Rivers and Ladders and Bad Breaks, Oh My!
Checking page proofs involves identifying problems introduced in the typesetting process Read More
Posts related to punctuation
Should punctuation following a link be included in the linked text?
Publishers practices vary. On the MLA’s Web sites, when linked text is distinguished with color and underlining, the MLA does not link the punctuation—including quotation… Read More
How do I indicate that material in square brackets is part of the original text?
Normally, when you quote from a source, your reader is to assume that any styling, such as italics or punctuation in the quotation, is in… Read More
Should hyphens be used in an expression such as mid to late 1990s?
No. Since hyphens are not needed to prevent misreading, we recommend that they be omitted. Read more about how the MLA treats mid compounds. … Read More
How are commas used with place names?
Unless a place name is at the end of a sentence and followed by sentence-ending punctuation, whenever you list a city and a state or… Read More
“Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow”: When a Comma Separates Subject and Verb
Learn when to separate a subject and verb with a comma Read More
Commas with Because: How to Make Your Meaning Clear
Learn when to insert a comma before a phrase or clause that begins with because Read More
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 clauses are long and have internal punctuation, as… Read More
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 (12 January 2014) or the… Read More
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, a third grader. Read… Read More