When should I use a semicolon before a coordinating conjunction?
Semicolons should be used before coordinating conjunctions—that is, terms such as and, or, and but joining independent clauses—when the . . .Published 4 August 2020
How are commas used in date ranges?
As the MLA Handbook (sec. 1.5) explains, when writing dates, you should "be consistent in your use of either the day-month-year style ( . . .Published 17 July 2020
Are grade levels hyphened in MLA style?
MLA style hyphens grade levels in adjective form but not in noun form: a third-grade student, a student in third grade, . . .Published 9 July 2020
How to Use (Not Abuse) Parentheses
Like some other punctuation marks, parentheses are used in prose to set apart some text in a sentence, such as an explanation, observation, aside, or digression. Text . . .Published 30 June 2020
Dashes in MLA Style and Microsoft Word
The series Microsoft Word and MLA Style shows writers how to use Word to make their essays conform to MLA style guidelines . . .Published 24 June 2020
How do I style a title or short title enclosed in parentheses in my parenthetical citation?
If a title or short title in parentheses must be given in a parenthetical citation, do not nest parentheses within parentheses. Instead, change the parentheses around the . . .Published 9 June 2020
The Case of the Thick Black Eyebrows; or, When to Omit Commas between Multiple Adjectives Preceding a Noun
Editors are trained to provide explanations for substantive changes they make to a writer’s text. “It just sounds better” is not a convincing argument. And yet . . .Published 19 May 2020
How do I style compound modifiers that express number ranges?
The MLA follows The Chicago Manual of Style’s rules for hyphening number ranges in modifiers (“Hyphenation Guide”). When the compound is an adjective, the . . .Published 18 May 2020
Should the serial comma be used before an ampersand?
Omit the serial comma when using an ampersand: Shelley bought all the vintage Earth, Wind & Fire albums she found at the yard sale. Ampersands belong to . . .Published 4 May 2020
How do I create a vertical list in which each item includes a quoted fragment and a complete sentence?
Follow the guidelines on how to create a vertical list. Since the quotes are fragments, you may lowercase them. Either a colon or a period may follow . . .Published 30 April 2020