There's a well-worn joke that if you call a copy editor anal-retentive, he'll look that up to see if it's hyphenated. It is, I am, and it's my job. Many people can give dignified one-word answers to ...

One of my students once told me that when she writes something she always puts a comma wherever she thinks someone should take a breath. She defended this by saying this is what they do in a musical ...

Contrary to popular belief, commas don't just signify pauses in a sentence. In fact, precise rules govern when to use this punctuation mark. When followed, they lay the groundwork for clear written ...

Y'all, get ready to have your world turned upside down by some titillating grammar news: Someone has introduced a new punctuation mark. While it may not seem like a big deal to you, for an English ...

Sept. 24 is National Punctuation Day, a time to think about all those lowly, little dots, lines, and squiggles that adorn the written word. One of the websites promoting the occasion announces, ...

Punctuation helps the reader understand a story. Commas, periods, dashes and other marks convey the writer’s voice. They signal an emphasis or tone in language, as well as tell a reader when to stop ...

In order to make your writing clear, you need to use commas. As well as using them to separate out key information, or divide up different clauses, commas can also completely change the meaning of a ...

Punctuation marks aren't just resigned to the symbols on your keyboard. There are plenty more - like the exclamation comma - that never made it into type but nonetheless exist. The exclamation comma ...

It is one of the most commonly used elements of the English language – often littered carelessly through reams of text by grammar novices. But a US academic has suggested that the comma could be ...