The 3 terminal punctuation marks - The Full Stop

The 3 terminal punctuation marks

Punctuation is very important to bring coherence and structure to written material. This post details the use of terminal punctuation marks namely the full stop, the question mark and the exclamation mark. They are very important as they convey to the reader that an idea/thought has been wrapped up and come to an end. Every sentence with a few exceptions ends with one of the three terminal punctuation marks.

Terminal Punctuation Marks  (used at the end of sentences)

                                                    1. Full Stop (.)

                                                    2. Question mark (?)

                                                    3. Exclamation mark (!) 

Terminal Punctuation Mark- A full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark - is always written next to the last letter of the last word of the sentence without any white space between. 

The Full Stop

Full Stop / period is one of the most commonly used punctuation marks. There are many places which require the use of Full Stop.

While in British English it is called as Full Stop or Full Point, in American English it is named as a Period.

The Full Stop/Period is used 
 1. At the end of sentences

  Full Stop/Period is used to indicate strong pause when used at the end of sentences that    are not questions or exclamations.

  Example: I am Anand.

 2. After abbreviations

An abbreviation is a shortened way of writing a word.

Abbreviations are different from contractions. The difference between the two is the way they are pronounced. Whereas an abbreviation does not have a distinct pronunciation, contractions have distinct pronunciation.

 Dr is pronounced as doctor whereas can’t is not pronounced as cannot.

 A full stop is usually used at the end of abbreviation.

 Examples: subj., etc., Pres., adj., Dec., Fri., Univ.

 However, if the abbreviation ends with the last letter of the word, full stop is NOT used. Some common examples:  Dr, Mr, Mrs, St, etc. 

Note: Dr Vijay which could also be written as Doctor Vijay.

 ATTENTION! This rule is followed in British English whereas in American English, a full stop follows such abbreviations too.

After a.m. (`before noon') and p.m. (`after noon') 

Example:  11.00 a.m. 

Note: These are not capitalized in British usage but American usage prefers 11.00 am, with small capitals and without full stops. 

* In typography, small caps (short for small capitals) are lowercase characters typeset with glyphs that resemble uppercase letters (capitals) but reduced in height and weight, close to the surrounding lowercase letters or text figures.

3. After initials

 A person’s initials are also abbreviations. Hence a full stop follows initials of persons.  Increasingly, however, there is a tendency to write such initials without full stops.

 Example:  A.A. Milne (Alan Alexander Milne), G.B. Shaw (George Bernard Shaw), P.B. Shelley (Percy Bysshe Shelley), P.G. Wodehouse (Pelham Grenville Wodehouse)…

Note: A rare case was Harry S Truman: the S in this name never takes a full stop because it's not an abbreviation for anything; President Truman's parents actually gave him the middle name S.

ATTENTION! When an abbreviation comes at the end of a sentence, only one full stop is used. Never use two  full stops in a row.

There are a number of Latin abbreviations which are used commonly in English writing. Here are the commonest ones with their English equivalents:

e.g. Latin phrase exempli gratia meaning for example

i.e. is an abbreviation for the phrase id est, which means "that is." I.e. is used to restate something said previously in order to clarify its meaning. in other words

viz. The abbreviation viz. (or viz without a full stop) is short for the Latin videlicet, which itself is a contraction of the Latin phrase videre licet, meaning "it is permitted to see". It is used as a synonym for "namely", "that is to say", "to wit", "which is", or "as follows"

etc. etcetera; and so on; and other things of a similar kind and so forth

When using these Latin abbreviations, it is important to punctuate them correctly.

Terminal punctuation mark at the end of a fragment sentence 

Every sentence must have a subject, a verb and should express complete thought. Sentence fragment misses one or more of the above three things. A Fragment must be avoided in formal writing. On the other hand a fragment gives the drama and emphasis needed in creative writing. 

Fragment should always end with a full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark, as appropriate.

Example:

 Let us go to a picnic tomorrow. Sure.

Can I have another scoop of ice cream? Of course!

I need to go home. But how? 

Where there is no FULL STOP 

1. Full Stop is NOT used with initials.

Initialism is where initial letters of words form an abbreviation and the letters are pronounced separately.

UK (United Kingdom), BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), CNN (Cable News network) – these words are examples of initialism.

Full Stop does not separate these letters. 

2. Full Stop is NOT used with Acronyms.

An Acronym is the new word formed from the initials if a group of words. Acronym is pronounced as spelt. Full Stop does not separate the letters in Acronym. Some examples – NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), UNICEF (The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund), DOB (Date of Birth), DIY (Do It Yourself), ESL(English As Second Language), FAQ  (Frequently Asked Questions).