Is a comma needed after a short introductory phrase?
No. For more on when to include and omit commas, see our post.
Published 28 March 2018
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Can you use between or from and to with a number range expressed using numerals and an en dash?
You can express a number range using words (“from . . . to”): The party will take place from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Or you can use an en dash: The party will take place 6 p.m.–10 p.m. But you cannot combine words (“from”) and an en dash to convey a range: The party will take place from . . .
Published 14 March 2018
How do I punctuate a quotation within a quotation within a quotation?
A simple principle applies for what seems like a thorny issue: Nest punctuation that appears within punctuation by alternating punctuation marks to disambiguate–in this case, between double and single quotation marks. One Level of Nesting The most common reason for nesting punctuation is shown in section 1.3.7 of the MLA Handbook (p. 87): when you . . .
Published 9 March 2018
Can a date be broken at the end of a line?
Yes.
Published 23 January 2018
Should periods be used with degrees (e.g., B.A.)?
Practice varies. As indicated in section 1.6 of the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook, MLA style does not use periods between letters for abbreviations composed of mainly capital letters, but you can use periods if you are consistent.
Published 31 January 2018
How do I handle prefixes such as pre- and post- in MLA style?
MLA style, which follows Merriam-Webster, does not use hyphens after most prefixes. We would write, for example, antiestablishment, coauthor, nonlinear, and prealgebra. A hyphen is needed, however, before a capital letter (pre-Renaissance), when the term would be hard to recognize otherwise (anti-intellectual), and to avoid misreading (the hyphen in re-cover, meaning “cover again,” distinguishes the term from recover, meaning “recuperate”).
Published 18 January 2018
Where do I place an exclamation point or a question mark in relation to a parenthetical reference for a paraphrase?
You should place an exclamation point or a question mark after the parenthetical reference for a paraphrase: Why did Karl Marx say that a commodity is a strange object (47)? Work Cited Marx, Karl. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Translated by Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling, edited by Frederick Engels, vol. 1, Progress Publishers, 1887, www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/ . . .
Published 19 December 2017
Should a hyphen or an en dash be used for inclusive page ranges?
In the MLA Handbook and examples of student writing on The MLA Style Center, hyphens are used in page ranges since hyphens may be easier for students to use. Publishers, however, use en dashes.
Published 8 December 2017
How should I style a direct question contained in a sentence?
If a direct question contained in a sentence is long or has internal punctuation, set the question off with a comma and begin it with a capital letter: The question posed to the MLA editors was, How should a question contained in a sentence be punctuated? The teacher wondered, Will my students ever understand how to incorporate a question . . .
Published 23 March 2018
How do I punctuate quoted dialogue from a novel?
How you punctuate quoted dialogue from a novel will depend on what you are quoting and how you are quoting it. See the three most common considerations below. Quoting Dialogue and Text If you are incorporating a quotation featuring both exposition and a character’s speech into your text, use double quotation marks around the quotation and single quotation marks . . .
Published 14 December 2017