American punctuation

American punctuation like everything American, differs in some aspects from its English analogue.

1. Periods as well as commas must be in the quotation marks. George said:” It is not possible.” His friend replied, “Certainly, I agree” but her face said,” I totally disagree with you.”

2. All ellipsis dots must be put into brackets. For example, if you would like to jettison the part of the sentence “from these poor people, from this untenable humdrum of country life, from rainy and cold days” the sentence should look like following I was running away [. . .] to much brighter and more pleasant future.

3. Use period if the ellipses occur at the end of the phrase: First he visited New York. Boston was the second city he traveled to. The third city was Miami. If you try to omit the text, you should present the quotations as following: “First he visited New York. [. . .].The third city was Miami. “

4. The following are typical examples of citations for MLA style. If you intend to omit the name of the authors in the text, then the names of the authors should be mentioned in the parenthetical references. He was very shy and could not understand what she was hinting at. (Cables, 1997). However, if you intend to mention the name of the writer then the number of the page should be included. He was very shy and could not understand what she was hinting at (271).

5. If you quote something, either comma or colon should be used along with capital letters. Hue told, “I thought it had been resolved.” Clare remarked, “I discussed all possibilities with your assistant.” When the word “that” is used as internal introduction no comma, colon or capital letter should be used (the only exception is when the proper name is used). Informal introductions are widely used in the middle of the sentences. Clarington claimed that the act constituted: “the serious and unwarranted crime.” However, there is no correct combination thus one should avoid using coma after “that”. Wrong Greg Tuesons says that, “You should provide me with some examples on this order.” Quotations must be distinguished when you quote within other quotations. Clare exclaimed, : “ I refused to accept this 'offer' –as you name it.”

6. Use apostrophe to indicate the possession of the nouns. If noun is singular, then apostrophe as well as s should be used: Peter’s cat was seen at Jason’s house. However, if the nouns are plurals, then apostrophe as well as s is added to the plural form of the word. One should forget that many of the words, such as theirs and his, are possessive (for example it’s is the contraction of the phrase “it is”).

7. The hyphen should be distinguished from the dash. Dash consists of two hyphens, without any space on either side.

8. Using the parenthesis in American punctuations is similar to British one:

He claimed he knew her (who did not know her in that city?).