operating systems. Many proprietary Iphone emojis, for example, are converted to meaningless characters in standard Windows email programmes. This can cause confusion or worse.

Other punctuation resources

In their zeal to be complete, style guides can get so overburdened that they become too difficult to navigate. Just for punctuation, there is a very nice website called The Punctuation Guide. Because it is an American website, the link here goes to the page describing the few but essential differences between punctuation in US English and in UK English.

The punctuation section of the English Style Guide produced by the Translation Service of the European Commission is good but a bit confusing to read. Whenever it is inconclusive, it refers to the online resource of the Oxford Dictionary, lexico.com. Be careful using the Oxford dictionary though, because on spelling advice it deviates considerably from the EU-preferred style. The University of Sussex produces a very good and exhaustive Guide to Punctuation that more clearly lists all the possible punctuation elements.