spacing

apostrophe (within a word)

• the woman’s hat

apostrophe (end of word)

• the employees’ suggestions

colon

• We’ll need the following: a tent, sleeping bags and good weather.

comma

• She was born on Friday, March 13, 2009.

decimal point

• 43.5 hours

ellipsis (unspaced, i.e. no space between ellipsis points)

• There was little he could say … so he said nothing.

em dash

• Jean’s car—a silver Lexus—was stolen last night.

en dash

• pages 84–95

Note: A spaced en dash may be used in a sentence in place of an unspaced em dash. In that case, the en dash has one space before and after it:

• Jean’s car – a silver Lexus – was stolen last night.

exclamation point

• Wow! That’s wonderful!

hyphen

• the bride-to-be

oblique (used between two letters, symbols or words)

• n/a
• and/or

oblique (used to separate a single word or group of words from another group of words)

• Language and Society / Langue et societé
• highlights / key points

parenthesis or bracket (opening)

• The em dash (long dash) is a substitute for the comma, colon or semicolon.

parenthesis or bracket (closing)

• Using personal pronouns (I, you, we) helps us write more clearly.

period

• You can drop by tomorrow. I’ll be home.

question mark

• What did he say? I wasn’t listening.

quotation marks (opening)

• She said, “We have nothing to fear …

quotation marks (closing)

• … but fear itself.”

semicolon

• To err is human; to forgive, divine.