This punctuation lesson is hoped to sum up the pieces of information on punctuations provided in punctuation 1 and punctuation 2. As claimed in our last lesson on punctuation that a third lecture is delivered on other punctuation marks like:
1.Parentheses/round brackets,
2.Ellipsis; and
3.Underscore.
I'll take the punctuations accordingly; the parenthesis, plural being parentheses, is just the same as the round brackets. Parenthesis is used to mark off a statement that clarifies or which isn't solely part of a sentence, a statement which can be seen being less important (almost an afterthought) or as an aside. Parentheses mark off parenthetic statements. Parenthetic statements are statements that carry pieces of information for more clarification of an utterance and may be removed without affecting the meaning of the major sentence. A parenthetic statement is usually set off by commas: the president, alongside is representatives, was here. Or by parentheses: the president (alongside his representatives) was here. Saw how parentheses were used in the example above?
Now, having understood the meaning and what parentheses stand for, you must also understand how the position of period changes in any sentence that contains parentheses. I unfold them in the following.
One, a parentheses shouldn't have a period/fullstop of it's own in a sentence. Ex.: he walked up to her (his girlfriend.) × he walked up to her (his girlfriend). √ Meanwhile, a parenthetic statement may have a period in the parentheses if the brackets contain a complete sentence. Ex.: come home soon. (You'll be blessed.)
Ellipsis (plural:ellipses) is comprised of three dots: (...). It's a punctuation usually used for omitting less important or irrelevant information in order to avoid beating about the bush. It can also be used to show an interruption during the speech of a person. Full quotation: "we, after a lot of brainstorming, got the correct structure of the Chomskyan analysis". Elliptic: "we ...got the correct structure of the Chomskyan analysis". The use of ellipsis varies according to styles of different writers: while some use space on either sides of the ellipsis, others use spaces on both sides. Some rather economic writers allow no space. See the following examples:
- I'm ready...let's see the doctor.
- I'm ready... Let's see the doctor.
- I'm ready ...let's see the doctor.
- I'm ready ... Let's see the doctor.
- "She's never been able to..."
As you can see, while the first example takes no space with the use of the ellipsis, the second one allows space at the end of the ellipsis. The third allows it at the beginning of the ellipsis but the fourth allows space on both sides. The last example is an example of speech interruption. You can usually find something as such in a dramatic literature/production.
The most popular form of ellipsis is the three dotted form. There are others that contain 4 dots and some even more technical forms used in the legal. Such ellipsis requires more expatiation.
Ellipsis may also start a quotation since it may begin a sentence, be in the middle or at the terminal of a sentence, depending on where you wish to omit words/phrase. When ellipsis starts a quotation, the common way of writing the sentence is to allow ellipsis immediately after the inverted comma and enclose the first letter of the first word in square brackets and in upper case. Ex.: " ...[L]et us start moving", he finally requested.
The underscore (_) is usually used to create space where a space isn't needed without provoking any syntax error. You can use underscore to create blank to be filled up: I ____ a soldier (A. am B. is C. are). You can also use underscore instead of space in emails and usernames since such internet names cannot take spaces: askance_movie@brawl.com. underscore is also known as underline, understrike, underdash, etc.
Thanks you sir
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