Главная

Популярная публикация

Научная публикация

Случайная публикация

Обратная связь

ТОР 5 статей:

Методические подходы к анализу финансового состояния предприятия

Проблема периодизации русской литературы ХХ века. Краткая характеристика второй половины ХХ века

Ценовые и неценовые факторы

Характеристика шлифовальных кругов и ее маркировка

Служебные части речи. Предлог. Союз. Частицы

КАТЕГОРИИ:






Proper Use of Punctuation Marks




 

Contrary to widespread opinion, punctuation rules are important in scientific, medical, and technical reporting. Because punctuation marks are devised to eliminate ambiguities, they should be applied prudently and consistently. Mistakes in punctuation and haphazard use of punctuation marks undercut the authority of the text and therefore compromise the credibility of your work.

Generally speaking, shorter sentences require less punctuation than do longer ones. Since the reader more readily understands shorter sentences, it is good advice to limit the length of sentences. This reduces the number of commas and other punctuation marks at the same time.

The most commonly used punctuation marks in scientific texts are the comma and period (called a “full stop” in British English). After a period, there is a single space, contrary to a commonly held view among less experienced writers that two spaces are needed. This notion comes from the days of the manual typewriter where two spaces were, in fact, used after a period.

Other punctuation marks frequently used include the colon, semicolon, hyphen, apostrophe, slash (also called virgule), and brackets and parentheses. Writers must be sure to apply them correctly.

Hyphens and Word Division

The hyphen connects compound words, prefixes, and suffixes. Although hyphens help to prevent ambiguity and clarify meaning, they should be used sparingly and consistently. However, certain compound words always contain hyphens. Such hyphens are called “orthographic.” Examples are brother-in-law, free-for-call, or up-to-date.

Hyphens are no longer necessary for prefi xes such as intra, inter, pre, post, non, re, and sub, unless the prefix ends with a vowel and the main word starts with a vowel, e.g., anti-inflammatory, pre-examination, re-analyzed.

The rules below describe some other situations where you should not use a hyphen:

Do not hyphenate Latin expressions or non–English-language phrases used in an adjectival sense, e.g., in vivo experiments, a priori argument.

In the text, do not use hyphens to express a range (e.g., 10% to 20% of the substance), except if the range expresses fiscal years or life spans (e.g., the 2003–2005 data set) or if the range is given in parentheses (e.g., mean age was 22 years; [ range, 11–32 years ]).

Do not hyphenate modifiers in which the second element is a number or letter, e.g., type 2 diabetes, grade A material.

Hyphens are also used to break a word at the end of a line. However, words that are divided at the right-hand margin are an interruption to the reader, and incorrectly divided words slow the reader down even more. Thus, word division should be limited to obvious word breaks, e.g., in words with prefixes or suffixes and in compound words. Both parts of a divided word should be pronounceable.

If you choose to divide a term, use the “optional hyphen” on your computer, usually [ctrl + hyphen], rather than the standard hyphen or en dash. The optional hyphen will allow word breaks only at the end of a line.

If the hyphenated term is no longer at the end of a line because information has been added or deleted after hyphenating the term), the hyphen will not appear in print.






Не нашли, что искали? Воспользуйтесь поиском:

vikidalka.ru - 2015-2024 год. Все права принадлежат их авторам! Нарушение авторских прав | Нарушение персональных данных