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Because we see it so frequently, we tend to think of the dash as being synonymous with an interruption. We will be more accurate if we think of the dash as marking a break in the sentence structure...

Let's keep it simple: If the words after "yes" and "no" echo/repeat the words of the question, use a comma. ...Did you clock in that morning as usual? ...Yes, I did. ...No, I did not. ...Were yo...

When a word ends in -ly, do not hyphenate it to the word after it. ...poorly constructed edifice... ...newly build condos... ...recently deceased partner... Though the suffix -wise should be adde...

We don’t need to worry about the word affect, when it is pronounced with the short a. First, there is no problem “hearing” the a and therefore getting the right word. It is the psychiatric term tha...

When you are doing letter-for-letter spelling, there are some basic things to keep in mind: 1. The hyphen goes with the letter AFTER it. ...I believe it is -f-f-e? ...Jasmine, J-a-s, as in "Sam,"...

Just checking in from Sarasota, Florida. Off to Clearwater this afternoon for the Florida Court Reporters Association convention this weekend. Hope to meet some of you there. Just wondering what y...

A question from a reporter today is in regard to placing a comma before a quote when the quote surrounds a word that is being defined. So let's look at the rule for quoting and the rule for the com...

So often we see whereas and although incorrectly punctuated with a semicolon in front and a comma after as in ...was seen with him; although, she did not... ...was seen with him; whereas, she did ...

Here is one of the questions asked about the intro prepositional phrase and the comma, and here is my answer. We were talking about a short prepositional phrase at the beginning of the sentence tha...