GoodFella
Donator
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 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!
((will update frequently))
