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
Posts related to punctuation
How to Use (Not Abuse) Parentheses
Get tips on how to use parentheses and how to avoid overusing them Read More
Dashes in MLA Style and Microsoft Word
Learn how the MLA uses dashes and how to access them in Microsoft Word Read More
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… Read More
The Case of the Thick Black Eyebrows; or, When to Omit Commas between Multiple Adjectives Preceding a Noun
An MLA editor shows you how to decide whether commas are needed between adjectives preceding a noun Read More
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 compound… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
If I am writing a paper in Spanish, should I follow Spanish rules or MLA style rules for the placement of a period in relation to quotation marks?
Follow Spanish rules. Read more on writing papers in foreign languages. Read More
Is there a way to avoid back-to-back parentheses when a block quotation ends with a parenthetical and the quotation is followed by a parenthetical reference?
The best way to avoid multiple punctuation is to rewrite if possible. Let’s say you are citing the passage from an e-book without stable pagination. Read More