“Avoid” unnecessary punctuation and
formatting!!!!! |
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Details |
Incorrect Example |
Correct Example |
a) Never double or triple the
exclamation mark or the question mark.
Use the exclamation mark sparingly.
|
This is
annoying!!!!!! Don’t do
it!!!!! |
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b) A colon is not needed after a preposition
or linking verb. |
This book is by: Gary
Paulsen. The
room will be painted: blue. |
This book is by Gary Paulsen. The
room will be painted blue. |
c) Avoid the slash. This is annoying to the reader. |
When he / she wants / wishes for this and / or that… |
When
people desire many material objects… |
d) Prefer the humble comma to its
fancier cousins (parentheses), the long dash – , [brackets], or even the
semicolon;. Rewrite the sentence to avoid them if
it is possible. |
The old man (who worked as a waiter)
left before nine. |
The old man, who worked as
a waiter, left before nine. |
e) A comma is not needed between the
subject and the verb, even if the subject is long. |
The boy that came late
wearing a blue hat, spilled the punch.
|
The boy that came late
wearing a blue hat spilled the punch. |
f) A comma is not needed between the
verb and words that describe the subject (predicate
adjectives or predicate nouns).
|
He
was, anxious and
nervous. |
He
was anxious and nervous. |
g) There must be at least three items in a list to
need commas. Do not use commas to separate only two items. |
He
ran down the hill, and grabbed his
bike. |
He
ran down the hill and grabbed his bike.
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An excessive use of exclamation marks
is a certain indication of an unpracticed writer. H.W. Fowler,
author |