Full stop or point

3.2

No further full stop is required if a sentence ends with an abbreviation that takes a point (e.g. “etc.”) or a quotation complete in itself that ends in a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark before the final quotes:

Walther Rathenau once said “We stand or fall on our economic performance.”

3.3

Full stops as omission marks (aka ellipsis points). Always use three points, preceded by a hard space. In Word, use Alt + Ctrl + (full stop) to insert ellipsis points. In French texts the points are commonly enclosed in brackets. This is never done in English:

“The objectives of the Union shall be achieved ... while respecting the principle of subsidiarity.”

If a sentence ends with an omission, no fourth full stop should be added.

If any other punctuation mark follows, there is no space before it.

NB: where French uses omission marks to mean “etc.”, put etc. instead.

3.4

Run-in side heads. These are followed by a stop in English typographical practice (while colons are used in French).

3.5

Colons are most often used to indicate that an expansion, qualification or explanation is about to follow (e.g. a list of items in running text).

3.6

A colon can be used to divide a sentence into two parts that contrast with or balance each other. The first part, before the colon, must be a full sentence in its own right: the second need not be.

3.7

Do not use colons at the end of headings or to introduce a table or graph set in text matter. See Chapter 9 for more on lists and tables.

3.8

Colons never require the next word to start with a capital: contrast usage in German etc.

3.9

Colons should also be closed up to the preceding word, unlike in French usage.

3.10

Use the semicolon to link two connected thoughts in the same sentence; to separate items in a series in running text, especially phrases containing commas; or to add emphasis. Do not be afraid of replacing commas by semicolons and vice versa where this serves to clarify the meaning of your translation.

3.11

Commas, or their absence, can completely change the sense of a sentence:

There were, too, many objections

There were too many objections

3.12

Non-defining relative clauses. Non-defining relative clauses must be set off by commas to distinguish them from relative clauses that define the preceding noun:

The translations, which have been revised, can now be typed.

(added detail — they have all been revised)

The translations which have been revised can now be typed.

(defining the subset that is to be typed — only those that have been revised are to be typed)

NB: in defining relative clauses, 'that' often reads better than 'which':

The translations that have been revised can now be typed

Note that the use of 'which' in defining relative clauses is generally considered to be stilted and overly formal. 'That' reads more naturally. It also helps make the meaning clearer, reinforcing the lack of commas, since it is used as a relative pronoun only in defining clauses. Unlike 'which', however, 'that' needs to be close to the head noun of its antecedent, so in the following phrase:

The translation in the tray that/which needs to be taken to the typing pool

'that' more naturally refers to 'tray' while 'which' points more to 'translation'.

3.13

Inserted phrases. Use two commas, or none at all, for inserted text.

3.14

Adjectives in parallel. Strings of adjectives all modifying a later noun but not each other should be separated by commas:

moderate, stable prices.

But where the last adjective is part of the core it is not preceded by a comma:

¹moderate, ²stable ³agricultural ⁴prices.

Here, 1 and 2 each separately modify the core (3 - 4).

3.15

Items in a series. If brief, these are separated by commas, including the final item if followed by “etc.”; a comma may also be needed for clarification before a final “and”:

sugar, beef, milk products, etc.

sugar, beef, and milk products (i.e. not beef products)

sugar, beef and veal, and milk products

3.16

Note that a comma is not required before “etc.” if there is no series involved:

They discussed milk products etc., then turned to sugar.