When should commas be used with introductory phrases that include dates?
A comma may generally be omitted from an introductory phrase of two or three words, but consider using a comma when you wish to emphasize… Read More
Posts related to punctuation
Should the comma after an italicized element appear in italics?
Publishers differ in their practice. In its publications, the MLA’s preference is not to italicize commas that appear after italicized elements. However, we are open… Read More
In reference to centuries, when should I use a hyphen with early and late?
MLA style generally hyphenates elements of a compound adjective and does not use a hyphen for a noun phrase. a poet of the early nineteenth… Read More
Attributive Nouns; or, Why There Is Sometimes No Apostrophe in Terms Such As Teachers Union
The possessive of plural nouns ending in s is formed by adding an apostrophe . . . Read More
Commas: Essential and Nonessential Elements
The little comma wields a lot of power . . . Read More
Should italics or quotation marks be used for a character’s internal thoughts?
Styling a character’s internal thoughts in italics or with quotation marks depends on whether you are quoting from a source that shows a character’s thoughts,… Read More
If I need to separate titles styled in quotation marks by semicolons in my parenthetical citations, should the semicolons go inside or outside the quotations marks?
The semicolons should be placed outside the quotation marks: Sweden took in more than 160,000 asylum seekers in 2015 (Henden, “Sweden Election Polls”; Hernroth-Rothstein; Milne;… Read More
How should I style my parenthetical citation the first time I quote lines from a poem if I have not mentioned the author’s name in my prose?
The MLA Handbook explains that if you are citing line numbers instead of page numbers in your parenthetical citation, you should “in your first citation, use the word… Read More
Why are both a comma and and used to separate the names of coauthors in a works-cited-list entry?
The MLA Handbook notes that “[w]hen a source has two authors,” you should “[r]everse the first of the names” and “follow it with a comma and… Read More
Where do I place the colon that separates the title from a subtitle if the title ends with a quotation mark?
If the title ends with a quotation mark, insert the colon between the quotation mark and the subtitle. In the first example below, the title… Read More