En dashes can be used to join complex compound adjectives and prefixes (' He is a Clint Eastwood – type actor ', ' pre – Industrial Revolution ').
Quotation marks
Quoted content
Use double quotation marks for quoted text : The Minister said : “ This is absolutely unacceptable behaviour .”
Use single quotation marks for quotes within quotes : “ He shouted ‘ help ’ so I ran to help him ,” she said .
When using a full quote , the closing punctuation goes inside the quotation marks : “ Tertiary education is popular ,” the Vice-Chancellor said .
“ What do you think ?”
If the quote forms a fragment within a longer sentence , the punctuation goes outside the quote marks :
The Vice-Chancellor said the increase in student numbers showed “ tertiary education is popular ”.
Note : Make sure quotation marks are directional ( formatted ) rather than straight ( unformatted ).
If the quotation runs over multiple paragraphs , attribute at the end of the first sentence , then use quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph to indicate that the quote is continuing . A closing quotation mark is not required until the final paragraph :
“ To really make the business case in the current environment you have to go beyond ‘ we make staff happier ’,” Cogin says .
“ I ’ d like people to see there ’ s an objective business case for doing this .
“ You ’ ve got a lot of organisations that want their employees to be happy at work but when times are tough such initiatives often get cut .”
Titles
Use single quotation marks around titles of articles , essays and lectures .
Call-outs
You can use single quotation marks to call out specialist terms , ironic usage or slang : It is not considered to be ‘ fair dinkum ’.
Semicolons
A semicolon can be used as a ‘ weak full stop ’, joining two sentences to emphasise their linked meaning :
Sport is full of upsets ; that ’ s why we love it .
You can also use a semicolon as a ‘ strong comma ’ to give structure to a list containing long , complex items or items with internal commas :
We advise buying shares , particularly in banks and insurance companies ; property , though only in major cities ; and bonds , unless government regulations change dramatically before the end of the year .
Note : Do not use semicolons at the end of each item in a bullet list .
Soliduses
While it may be tempting to use a solidus as an easy filler , this can make writing seem lazy and unfinished . Where possible , replace the solidus with ‘ and ’ or ‘ or ’ – or ‘ and / or ’ if it ’ s important to keep both alternatives . But use a solidus in tables if space is tight .
The maths and science students did not attend .
The maths / science students did not attend .
He was interested in studying arts and / or law .
He was interested in studying arts and / or law .
Writing Style Guide | Punctuation 41 | Back to contents