Full stop

Some current printing and word-processing conventions omit the full stop after abbreviations in the belief that it makes the typescript more attractive. (This is one example of how English has changed because of technology). Though this approach is incorrect in a traditional sense, many writers have adopted this 'modern' approach. For example, compare U.K.C.C. with UKCC, D.o.H. with DoH and Dr. Jones with Dr Jones.

Apostrophe

The apostrophe is used to indicate the possessive ('belonging to'): Tony's book; the University's rules and regulations; the cat's whiskers. It is also used to indicate a contraction where letters have been omitted: shouldn't (should not); didn't (did not); B'ham (Birmingham). You should avoid using contracted words in formal academic writing (i.e. in essays and assignments), unless you are reporting verbatim speech.

Apostrophes are not used when forming plurals from singular words. Thus: dog (singular) becomes dogs (plural) and not dog's (which means 'belonging to the dog'); similarly, girl becomes girls and not girl's; house becomes houses and not house's. This is a very common error that trips up a lot of students.

It's and its

One of the ambiguities of English is that the word it's is the contraction for it is. You can get round this problem by never writing it's in academic writing (remember, avoid contractions in academic writing) - always write it is.

It's is not the possessive of it - unlike other possessives which use an apostrophe, (e.g. Sally's - belonging to Sally, your's - belonging to you).

The possessive of it is its, e.g "It would find its own way home".

Speech marks (inverted commas)

There is no universally accepted distinction between the single form ( ' ' ) and the double ( " " ). However, grammarians tend to view the single as the norm, with the double reserved for a quotation contained within a quotation. Perhaps the best advice is to choose one or the other (single or double) and be consistent.

Ellipsis

An ellipsis is the omission of a word or words from a piece of text. Three dots (...) is the standard printing convention. Ellipses are extremely common in academic texts, especially in direct quotes.

Parenthesis

A parenthesis is an explanatory phrase inserted into a sentence that could otherwise exist without this phrase being inserted. There are four ways of identifying a parenthesis: it can be surrounded by a pair of commas, a pair of round brackets, a pair of square brackets or a pair of dashes. The type of mark selected depends on how much the parenthesis interrupts the flow of the main sentence. Square brackets are for parentheses that interrupt the most (square brackets are mainly used to indicate an explanatory point in a quotation); round brackets for parentheses that interrupt less so. Commas are used for parentheses that interrupt the least. Dashes are used where the parenthesis needs to be emphasised.

Examples (Parenthesis shown in bold):

• Parenthesis using commas:
  'The dog, which was rather fearsome, attacked Tony without warning.'

• Parenthesis using round brackets:
  'Many occupational groups (and this includes nurses) know little about their respective employment rights.'

• Parenthesis using dashes to emphasise:
  'Ironically, the occupational group most likely to come into contact with health promotion materials - health care workers - has turned out to be one of the least healthy occupational groups around.'

• Parenthesis in a quote using square brackets:
  'They [that is, nurses] are generally happy with their pay on conditions.'

Note that if the parenthesis is removed, the sentence still makes sense.

Latin phrases

Latin phrases and abbreviations are common in academic work. Some of the most frequently used are listed below:

• e.g. ( exempli gratia ) means 'for example'.

• et al. means 'and others'.

• etc. ( et cetera ) means 'and so on'.

• cf. ( confer ) means 'compare' or 'compare with'.

• i.e. ( id est ) means 'that is' or 'in other words'.

• ibid. ( ibidem ) means 'the previous source/reference referred to' (not used with the Harvard referencing system but common in some other systems).

• op. cit. ( opere citato ) means 'in a work previously cited' (not used with the Harvard referencing system but common in some other systems).

Adapted with permission from The University of Manchester School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting Study Skills Workbook by Steven Pryjmachuk.

Useful reading

Fowler, H. F. (1998) (ed.). The New Fowler's Modern English Usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fowler, H. F. (1998) (ed.). The New Fowler's Modern English Usage. (3rd edition, revised by Robert Burchfield). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Partridge, E. (1999). Usage and Abusage: a Guide to Good English. 3rd edition, revised by J. Whitcut. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Truss, L. (2003). Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. London: Profile Books.