WHAT EVERY REPORTER MUST KNOW ABOUT PUNCTUATION TO TRANSCRIBE CORRECTLY
Dr. Santo “Joe” Aurelio, FAPR, RDR (Ret)
August 7, 2020 From this seminar, you will be shown ALL of the marks of punctuation. From this seminar, you will learn tried and true steps to attain mastery of the correct use of the marks of punctuation. From this seminar, you will discover how to save time and effort by following the recommendations by the presenter in order to transcribe faster and more correctly. PERIOD
The period is the most important mark of punctuation. It marks the end of a sentence – that is, the end of a thought, the end of an independent clause. Independent clauses can stand alone and always contain at least a subject and a predicate (verb). FRAGMENTS A fragment is NOT a sentence. A fragment is a group of words that does not say anything. It is not a complete thought. Therefore, it cannot stand alone. As mentioned previously, all that is necessary for a sentence is a subject and a verb that say something. RUN-ON SENTENCE A run-on sentence is a sentence or a group of words joining or going into another sentence or group of words with either no punctuation or just a comma. COMMA One of the most important marks of punctuation is the comma ( , ). More errors are committed by the misuse of the comma than by any mark of punctuation other than the period. Remember – frequently a comma imputes or suggests a pause. The comma assists the eyes of readers when they are reading to themselves, and it assists speakers when they are reading aloud. DASH
A dash (--) is made on a typewriter by typing two hyphens. On some word processors two hyphens become one long hyphen – in effect, a dash. Some important uses for a dash are to explain something, to indicate a break or change of thought, or to indicate an unfinished sentence. QUESTION MARK
A question mark (?) is used after an interrogatory sentence. It can also be used to express doubt or inaccuracy (as, He said he is over 9 (?) feet tall). BUT in cases of inaccuracy or doubt, the question mark should not be used by reporters because that would be testifying. AMPERSAND The ampersand is the symbol &, which stands for “and” -- and it is increasingly being used in informal writing, but most grammarians frown on its use in formal writing. Reporters should use the ampersand when it is part of the name (as, Lord & Taylor), but not when it is not part of the name (as, Sears Roebuck and Company). COLON A colon ( : ) is two dots, one over the other. A colon implies that something is forthcoming, especially a series. E.g., Bob hired two people: John and Mary. When used in that manner, a colon must be followed by two spaces – not one. Other uses: to express time or ratio, to refer to the act and scene of a play, etc.) PARENTHESES Parentheses are composed of a beginning parenthesis ( ( ) and an end parenthesis ( ) ). The plural of parenthesis is parentheses. Parentheses are used to set off explanatory matter that is not strictly germane. E.g., The results of the test (Chart 5) are impressive.
N.B. – Parentheses should be very sparingly used by reporters. (Reporters should not testify.) BRACKETS Brackets are made up of a beginning bracket ( [ ) and an end bracket ( ] ). Brackets are employed to enclose parenthetical materials within parentheses. E.g., (Obey those rules [see Fig. 8] very carefully.) Brackets are also used to enclose corrections, omissions, or explanations (as, Christmas is December 24 [25]). ELLIPSES An ellipsis (omission or suspension) in quoted material is indicated by three dots or periods (…) denoting that a word or words have been deliberately omitted at the beginning or the middle of a sentence or group of words. E.g., “To be … that is the question.” Another example: “ … and seven years ago our fathers brought forth …. “ (four periods [three + 1 sentence- ending period] at the end because it is the end of the sentence or quotation that is being omitted.) The plural of ellipsis is ellipses. EXCLAMATION POINT
The exclamation point ( ! ) is used primarily to denote surprise, emphasis, command, irony, and/or great emotion. It is also used after interjections (as, Alas, Gee, Wow, etc.). Most grammarians suggest, though, that it be used very sparingly in formal writing. E.g. That speeding car is headed right for you!
N.B. – The use of exclamation points by reporters is, in effect, testifying. APOSTROPHE
An apostrophe ( ‘ ) is a single mark that is generally used to show a contraction, to show possession of all singular and plural nouns, and to show the plural of words, numbers, and letters.
N.B. – In a compound noun that is separated by hyphens, or in a group of words, the apostrophe belongs after the last syllable (as, my father-in-law’s car, Mary and John’s house, etc.). POSSESSIVE With respect to all words other than pronouns, the possessive case is accomplished by inserting apostrophe s ( ‘s ) after a singular word (e.g., the boy’s bike). If the word is plural, usually just an apostrophe ( ‘ ) is added (as, the two boys’ bikes). But there are some exceptions: the men’s department, the women’s dresses, the children’s clothes, certain animals (as, sheep, deer), and most fish (as, trout, carp). SEMICOLON The semicolon ( ; ) is a mark of punctuation that is more frequently misused than used correctly. The semicolon should only be employed for one of three reasons:
(1) to separate independent clauses (whether or not connected by a conjunction); (2) to make a series; and (3) to avoid confusion QUOTATION MARKS
A quotation mark ( “ ) is inserted before and after quoted material. E.g., Betty yelled “Stop.” Notice that the period goes inside the end quotation mark if that is the end of the sentence. Compare that with the following: Betty yelled “Stop” to me.
N.B. – Re quotes within quotes, the second quote must be a single quote (‘ ). Therefore, the sequence must be “ ’ ’ ”. HYPHENS There are many hyphenated and nonhyphenated words. This does NOT refer to end-of-line hyphenations. Many of these hyphenated and nonhyphenated words follow a pattern. All words which deal with proper names MUST take a hyphen (as, pre-Columbian). Words starting with the following prefixes do NOT take a hyphen: inter, iso, mis, over, poly, pseudo, psycho, sub, supra, trans, ultra, and un. There are NO EXCEPTIONS. CAPITALIZATION
Certain words should be capitalized. E.g., the beginning of every sentence, proper names, proper-name adjectives (as, Tiffany glass); the seasons of the year but only when they are personified (as, I saw Winter shake off his coat of snow); initials; titles, names of groups, and nationalities; holidays, months, and days of the week; words indicating a particular section of the country (as, She lives in the East, which is south of Canada); words relating to God except who, whom, and whose; and all personified forms (as, Destiny, Fate, the Furies, etc.). DOUBLE NEGATIVES
Two negatives in a sentence or group of words make the assertion or statement positive or affirmative. E.g., The sentence, “He cannot not go to the show,” actually means that he must go to the show. If what is meant is that a person cannot go to the show, then ONLY one negative (cannot) should be used: He cannot go to the show. CLAUSES A clause is a group of words. It functions either as a sentence or as a part of a sentence. There are two types of clauses: independent and dependent. An independent clause can stand alone – i.e., it is a complete sentence because it has a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. A dependent clause cannot stand alone because it does not express a complete thought; it is just a group of words, a fragment. SPACING
Type or print ONE space after commas and semicolons, but be sure to type or print TWO spaces after periods, question marks, exclamation points, and colons.
N.B. – Unfortunately, many people, including the APA, Chicago Manual of Style, AP, Microsoft Word, and US Government Printing Office Style Manual, all recommend inserting only ONE space after periods, question marks, exclamation points, and colons. But the presenter maintains that it is much easier to read if TWO spaces are used. NUMBERS
The general rule relative to the writing of numbers is that numbers 10 and over should be written in Arabic numbers or digits (as, 10, 21, etc.).
Exceptions: Single-digit address numbers may be written with numbers (as, 5 Elm Road). If an address begins a sentence, it is strongly recommended that the number be written out (as, Five Elm Road is where I live). Thank you for attending! Questions? Contact Santo Aurelio at [email protected]