+plus加号;正号 -minus减号;负号 ±plusorminus正负号 ×ismultipliedby乘号 ÷isdividedby除号 =isequalto等于号 ≠isnotequalto不等于号 ≡isequivalentto全等于号 ≌isequaltoorapproximatelyequalto等于或约等于号 ≈isapproximatelyequalto约等于号 <islessthan小于号 >ismorethan大于号 ≮isnotlessthan不小于号 ≯isnotmorethan不大于号 ≤islessthanorequalto小于或等于号 ≥ismorethanorequalto大于或等于号 %percent百分之... ‰permill千分之... ∞infinity无限大号 ∝variesas与...成比例 √(square)root平方根 ∵since;because因为 ∴hence所以 ∷equals,as(proportion)等于,成比例 ∠angle角 ⌒semicircle半圆 ⊙circle圆 ○circumference圆周 πpi圆周率 △triangle三角形 ⊥perpendicularto垂直于 ∪unionof并,合集 ∩intersectionof交,通集 ∫theintegralof...的积分 ∑(sigma)summationof总和 °degree度 ′minute分 ″second秒 ℃Celsiussystem摄氏度 {openbrace,opencurly左花括号 }closebrace,closecurly右花括号 (openparenthesis,openparen左圆括号 )closeparenthesis,closeparen右圆括号 ()brakets/parentheses括号 [openbracket左方括号 ]closebracket右方括号 []squarebrackets方括号 .period,dot句号,点 |verticalbar,verticalvirgule竖线 &ersand,and,reference,ref和,引用 *asterisk,multiply,star,pointer星号,乘号,星,指针 /slash,divide,oblique斜线,斜杠,除号 //slash-slash,comment双斜线,注释符 #pound井号 backslash,sometimes escape反斜线转义符,有时表示转义符或续行符 ~tilde波浪符 .fullstop句号 ,comma逗号 :colon冒号 ;semicolon分号 ?questionmark问号 !exclamationmark(英式英语)exclamationpoint(美式英语) 'apostrophe撇号 -hyphen连字号 --dash破折号 ...dots/ellipsis省略号 "singlequotationmarks单引号 ""doublequotationmarks双引号 ‖parallel双线号 &ersand=and ~swungdash代字号 §section;division分节号 →arrow箭号;参见号 PunctuationGuide-EmpowerYourWritingIspunctuationbecominglessimportant?Certainlythereislessofitinmodernwriting.Butlessimportant?EmphaticallyNO!Bylearningafewsimplerulesyoucanmakeyourwritingclear,powerfulandstylish.Punctuation,properlyemployed,canleadareaderontotheconclusionyouwant.Lookoverthisbriefsummaryofkeypunctuationmarksandseeifyouareexploitingtheseclearwritingpowertoolstothefull.(Theseguidelinesaregeneralandfit90%ofcases.Thereareexceptionsofcoursewhicharebeyondthescopeofthisoverview.)Apostrophe|Asterisk|Bracket|Bullets|Capitals|[Colon|Comma|Dash|Ellipsis|Exclamation|Hyphen|Parenthesis|Period|Question|Quotation|Semicolon|SlashApostrophe'Apostrophesareusedintwodifferentways.1)toindicatepossession2)toindicatemissingletterswhenwordsareshortened(contraction).Example:"Let'sallgoinJohn'scar."Theapostropheintheword"Let's"indicatesashorteningof"Letus"andtheapostrophein"John's"indicatesthecarbelongstoJohn.ThepositionofthePossesiveApostrophecanindicatesingularorplural.Example:Standoutsidethegirl'sschool.(onegirl)andStandoutsidethegirls'school.(agroupofgirls).Sotouseapostropheswithoutgrammaticalcatastrophes,thinkwhichuseyouneed.Istheapostropheneededtoshowpossessionortoshowcontraction?Ifneither,thenyoudon'tneedanapostrophe.Asterisk*Theasteriskisareferencemarkindicatingthatafootnoteorexplanatoryparagraphappearssomewhereelseonthatpage,generallyatthefootofthepage.Seethisexample.*_____*Anotheruseoftheasteriskhasdeveloped.Toindicateswearwordswithoutbeingobjectionableyetconveyingthesameforcemeantbythespeaker.Example:"Hereplied,'Don'tbesuchab****fool!'"Bracket[]Thefunctionsofthesquarebracketandtheroundbracket(parenthesis)arequitedifferent.Squarebracketshavelimiteduse,primarilybeingusedinpublishingtoindicateeditorialcommentoracommentfromanauthority.Example:He[PresidentClinton]wasabouttoembarkonatouroftheFarEast.SeeParenthesisBulletsBulletedlistsareextremelyeffectiveincapturingtheinterestofyouraudience.Personswhobrowsetheinternetwanttofindinformationquickly.Theywanttobeabletoreaditeasilywithouthavingtowadethroughpagesoftext.Bulletsdirecttheeyetothemainpointsquickly.Theyencouragewriterstobebrief,statingthemainpointinafewwordsoraphrase.Theysummarizealistofpointsorconclusions.Bottomline:Ifyouwanttowriteeffectivecopy,USEBULLETS!CapitalsAThemainrulesare:CapitalizepropernounsExample:TakeatriptoNewYorkCity.Capitalizethefirstwordinasentence.Capitalizethefirstletterofeachwordinatitleexceptforwordslikeand,the,a,anetc.Capitalizeaperson'stitlewhenitcomesbeforetheirname.Example:DoctorJonesCapitalizethefirstwordinaquotedsentence.Example:Dereksaid:"Thatbookisworthreading."Caution:Donotcapitalizeeverythinginatitle.Whilethedesiremaybetoattractattention,theeffectcanbetiresomeandoverdone.Colon:Enrichyourwritingstylewithdiscreetuseofthecolon.Itisgenerallyusedtointroducesomethingthatfollows.HerearesomeplaceswhereacoloniswellusedTointroducealistExample:Sendthelettertothefollowingdepartments:Sales,MarketingandAdmin.TointroduceaquotationTointroduceaquestionTointroduceaconclusionExample:Theconclusionofthematterwas:Letbygonesbebygones.Comma,Masteringtheversatilecommacantransformyourwriting.Hereisabrieflistofsomeofit'smostimportantfunctions:ItemizingExample:Onthestationeryorder,pencils,rubbers,pens,staples,paperclipsandnotepadswerelisted.TosetapartpersonsandnamesExample:John,whatareyoudoinghere?AddinganadditionalthoughtExample:Theweddingwas,onthewhole,veryenjoyable.ForreinforcementExample:Hewasastrongman,verystrong.TosetoffcomparisonsExample:Theloudershespoke,themoreheshouted.Dash-Thedashcanbemorepowerfulthanacommaorasemicolonorparenthesis.However,useitjudiciously.Overdone,itcanmakeapassageseemjerky!Whatisthedifferencebetweenadashandahyphen?Adashisusedintheconstructionofsentences.Ahyphenisusedintheconstructionofwords.Thedashcanbeusedto:LinkExample:Theroomwasdecoratedwiththreestrongcolors-blue,greenandred..PauseExample:Thetrainarrivedasexpected-onehourlate.InterruptExample:"ImustaskyouSirto-well,I'msorry-toleave!"ExtendasentenceExample:Thehecklerhurledabuseatthespeaker-andthenquietlysatdown.SeparatealistExample:Shecollectedallhertools-brushes,oils,palette,cloths,crayons,canvass-andstartedtopaint.Ellipsis...Thethreedotellipsisisprimarilyusedtoindicatemissingwordsorphrases.Itcancanbesubtlyusedintheseinstancestoindicate:AnunfinishedthoughtExample:Hewasabouttojumpbutthenhethought...AnimpliedwordorphrasethereaderisexpectedtoknowExample:Whenaskedwhyhewasafraidofflyinghemerelysaid:"Whatgoesupmust..."WordsorphrasesomittedfromaquotationDisjointedspeechExample:Hewassoshockedhecouldonlymumble,"Whatthe...Imeantosay...Whereinthe..."Exclamation!Judicioususeoftheexclamationmarkaddsemphasistoimportantstatements.Overusekillsit'seffectiveness.Sothinktwicebeforeusinganexclamationmark.Herearesomesituationswherenothingbutanexclamationmarkwillgivethesamesense:TocommandExample:Getback!ToconveyironyorreversemeaningExample:Youmustbejoking!ToemphasizeinsultsExample:Youblitheringidiot!ToconveyangerordisgustExample:Thatsmellisabsolutelyrevolting!Hyphen-Hyphensareusedtojointwoassociatedwords.Toillustrate,thehyphenin"man-eatingtiger"changesthemeaningentirelyfrom"maneatingtiger".Inthefirstinstancewearetalkingaboutatigerwhohasatasteforhumans.Inthesecondwearetalkingaboutamanwhohasatastefortigers.Hyphensarealsoused:AsguidestopronunciationExamples:co-operation,re-establishTodivideawordattheendofalineForemphasisExample:Isaid,"I'mf-r-e-e-z-i-n-g".ToseparategroupednamesExample:TheAnglo-FrenchAllianceParenthesis()Parenthesis(roundbrackets)insertrelevant,additionalmaterialintoasentencealthoughthesentencewouldstillreadsmoothlywithoutit.Herearesomeusesforparenthesis:ToaddinformationExample:Thehousewasinanideallocationnearthesea(justafiveminutewalk)sotherewasnoproblemingettingtenants.ToaddafterthoughtsExample:Thespeakerwastotallyunpreparedforthiskindofaudience(orsoitseemed).ForclarificationExample:TheiractionwasinviolationoftheTermsandConditions(page2,paragraph3)theyhadsigned.ToaddpersonalremarksExample:Theyweresoproudoftheirnewlydecoratedapartment(tomeitseemedalittletacky)theyinsistedongivingeveryvisitoraguidedtour.ToshowoptionsExample:Pleaseputthedocument(s)inthetrayonthesecretary'sdesk.Period.Theperiodorfullstopmayonlybeadot,butwhatapowerfuldot!Itisusedtoseparatesentences.Readingapassagenotdelimitedwithperiodswouldbeextremelytiresomeandthemeaningwouldbecomequiteambiguous.Soremember,whetherthesentenceisshortorlong,itMUSTconcludewithaperiod.Periodshavealsobeenusedtraditionallytoindicateanabbreviation.Example:a.m.andp.m.Inmodernusagehoweverthisisbecomingmoreinfrequentandabbreviationsnowregularlyappearwithoutperiods.Example:amandpmQuestion?Themostobvioususeofthequestionmarkisattheendofasentencewhichasksadirectquestion.Example:Whereareyougoingthisweekend?However,whenanindirectquestionisraisedaquestionmarkisnotneeded.Example:SheaskedmeifIenjoyedhercooking.Thequestionmarkcanalsobeusedtocreateothereffects:TodeclareExample:Didyoureallythinkyoucouldgetawaywiththis?Herethequestionmarktingestheexpressionwithangerandfrustration.ToexclaimExample:Isn'tthatabeautifulsunset?Thequestionaddsforcetothestatementmakingitanexclamation.ToinviteananswerExample:Thisseemsthewrongcolor,don'tyouthink?Quotation"Quotationmarksareusedtoindicatedirectspeech.Theyareextremelyimportantinconveyingaccuratemeaning.Withoutthemitcanbehardtoknowwhoisspeakingorwhoisbeingspokenabout;whetherthequotationisaparaphraseorwhetheritisdirectspeech.Example:Tomsaid,"Itwashisfaultwewerelate."Tomsaiditwashisfault"wewerelate".InthefirstexampleTomisblamingsomeoneelse.Inthesecondexampleheistakingresponsibilityhimself.Thequotationmarksmakeallthedifferencetothemeaning.Shouldquotationsbedoubleorsingle?Thereyouhaveacontroversy.Sufficetosay,whicheveroneyouchoose,consistentlystickwithit!Shouldendingpunctuationbewithinthequotesoroutsidethequotes?InAmericanEnglish,allpunctuationmarkscomewithinquotationmarksattheendofasentence.InBritishEnglish,apunctuationmarkcomeswithinthequotationmarksifitdirectlyrelatestothequote.Ifthepunctuationrelatestothesentenceasawholethenitcomesoutsidethequotationmarks.Hereareanumberofinstanceswherequotationmarksareeffective:ToindicateatitleExample:HestartedrecitingShakespeare'sclassic,"JuliusCaesar".ToindicatedoubtordisbeliefExample:Theback-streetclinichadone"doctor"ondutythatevening.ToindicatethatawordofphraseshouldnotbetakenliterallyExample:Newsyntheticfibreshavemade"grass"playingsurfacesverydurable.Semicolon;Theusesofsemicolonsarenumerous.Herearethemainones:Tojoinwords,phrasesandsentencesToseparatewordgroupsthatalreadycontaincommasExample:ThecommitteewasmadeupofM.Harding,President;J.Gower,Vice-president;B.Gardner,SecretaryandW.TaylorasChairman.ToprovideapausebeforecertainadverbsandconjunctionsExample:Hejustscrapedpastthefinishinglinebyahair'sbreadth;nevertheless,hewon!ToemphasizeoppositestatementsandcontrastExample:Thehouselookedbeautifulaftertherenovation;pityaboutthegarden.Slash/Theslashhaslimitedfunctions.Primarilyitisused:ToindicateoptionsExample:Thatwillbehis/herchoice.ToabbreviateExample:careof-c/oaccount-A/c