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[GUIDE] Noob's Guide to Using Punctuation & Wording!

wsasRO

Platinum Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2017
Messages
3,036
Location
Romania



PUNCTUATION
Hello! Misuse of punctuation is very frequent among the new community members (and not only). I've just made a small guide to help anyone that needs it to learn. If you're unclear about something, the internet's out there waiting for your questions!


DON'T USE "-..."
Never use "-..." in your sentences. It is grammatically incorrect and does nothing but bad to your roleplay's quality.
INCORRECT: -...
CORRECT: ...


DON'T USE "-..."
Want to abruptly interrupt your sentence? Use a dash (-) instead of "-..."
INCORRECT: Get out, it's going to-...
CORRECT: Get out, it's going to--


ELLIPSIS DOTS
Usage of ellipsis dots (...) is extremely simple. Three dots, at all times. Not ".." or "...." and CERTAINLY not "....."
INCORRECT: I've been thinking about what we should be doing tomorrow....
INCORRECT: I've been thinking about what we should be doing tomorrow..
CORRECT: I've been thinking about what we should be doing tomorrow...


EXCLAMATION MARKS
Exclamation marks - ! - tend to be misused as well. Here are two examples of how you should and how you should not use an exclamation mark.
INCORRECT: Congratulations on winning the Senate elections!!!
CORRECT: Congratulations on winning the Senate elections!


SEMICOLONS
Semicolons - ; - are rarely used but there are specific cases where I'd personally rather use one than add another comma to the already three other commas in my sentence.
A semicolon is an alternative for commas in a sentence, usually, but not necessarily, placed before a connector (and, but, or, nor, etc.) in between two independent clauses.
People have a tendency to mistake a semicolon for a colon - : - or use it in a context where a comma would've done a better job.
INCORRECT: I went to the grocery store today and I bought the following; [...]
CORRECT: I went to the grocery store today and I bought the following: [...]

CORRECT: He looked over his exam results today; he wasn't very pleased.
INCORRECT: It wasn't a very bad mark; but I could've done better.
A plain comma could very well substitute the above semicolon, considering there is no conjunctive adverb to replace the conjunction "but".


COMMAS
Commas (,) are the most misused punctuation marks until now. From placing one in the wrong context and spacing a word from a comma to not using it at all, the misusage of a comma varies. Here are a few more examples.
INCORRECT: I told you I woke up at nine o'clock and ate mom!
CORRECT: I told you I woke up at nine o'clock and ate, mom!

Unless you really ate your mom, place that comma in there. And if you do place it, make sure you don't place it like...
INCORRECT: I told you I woke up at nine o'clock and ate , mom!
INCORRECT: I told you I woke up at nine o'clock and ate ,mom!
INCORRECT: I told you I woke up at nine o'clock and ate,mom!


APOSTROPHES
Don't use apostrophes in the possessive pronouns like hers, ours, yours, whose, ours his, its, or theirs. It is also incorrect to use apostrophes in nouns that are plural but not possessive, such as CDs, 1000s, or 1960s. Do not use an apostrophe in verbs.
INCORRECT: Clyde snatched this old lady's ring the other day, but it's value ain't worth a darn coin! (VERY COMMON MISTAKE ON RCRP!)
CORRECT: Clyde snatched this old lady's ring the other day, but its value ain't worth a darn coin!
INCORRECT: I dropped by Ernie's for some barbeque, to show off my brand new boot's.
CORRECT: I dropped by Ernie's for some barbeque, to show off my brand new boots.
Do not
add an "s" followed up by an apostrophe to plural nouns. It is another common grammatical mistake that won't get you any farther than Monty Park or something. (lOl)
INCORRECT: My childrens's health is perfect, they do not need vaccines!
CORRECT: My children's health is perfect, they do not need vaccines! (vaccinate your kids btw)
EXAMPLES OF OVERBOARD RETARDATION:
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apostrophes-OXE-blogpost-compressed.jpg

Pies-and-burgers-apostrophe-post-OXE-compressed.jpg

Pizza-hut-apostrophe-mistake.jpg

apostrophe-abuse-OXE-compressed-image.jpg
Another important notice is that you should never excessively use apostrophes in your IC sentences. The banter from this guide's replies really helps! Learn from our gamers here.
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WORDING
RCRP's community is various. Many people from many countries have found their way here with decent knowledge about English; more or less.
There are many mistakes when RCRP players misuse certain words whose meaning they did not clearly understand or fail to properly use a specific word in their sentences.


FOREIGN IDIOMS
A fair amount of them fails to realize that not all proverbs, traditional sayings, and overall expressions DO NOT adhere to a coherent phrasing of words, but rather put in light the fact that they still haven't mastered the basics of English (which is, supposedly, a requirement of you being here).
In shorter words, these are foreign idioms used in English. And it's wrong to do that.
Here is a live example of what I'm talking about.
54202

This translates well in Romanian, but in English, it's just cringe and weird.
And further into it...

GERMAN: "Ich glaub, mein Schwein pfeift!"
MEANING: "I can't believe it!"
ENG TRANSLATION: "I think my pig whistles!"

SPANISH: "Mucho ruide y pocas nueces."
MEANING: "All talk and no action."
ENG TRANSLATION: "A lot of noise and no action."

ITALIAN: "Trattare a pesci in faccia."

MEANING: To disrespect someone.
ENG TRANSLATION: To treat you with a fish in your face.

This is an easy mistake to make when your native language is anything other than English, but it's just as easy to learn not to reproduce it.


((will update frequently))
 
Last edited:

kosowarner

Silver Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2017
Messages
556
Location
kosovo
True, also something worth being mentioned is the apostrophe(s) ( ' ), when you use slang, especially people that are involved in illegal roleplay (gangs etc), it is no longer recommended to use the apostrophe to replace any unheard letters: ( 'Sup, Hannin', Gon' (for gonna), 'n (for and) ) etc etc, just remove the apostrophe when you use these words.
 

wsasRO

Platinum Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2017
Messages
3,036
Location
Romania
True, also something worth being mentioned is the apostrophe(s) ( ' ), when you use slang, especially people that are involved in illegal roleplay (gangs etc), it is no longer recommended to use the apostrophe to replace any unheard letters: ( 'Sup, Hannin', Gon' (for gonna), 'n (for and) ) etc etc, just remove the apostrophe when you use these words.
exactly. will eventually include everything in the thread.
 
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