How do I punctuate a sentence in parentheses that follows another sentence?
If a sentence in parentheses follows a sentence, place a period before the closing parenthesis: I went to an exhibit at Vito Schnabel’s gallery. (Vito… Read More
Posts related to punctuation
If I list both a page range and a DOI as locations, what punctuation do I use between them?
Insert a comma between the page range and DOI. For an example, see our post on citing a paginated journal that appears online. Read More
Inanimate Nouns and Possession
Opinions vary on which inanimate nouns can be made possessive by adding ’s Read More
Should there be a space between single and double quotation marks?
Although publishers often insert a thin space between single and double quotation marks to make the text easier to read, writers do not need to… Read More
In prose, should a transliterated song title appear in italics or quotation marks?
In prose, style a transliterated title the same way you would style the title in English. In the following example, the transliterated title A fidler… Read More
How do I quote dialogue that is not in quotation marks?
Some works render dialogue without enclosing it in punctuation that would distinguish it from the surrounding text. Treat such dialogue as you would treat any… Read More
If I am writing about two people with the last name Anderson, and one uses the suffix Sr., where do I place the suffix?
List the full name of each person and provide the suffix after the last name of the person to whom it belongs. In MLA style,… Read More
“Scary” Punctuation: The Origins, Use, and Abuse of Scare Quotes
An MLA editor explains the origins of scare quotes Read More
In a block quotation, can I reverse the order of two sentences if I separate them with an ellipsis?
No. Sentences in a block quotation cannot be reversed because, as the MLA Handbook notes, “[a] quotation should never be presented in a way that could cause… Read More
How should commas be used with dates in my prose?
In the day-month-year style, do not use commas: School started on 4 September 2018. In the month-day-year style, use a comma to set off the… Read More