Tag: punctuation marks

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The Picky Pen

Punctuation Series: How to Edit Commas with Clauses

In light of the holiday season, here’s a final fun topic in our Punctuation Series: editing commas within independent and dependent clauses. Do you think Santa Claus will be pleased we included him?

I’ll be referring to The Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition, chapter six.

Let’s hitch up our sleigh and explore briefly these elements. Knowing when to insert commas in relation to independent and dependent clauses can seem confusing, like someone mixing up your name with someone else’s at the holiday gift exchange. So, let’s be clear and get started.

Use Commas with Independent Clauses When…

  • two ideas are separated by a conjunction.

    Heather trekked two miles through the snow back to her house, but when she arrived, the gift was not there.
  • the clause is part of a series.

    Jack is writing about thoroughbreds, Crystal is writing about detectives, and Cathryn is writing about the militia.
  • However, if the sentence is relatively simple, then consider eliminating the comma.

    Elyah played the harp and Havilah sang.
  • Or, if the sentence has the same subject but different verbs, leave off the comma.

    Ian dusted and waxed the piano for tonight’s singalong.

Use Commas with Dependent Clauses When…

  • your sentence has an introductory element, like a subordinating conjunction (if, when, or because).

    When we are ready, please lift the angel to the top of the tree.
    Because without six carolers, our group won’t be in harmony.
    If no one comes, it means more cookies for me.
  • your sentence has a parenthetical thought.

    We’ll watch the play, if you’re inclined to join us.
  • your sentence has two dependent clauses separated by a coordinating conjunction.

    Grandpa decorated the tree with an array of bubble lights, and if little Claire had not played with the end of the string, the lights might have gone up sooner.


I hope you’ve enjoyed this final blog post for this year’s series! It’s meant to be a reminder for those sometimes tricky and pesky Grammarly things.

Thanks as ever for joining this Punctuation Series journey this year. It’s been a pleasure sharing with you. Out of this series, what have you most enjoyed?

Tisha Martin writes historical fiction and nonfiction but also edits and proofreads for beginning and best-selling writers, professional editing agencies, and publishing houses. She has a BA in Professional Writing, an MS in English Education, and an editing certificate from the PEN Institute, affordable continuing education for editors. Active in American Christian Fiction Writers and The PEN, she appreciates the writing and editing communities. As Assistant Director of PENCON, a conference for editors, she enjoys travel marketing and updating PENCON’s Facebook Page. Connect with Tisha on her website www.tishamartin.com and engage in the conversation.

Categories
The Picky Pen

Punctuation Series: How to Edit Foreign Quotation Marks

Have you ever tried to read a book in a foreign language? Perhaps some of you have. I’ve tried reading Spanish and German, and when I didn’t know either language, I got all turned around by how they used quotation marks. So, to quotation mark or not to quotation mark, that is the question. More like, going into the quirky, fun side of the quotation mark!

I’ll be referring to The Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition, chapter six.

Since this element of grammar has so much to say (whoever knew there was so much to say about quotation marks?), I’ll touch on the highlights, and also give a glimpse into quotation  marks for foreign language, too. And since so many of our books are being published in different languages, I thought this would be super cool to talk about!

Using quotation marks with other punctuation in the text. (Chicago Manual of Style 6.114).

  • Yeah, it can get tricky sometimes, especially when our fingers are typing faster than we can keep up.
  • So, in using quotation marks with commas, we know that the quotation marks are  generally placed *outside of commas, question marks, exclamation points, but *inside colons and semicolons.
  • But what about when foreign language is involved?

Using “smart” quotation marks (Chicago Manual of Style 6.115).

  • Call me a smarty pants, but it’s universally acknowledged in the professional publishing sphere that published works should use “smart” quotation marks. Because we’re smart. I really think it has to do with the way this punctuation looks: curly in form, instead of straight typewriter-quotation marks. So, curly quotes it is for “smart” writers. Example: “ ”, not ʺ.
  • The above information is for the English language. 😊 Now do you want to know what it’s like for French? Well, let’s hop on over to Chicago 11.29 and following!
  • French. For quotation marks, the French use guillemets to surround whatever needs to be in quotes. Like this: « ».
  • So, an example sentence: « Oui, madam » . Now, for quotations within quotations, regular double quotation marks are used (like this, “example text”).
  • However, and this gets trickier, but I think it’s pretty cool! In dialogue, the guillemets are replaced with em dashes. So, for example, He said, — Oui, madam.
  • German. (Chicago 11.41!) Depending where your book is published in Europe, punctuation marks take different forms. Quite literally.
  • Whereas the French use guillemets, the Germans use split-level inverted quotation marks; or, if you’re in Switzerland, your book’s dialogue will use guillemets.
  • Here’s an example of the split-level quotation marks for German prose: „Guten Tag!“

So the next time your book’s being published in French or German, you’ll know a bit about what to expect where quotation marks are involved.

How’s that for quotation marks within the foreign text? I hope you enjoyed it!

Conversation Time!!

Please take a minute and join in the discussion! I’d love to hear from you!

Do you read any foreign languages? Which books have you enjoyed?

Tisha Martin writes historical fiction and nonfiction but also edits and proofreads for beginning and best-selling writers, professional editing agencies, and publishing houses. She has a BA in Professional Writing, an MS in English Education, and an editing certificate from the PEN Institute, affordable continuing education for editors. Active in American Christian Fiction Writers and The PEN, she appreciates the writing and editing communities. As Assistant Director of PENCON, a conference for editors, she enjoys travel marketing and updating PENCON’s Facebook Page. Connect with Tisha on her website www.tishamartin.com and engage in the conversation.

Categories
The Picky Pen

Punctuation Series: How to Edit Punctuation Marks

Presentation is everything, especially when it comes to the publishing world. And your presentation of punctuation is crucial to your book’s success. But punctuation can be tricky, boring, and downright distressing at times. As a writer and an editor, I completely understand your frustration with grammar altogether. You’d rather write, right? Right! So let’s continue our 2019 focus on a simple, easy-to-understand punctuation series that I hope will be a help and encouragement to you, allowing you more time to write well.

If you feel like you’re back in grammar school, please take heart—and know that this isn’t going to be a boring, stuffy ‘nother grammar lesson. When writing, it’s super important to make sure our punctuation marks are in the right spots, as it’s like a golden ticket to success.

Where Are Poorly-placed Punctuation Marks Located?

  • Surrounding dialogue
  • In the middle of two conjoined sentences
  • At the end of sentences
  • And anywhere your fingers accidentally touch a key

Let’s Dive In!

Commas (Chicago Manual of Style 6.16 and following)

  1. Wrong: “I don’t think we’d better go there”, Robert said.
    (commas always go inside the closing quote mark with dialogue, especially with a dialogue tag.)
    Right: “I don’t think we’d better go there,” Robert said.
  2. Wrong: Julie left came back and left again.
    (this is treated like a series of items, and each one needs a comma in between.)
    Right: Julie left, came back, and left again.
  3. Wrong: After removing her shoes she hopped onto the couch.
    (commas are used with adverbial introductory phrases)
    Right: After removing her shoes, she hopped onto the couch.

Semicolons (Chicago Manual of Style 6.56 and following)

  1. Wrong: She spent much of her free time at the bookstore no flimsy bookbag would do.
    (a semicolon is needed because two subjects within the same idea is present.)
    Right: She spent much of her time at the bookstore; no flimsy bookbag would do.
  2. Wrong: The writer had a blister on his finger therefore, he put a Band-Aid on his finger and kept typing.
    (a semicolon is needed before the word therefore because it acts as an adverbial conjunction that joins two sentences of the same idea.)
    Right: The writer had a blister on his finger; therefore, he put a Band-Aid on his finger and kept typing.
  3. Wrong: Joe, Jamie, and Juanita, research editors Carlos, production editor and Larry, managing editor, offered support for the local magazine.
    (a semicolon is needed in several places to pare off the different categories.)
    Right: Joe, Jamie, and Juanita, research editors; Carlos, production editor; and Larry, managing editor, offered support for the local magazine.

Periods (Chicago Manual of Style 6.12 and following)

  1. Wrong: She set the groceries on the counter and put the milk in the fridge,
    (a period is needed at the end of the sentence, of course. Many times, we get in a hurry and our fingers fly wherever…)
    Right: She set the groceries on the counter and put the milk in the fridge.
  2. Wrong: We wanted to see Mount Ranier while one vacation. (We were told it was gorgeous).
    (periods go inside the sentence if enclosed in parenthesis as a complete thought.)
    Right: We wanted to see Mount Ranier while one vacation. (We were told it was gorgeous.)
  3. Wrong: The Bible says, “He must increase but I must decrease” (John 3:3.)
    (periods go outside of the sentence if the parenthesis is attached to the sentence as a complete thought.)
    Right: The Bible says, “He must increase but I must decrease” (John 3:3).

Using well-placed punctuation marks is important because your overall presentation makes a world of difference to your editor, agent, publisher, and readers. That may seem counterintuitive because the writing is equally important, but it’s the presentation that tends to enhance your credibility as a writer. (Especially if you self-publish and are doing your own first-draft editing.)

Next month, we’ll look at some more ways to edit the punctuation in your manuscript, but for now. . . remember, please don’t call the semicolon a “semi comma” as an insurance agent I used to transcribe for called it. Every time he wanted to insert a semicolon, he’d say, “semi comm,” and it just cracked me up!

Please take a minute and join in the discussion! I’d love to hear from you!

Which of these punctuation marks do you contend with or love?

Tisha Martin writes historical fiction and nonfiction but also edits and proofreads for beginning and best-selling writers, professional editing agencies, and publishing houses. She has a BA in Professional Writing, an MS in English Education, and an editing certificate from the PEN Institute, affordable continuing education for editors. Active in American Christian Fiction Writers and The PEN, she appreciates the writing and editing communities. As Assistant Director of PENCON, a conference for editors, she enjoys travel marketing and updating PENCON’s Facebook Page. Connect with Tisha on her website www.tishamartin.com and engage in the conversation.