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How to punctuate
By Russell Baker
The NewYork Times
Whenyouwrite,youmake a soundin the reader’shead.Itcan be
a dull mumble — that’swhyso muchgovernmentprose makes
yousleepy — or itcan be a joyful noise,aslywhisper,athrobof
passion.
Listentoa voice tremblinginahauntedroom:
"Andthe sulken,sad,uncertainrustlingof eachpurple curtain
thrilledme — filledme withfantasticterrorsneverfeltbefore…"
That’s Edgar AllanPoe,amaster.Fewof us can make paper
speakas vividlyas Poe could,butevenbeginnerswill write
betteronce theystart listeningtothe soundtheirwritingmakes.
One of the mostimportanttoolsformakingpaperspeakinyour
ownvoice ispunctuation.
Whenspeakingaloud,youpunctuate constantly — withbody
language.Yourlistenerhearscommas,dashes,questionmarks,
exclamationpoints,quotationmarksasyoushout,whisper,
pause,wave yourarms,roll your eyes,wrinkle yourbrow.
In writing,punctuationplaysthe role of bodylanguage.Ithelps
readershearthe way youwant to be heard.
‘Gee,Dad,have I got
to learnall themrules?’
Don’tletrulesscare you.For theyaren’thardand fast.Thinkof
2. themas guidelines.
Am I saying,"Goaheadand punctuate as youplease"?
Absolutelynot.Use yourowncommon sense,rememberingthat
youcan’t expectreaderstoworkto decipherwhatyou’re trying
to say.
There are twobasicsystemsof punctuation:
1. The loose oropensystem,whichtriestocapture the way
bodylanguage punctuatestalk.
2. The tight,closed structural system,whichhewscloselyto
the sentence’sgrammatical structure.
Most writersuse a little of both.Inany case,we use much less
punctuationthantheyused200 or even50 yearsago.(Glance
intoEdward Gibbon’sDeclineandFall of the Roman Empire,first
publishedin1776, foran example of the tightstructure systemat
itsmost elegant.)
No matterwhichsystemyouprefer,be warned:Punctuation
marks cannotsave a sentence thatisbadlyputtogether.If you
have to struggle overcommas,semicolons,dashes,you’ve
probablybuiltasentence that’snevergoingtofly,nomatterhow
youtinkerwithit.Throwit away andbuilda new one to a
simplerdesign.The betteryoursentence,the easieritisto
punctuate.
Choosingthe righttool
There are 30 mainpunctuationmarks,butyou’ll needfewerthan
a dozenfor mostwriting.
3. I can’t show youin thissmall space howtheyall work,so I’ll
stickto the most important — and eventhencanonlyhitthe
highlights.Formore details,checkyourdictionary ora good
grammar book.
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Comma
Thisis the mostwidelyusedmarkof all.It’salsothe toughest
and mostcontroversial.I’ve seenagingeditorsalmostcome to
blowsoverthe comma.If youcan it withoutsweating,the others
will be easy.Here’smypolicy:
1. Use a commaaftera longintroductoryphrase orclause:
Afterstealingthe crownjewelsfromthe Towerof London,Iwenthome
for tea.
2. If the introductorymaterial isshort,forgetthe comma:
Afterthe theftI wenthome fortea.
3. But use it if the sentence wouldbe confusingwithoutit,
like this:The daybefore I’drobbedthe Bankof England.
4. Use a commato separate elementsinaseries.Irobbedthe
DenverMint,the Bank of England,the Towerof Londonand mypiggy
bank.
Notice there isnotcomma before andinthe series.Thisis
commonstyle nowadays,butsome publishersuse acomma
there,too.
5. Use a commato separate independentclausesthatare
joinedbya conjunctionlike and,but,for,or,nor,because orso: I
4. shall returnthe crown jewels,fortheyare tooheavyto wear.
6. Use a commato set off a mildlyparenthetical wordor
groupingthatisn’tessential tothe sentence:Girls,whohave always
interestedme,usuallydifferfromboys.
Do not use commasif the wordgroupingisessential tothe
sentence’smeaning:Girlswhointerestedme know how totango.
7. Use a commain directaddress:Yourmajesty,please hand
overthe crown.
8. And betweenpropernamesandtitles:Montague Sneed,
directorof ScotlandYar, was assignedthe case.
9. And to separate elementsof geographical address:
DirectorSneedcomesfromSkokie,Ill.,andnow livesinLondon,
England.
Generallyspeaking,use acommawhere you’dpause brieflyin
speech.Fora longpause or completionof thought,use aperiod.
If you confuse the commawiththe period,you’ll getarun-on
sentence:The Bankof Englandisin London,I rushedrightoverto rob
it.
Semicolon
A more sophisticatedmarkthanthe comma,the semicolon
separatestwomainclauses,butitkeepsthose twothoughtsmore
tightlylinkedthanaperiodcan:I steal crownjewels;she steals
hearts.
Dash and parentheses
Warning!Use sparingly.The dashSHOUTS.Parenthesis
5. whisper.Shouttoooften,people stoplistening;whispertoo
much,people become suspiciousof you.
The dash createsa dramatic pause toprepare for an expression
needingstrongemphasis:I’ll marryyou — if you’ll robTopkapi with
me.
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Parentheseshelpyoupause quietlytodropinsome chatty
informationnotvital toyourstory:Despite Betty’sdaringspirit
("Ilove robbingyourpiggybank," she oftensaid) ,she was a terrible
dancer.
Quotationmarks
These tell the readeryouare recitingthe exactwordssomeone
saidor wrote:Bettysaid,I can’t tango."Or: "I can’t tango,"Betty
said.
Notice the commacomesbefore the quote marksinthe first
example,butcomesinside theminthe second.
Notlogical?
Nevermind.Doitthat way anyhow.
Colon
A colonisa tip-off togetreadyforwhat’snext:a list,a long
quotation oran explanation.Thisarticle isriddledwithcolons.
Too many,maybe,butthe message is:"Stayon your toes;it’scomingat
you."
Apostrophe
The big headache iswithpossessive nouns.If the nounis
6. singular,add‘s:I hatedBetty’stango.
If the noun isplural,simplyaddanapostrophe afterthe s: Those
are the girls’coats.
The same appliesforsingularnounsendingins,like boss:My
boss’sfavorite authorisDickens.
Andin the plural:Thisisthe Dickenses’cottage.
KeepCool
You knowaboutendinga sentence withaperiodorquestion
mark. Do it.Sure,youcan also endwithan exclamationpoint,
but mustyou?Usuallyitjust makesyousoundbreathlessand
silly.Make yourwritinggenerate itsownexcitement.
Fillingthe newspaperwith!!!!won’t make upforwhat your
writinghasfailedtodo.
Too manyexclamationpointsmake me thinkthe writeristalking
aboutthe panicinhis ownhead.
Don’tsoundpanicky.End witha period.Iam serious.A period.
Understand?
Well…sometimesaquestionmarkis OK.
