5 punctuation problems plaguing your writing and creating copy confusion

Punctuation. Used correctly, it amplifies your writing and boosts your message. Incorrect punctuation, on the other hand, turns your copy into word soup.

"Let's eat, kids" and "Let's eat kids" mean two very different things, all because of one humble comma.

I've seen enough punctuation atrocities in my 20-plus years of writing and editing to last a proverbial lifetime. Help me live out my days a happier grammarian—if that's possible. Don't make these common punctuation errors in your writing.

Even punctuation needs personal space

Gimme space!

An ellipses ( ... ) indicates an omission of a word(s), an incomplete thought, or a pause. Therefore, treat it like a word (AP style). It has no spaces between the dots but spaces before and after the series of three dots (ellipsis points).

✔️ "If you use an ellipses in a sentence, might I suggest ... what was I saying?"

In newspaper copy, the ellipses often is used to tell the reader that material has been removed from a quote for clarity or space.

This: "In a roundabout way, what I'm really saying is, I'm not sure what I'm saying."

Becomes: "In a roundabout way ... I'm not sure what I'm saying."

A few plurals of wisdom

I love the SiriusXM station Big 80s on 8 in spite of its glaring punctuation error.

It's so bad, gag me with a spoon.

When abbreviating years, decades, or centuries, use an apostrophe to replace the missing "19" or "20" or whatever dystopian time frame you are writing about.

👌🏾 Like this: '80s, '90s, '00s ... and so on. Bryan Adams got it right with "Summer of '69."

👎🏼 Not this: 80's, 90's, 00's ...

To understand why the first example is correct and the second is so terribly wrong, let's examine what an apostrophe represents. Try to keep up.

Apostrophes have three uses: To show possession, to show omission of something, and to form plurals of letters, numerals, or symbols.

In our examples above, the apostrophe takes the place of the omitted "19" and "20."

Think of contractions. The apostrophe in "you're" is there because the letter "a" has been omitted from "you are." Get it, McFly?

That's it.

Don't stop believing you can write correctly.

Help US, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You are our only hope

Can we please come together as a country and figure out how to abbreviate the United States?

It should be U.S., with periods. Period!

Well now, except in headlines, says AP style, which allows for atrocities like the CNN headline here. I mean, really, it looks terrible, no?

When do you use the abbreviation? "U.S." is the adjective form.

If you're using the country name as a noun, spell it out—always! (Chicago style also allows for US as the noun, but that is ghastly. You can choose your own style.)

👉 "The United States has not clearly stated its position on child labor laws as they apply to baby Yoda."

When we get U.S. figured out, then we can move on to USA.

Full of wonder or wonderful?

I wonder if this writing tip you're reading right now will blow your mind?

You might wonder where the tip was?

It's right there in front of your face. 👀 Look again.

"I wonder" and "you wonder" are statements, not questions. Thus, sentences beginning with those phrases do not end with a question mark.

The first two sentences of this section should have ended with a period. Period.

I don't have time for this. Or do I?

I have two decades' knowledge, yet this grammar rule still throws me.

In quasi possessives like the one above, where and when do you use an apostrophe?

AP style is pretty clear, if you can believe that. Using the first sentence above:

🔘 When the quantity or measurement (two decades) appears before a noun (knowledge), use the apostrophe where appropriate. Thus, "two decades' knowledge." Other similar constructions: "a week's worth" or "two years' pay" or "your money's worth."

🔘 When the quantity or measurement precedes an adjective, don't use an apostrophe—ever. "My AP stylebook I checked out 16 years ago is about 15.9 years overdue." No apostrophe with "years." Or, "She is seven months pregnant." In those examples, "overdue" and "pregnant" are adjectives describing a book and a woman.

If you're confused, I've got a hack for you.

Going back to the first bullet, think of the phrase "two decades' knowledge" as "two decades of knowledge."

In the second bullet above, you couldn't say "seven months of pregnant" or "15.9 years of overdue."

#GrumpyGrammarGuru #Copywritingtips

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