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Common Punctuation Problems

This tip sheet covers some of the most common punctuation questions that come up in advocacy writing. For a complete review of punctuation principles, consult reference books such as the AP Stylebook or Webster's Dictionary or basic books on writing.

It's means it is.  The apostrophe takes the place of the missing letter "i."  ("It's the first time those workers have belonged to a union.")

Its is the form that indicates possession, as in "the school and its staff"

(not "the school and it's staff.)

Apostrophes are not used to make nouns plural.

No: In the 1920's, workers left union meetings in one's and two's so they wouldn't be seen.

Yes: In the 1920s, workers left union meetings in ones and twos so they wouldn't be seen.

Don't use a comma before "and" when there is no new subject.

No: Head Start workers united for better pay and benefits, and reduced staff turnover to provide more stable relationships for their students.  (While there is a new verb -- "reduced" -- there is no new subject.)

Yes: Head Start workers united for better pay and benefits, and staff turnover was reduced to provide more stable relationships for their students. (Now there is a new subject -- "staff turnover" -- and therefore a comma before "and.")

Better: By uniting for better pay and benefits, Head Start workers helped reduce staff turnover.  (This makes cause and effect clear in a way that "and," even when punctuated properly, often does not.)

Don't use a comma before "because."

No: Home care workers voted 1,005 to 55 to form a union, because after years of asking for higher pay they wanted more strength in numbers.

Do use commas to separate three or more items in a list. Some people only put a comma after the first of the three items, and many people are inconsistent about which way they handle it.  Get in the habit of separating each item with a comma, and you'll never have to worry about inconsistent style or inadvertent confusion on the reader's part.

No: Janitors' biggest concerns are living wages so they don't have to work several jobs to survive, affordable health coverage for themselves and their families and full-time jobs for those who don't want to have to piece together several part-time positions. (The lack of a comma after the word "families" that ends the second item in the list leads to potential confusion.)

Use em-dashes more than you would in other kinds of writing. (An em-dash is the long dash made in Word by typing two dashes in a row.)  They often provide more emphasis than colons or commas.

Correct but could be better: Nurses united for reforms to improve patient care: safe staffing ratios, limits on mandatory overtime, and better pay and benefits to attract and retain skilled employees.

Better: Nurses united for reforms to improve patient care -- safe staffing ratios, limits on mandatory overtime, and better pay and benefits to attract and retain skilled employees.

Correct but could be better: Nurses put patient care quality first, and that's why they have united for safe staffing ratios.

Better: Nurses put patient care quality first -- and that's why they have united for safe staffing ratios. 

Correct but could be better: Nurses, as well as patient advocacy groups, have endorsed strict staffing ratios.

Better: Nurses -- as well as patient advocacy groups -- have endorsed staffing ratios.

Don't use semi-colons -- ever. Their use leads to sentences that are too long and connections that are not sharply drawn. Finish a thought, put a period, and start a new sentence.  Or rewrite the sentence to connect two thoughts more clearly.

No: Social services budgets have been cut by 30 percent in the past year; at the same time, the downturn in the economy has increased the need for those services.

Yes: Social services budgets have been cut by 30 percent in the past year. At the same time, the downturn in the economy has increased the need for those services.

Or: While social services budgets have been cut by 30 percent in the past year, the downturn in the economy has increased the need for those services.

Or: The downturn in the economy has increased the need for social services -- yet budgets have been cut by 30 percent in the past year.

Don't use exclamation points except in very rare cases. They often make headlines or text seem like propaganda and add to clutter in layouts.  Good writing generally makes points of emphasis clear without exclamation points.  Use this test: does the headline or sentence work without the exclamation point?  If so, leave it out.

No: Act Now to Improve Services Our Community Needs!

Yes: Act Now to Improve Services Our Community Needs

No: Home care workers don't even have health coverage for themselves!

Yes: Home care workers don't even have health coverage for themselves.

If a parenthetical phrase is used at the end of a sentence, the period goes outside the parentheses.  If the entire sentence is in parentheses, the period goes inside.

Yes: A majority of the Senate supports the bill (although that could change).

Yes: (A majority of the Senate supports the bill, although that could change.)

Endquotes go after a period or comma (although inside a colon or semi-colon).

No: Many security officers do not like to be referred to as "security guards".

No: Security officers generally do not like to be referred to as "security guards", "rent-a-cops", or other names that fail to recognize their professional status.

Courtesy of TheWorkSite.org