EXAMPLES: His aim was, to foster the interests of the natives. To continue, I will now show the consequence of my argument. (11) It is used also to set off an adverb or adverbial phrases when they cause a break in the construction of a simple sentence. EXAMPLES: This curiosity of theirs, however, was attend- And yet I knew that every wrong, But waited God's avenging hour. (12) It is used to set off prepositional phrases when they interrupt the sequence of a simple sentence, or when they are separated from words on which they are dependent. EXAMPLES: American aristocracy is, to some extent, a matter of wealth. By study, we may add to our store of knowledge that acquired by our ancestors. (13) It is used to set off a conjunction when it is divided from the main clause dependent on it or when it introduces an example. EXAMPLE: The collision was inevitable, but, by timely assistance, the crew was saved. (14) It is used occasionally to set off interjections. EXAMPLE: Yet then from all my grief, O Lord, Thy mercy set me free. (15) It is used to set off a word which it is desired to emphasize. The semicolon is used to indicate a separation in the relations of the thought in a compound sentence a degree greater than that expressed by the comma. (1) It is used to separate different statements; that is, the different clauses of a compound sentence which are already separated by commas. EXAMPLE: We may live without poetry, music, and art; We may live without friends; we may live But civilized man can not live without cooks. (2) It is used to separate two or more simple members of a sentence when these require a pause greater than that which a comma would mark. EXAMPLE: Who lives to nature rarely can be poor; who lives to fancy never can be rich. (3) It is used before "as" when employed as an introductory to an example. EXAMPLE: That which is not permitted or allowed; as, the illicit sale of intoxicants. 3. THE COLON (:) The colon is used as a sign of apposition or equality to connect one clause with another that explains it, as in introducing a list, a quotation, an enumeration, or a catalog; or to join clauses that are grammatically complete yet closely connected in sense; or to mark any discontinuity in sense or grammatical construction greater than that which is indicated by a semicolon, but not sufficient to require a period or a dash. (1) It is used to separate one complete clause from another. EXAMPLES: The power to bind and loose to Truth is The mouth that speaks it is the mouth of Love is the emblem of eternity: it confounds (2) It is used in sentences in which the semi colon has been introduced when a greater pause is required than can be indicated by a semicolon. EXAMPLE: It surely was not obscurity; it was not weakness: it was a want of that sensitive (3) It is used to introduce a formal quotation. EXAMPLE: A writer in the Westminster Review discourses in this fashion: Another curious observation upon philosophic activity is that the coordination of all functions which constitute the whole intellectual energy of philosophic minds is preserved in its plenitude for only a short period of their whole duration of life."' 4. THE PERIOD (.) (1) The period or full stop is used after every complete declarative statement. EXAMPLE: Consider the end. (2) After title-headings and side-heads. (3) After most abbreviations. EXAMPLES: A. M. for ante meridian; LL. D. for Doctor of Laws; e.g. for exempli gratia (for the sake of example). (4) After Roman numerals, except when they are used to number pages. 1 Phelps, English Style in Public Discourse, p. 133. The dash is used to mark (1) a change of thought or construction, or (2) an emphatic or unexpected pause. EXAMPLES: (1) He may live without books-what is knowl- He may live without hope-what is hope (2) What say ye? Speak now-now or never. 6. THE INTERROGATION-POINT (?) The note of interrogation or eroteme is used at the end of a sentence to designate (1) a single question or (2) more, and (3) is sometimes written in parentheses to express a doubt or challenge the accuracy of a statement. EXAMPLES: (1) Truths would you teach, or save a sinking (2) Father of Light! Great God of Heaven! Can vice atone for crimes by prayer? |