It separates any given sentence from other sentences. Any alphabet letters following a full stop must be uppercase.

The Style Guide of the London weeky The Economist recommends:

1. Use plenty of full stops. They keep sentences short. This helps the reader.
2. Do not use full stops in abbreviations or at the end of titles or headings.

The Style Guide recommends:

1. Use commas as an aid to understanding. Too many in one sentence can be confusing.
2. It is not always necessary to put a comma after a short phrase at the start of a sentence if no natural pause exists there:
   “On August 2nd Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait”.
   “Next time the world will be prepared”.

   But a breath, and so a comma, is needed after longer passages:

   “When it was plain that Iraq would invade Saudi Arabia as well as Kuwait, America responded”.
3. Use two commas, or none at all, when inserting a remark in the middle of a sentence.
   The way the preceding sentence stands (... , or none at all, ...) is fine, but avoid writing:
   “Use two commas, or none at all when inserting . . .”

     or:

   “Use two commas or none at all, when inserting . . .”

   (as one comma only on either side is not enough to delimit the inserted text.)

   The (recommended) "none at all" option yields: Use two commas or none at all when inserting a clause in the middle of a sentence.

4. If the inserted remark ends with a bracket, which is not uncommon (this one does), the bracket should be followed by a comma.
5. Commas can alter the meaning of a sentence:
   “Mozart's 40th symphony, in G minor”
   (with commas)

   indicates that this symphony was written in G minor.

   Without commas:

   “Mozart's 40th symphony in G minor”

   suggests he wrote 39 other symphonies in G minor.

6. Do not put a comma at the end of a sequence of items unless one of the items includes another “and”.

   Thus:

   “The doctor suggested an aspirin, half a grapefruit and a cup of broth”.

   But:

   “He ordered scrambled eggs, whisky and soda, and a selection from the trolley”.
7. Do not put commas after question-marks, even when they would be separated by quotation marks:
   “May I have a second helping?” he asked.

   Not: “May I have a second helping?”, he asked.

Regarding point c. ("use two commas, or none at all"): whenever possible "none at all" makes for smoother reading.
But when the inserted clause is too long, or the shift of focus too strong, it is not advisable to do away with the border commas.

Look at the following examples:

• Fred so I was told has returned from his trip to Canada.
  (Because of the shift of focus, it would be better to write):
  "Fred, so I was told, has returned from his trip to Canada."
• This job which requires a high degree of attention and needs equipment which is yet to be found cannot be completed by tomorrow.
  (Here, because of the length of the inserted clause, border commas are also advisable):
  "This job, which requires a high degree of attention and needs equipment which is yet to be found, cannot be completed by tomorrow."

The Style Guide recommends:

1. Use a colon to introduce a list or give details on something which has been previously mentioned in a nutshell:
   • They brought presents: gold, timber and wine.
   • The house consists of two floors: the lower with kitchen and living room, the upper with bathroom and bedrooms.
2. Use a colon before a whole quoted sentence, but not before a quotation segment that begins in mid-sentence:
   She said: “It will never work.”

   He retorted that it had “always worked before”.
   (No colon before this second quotation.)

   Use a colon for antithesis^* or “gnomic contrasts”^**:
   Man proposes: God disposes.

   	*antithesis: The juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas to give a feeling of balance **gnome:    (from the greek word for "wisdom") A short pithy saying expressing a general truth.

It is used to connect independent, interrelated clauses.

Examples:

• The advisors made three suggestions; however, only one was adopted.
  With a full stop separating the clauses, we have:
  "The advisors made three suggestions. However, only one was adopted."
  That is also acceptable, but the semicolon solution is more fluent.
• The advisors made three suggestions; however, the company management adopted only one of them.
  The semicolon is not the best choice: although the two clauses are independent, their interrelationship is loose. The first centres on what the advisors have done, the second on the decision made by the company. The lack of an tight link makes a full stop preferable:
  "The advisors made three suggestions. However, the company management adopted only one of them."
• Although earning a high salary is desirable; other things are also important in our life.
  This semicolon is wrong because the two clauses are not independent. The two clauses cannot be broken into two sentences separated by a full stop. Indeed, it is not possible to re-write them as two self-standing clauses:
  1. Although earning a high salary is desirable.
  2. Other things are also important in our life.

  They cannot be separated due to the hierarchical arrangement connecting them: clause 1 is subordinate to clause 2 (which is main main clause within the sentence, as explained in Part 4). When that is the case, a comma must be used instead of a semicolon:

  "Although earning a high salary is desirable, other things are also important in our life. "

The Style Guide recommends:

1. Semi-colons should be used to mark a pause longer than a comma and shorter than a full stop. Don't overdo them.
2. Use them to distinguish phrases listed after a colon if commas will not do the job clearly. Thus:
   “The ambassadors agreed on only three points: the ceasefire should be immediate; it should be internationally supervised, preferably by the UN; and a peace conference should be held, either in Geneva or in Africa.”
   The list following the colon is long and composite. So semicolons delimit the three points of the agreement and, inside each point, commas are used for subdivisions.

The Style Guide recommends:

1. You can use dashes in pairs for parenthesis, but not more than one pair per sentence, ideally not more than one pair per paragraph.

   Examples:

   • The way Andrea drives - considering how young he is - is excellent.
   That form is the same as:
   • The way Andrea drives (considering how young he is) is excellent.
2. Use a dash to introduce an explanation, amplification^*, paraphrase^**, particularisation^*** or correction of what immediately precedes it.

   Examples:

   • For explanation:

     Steven and Pippette bought a Vizsla - a dog from a breed origininating from Hungary.

   • For amplification:

     At the beginning their Vizsla didn't seem to be smart - when they called him from the house basement, he though they were on the upper floor and rushed there.

   • For paraphrasing:

     Schopehauer believes that, as the going gets rough, there is a primal regression - i.e. people cling to deep-rooted values.

   • For particularising:

     We always need a break after reading Schopenhauer - when one of our friends did that he then had to relax in Cuba for a week.

   • For corrections:

     When you eat Chili you need to drink - that is, unless you like to burn deep inside.

   	*amplification: addition of extra material or clarifying detail **paraphrase: rewording for the purpose of clarification (plagiarising students are deft at working paraphrases out - not to let teachers know where they are copying from) ***particulatisation: description of a particular instance

3. Use it to gather up the subject of a long sentence.

   Example:

   • The representative of the farmers noted that the government had long ignored their needs; that, in spite of their hard labour, the farmers were being offered peanuts; but recognised that some money is better than no money at all - in sum, he pledged their support to the new credit facility.
4. Use it to introduce a paradoxical or whimsical ending to a sentence.

   Example:

   • The farmers had no choice but accept the paltry government hand out - rejecting it would have meant bankruptcy to them.

5. Do not use dashes as a punctuation maid-of-all-work.

The Style Guide recommends:

1. Use single ones only for quotations within quotations. Thus:

   “When I say ‘immediately’, I mean some time before April,” said the spokesman.
2. When an extract ends with a full stop or question-mark, put the punctuation before closing the inverted commas.
   His maxim was that “love follows laughter”.
   The extract "love ... laughter" carries no punctuation of its own and a full stop ends sentence - after the quotation marks.

   In this spirit came his opening gambit: “What's the difference between a buffalo and a bison?”

   The extract must end with a question mark. Adding a full stop to close the whole sentence would be redundant. Closing punctuation stays inside the quotation marks.
3. If a complete sentence in quotes comes at the end of a larger sentence, the final stop should be inside the inverted commas. Thus (the excerpt from the previous text continues):
   The answer was, “You can't wash your hands in a buffalo.” She replied, “Your jokes are execrable.”
4. Here are additional examples of quotations without punctuation in them, where the mark closing the sentence is not placed within the inverted commas:
   She had already noticed that the “young man” looked about as young as the New Testament is new.
   Although he had been described as “fawnlike in his energy and playfulness”, he struck her as the kind of old man warned of by her mother as “not safe in taxis”.
   Where, now that she needed him, was “Mr Right”?
   Note that:
   • “fawnlike in his energy and playfulness” is before the comma,
   • "not safe in taxis" before the full stop,
   • "Mr Right" before the final question mark.
5. When a quotation is broken off and then resumed further on, ask yourself whether it would naturally have had any punctuation at the point where it is broken off.
   If the answer is yes, a comma is placed within the quotation marks. Thus:

   “If you'll let me take you home,” he said, “I think I know where we can find a cab.”

   The comma after “home” belongs to the quotation and so comes within the inverted commas, as does the final full stop.
6. But if the quoted words don't require punctuation where they are broken, the comma should be outside the inverted commas. Thus:
   “My bicycle”, she assured him, “awaits me.”

1. They replace part of a quotation which is left out for brevity.

   Example:

   • Here is the (abridged) passage where their message makes the point clear: "Should you need our assistance ... we shall be delighted to oblige".
     Full text of the message being quoted: "Should you need our assistance in this respect or in any other respect we shall be delighted to oblige". (Suspension marks replace "in this respect or in any other respect".)

2. They are used to cut a listing short, once the idea of listed items has been made clear:

   Don't forget to bring toothbrush, towel, soap ...
   
   Here, an alternative choice to suspension marks is "etc." (short form for Latin "et cetera": "and other things"), "an so on and so forth", "and the like" or similar expressions.

In Continental European languages, spaces are found on both sides of the suspension marks.

"Should you need our assistance ... we shall be delighted to oblige"

Only one space is found on the left side, if punctuation marks such as commas, colons, dashes etc. follow.

They gave my sister soap, towels ..., but she had brought her own along.

A full stop coming after suspension marks is omitted, as it would be undistinguishable from them:

They offered my sister soap, towels ...
She thanked but said she had brought her own toiletry along.
3. In most English texts, either no spaces at all are placed before and after suspension marks, as in:
   "Should you need our assistance...we shall be delighted to oblige"

   or only one space is added after them, as in:

   "Should you need our assistance... we shall be delighted to oblige"
4. The number of suspension marks is an odd number, typically three (...).
   Five marks (.....) may be found so suggest a lengthy listing.
   Even numbers (two or four marks) are unusual.

The Style Guide recommends:

1. If a whole sentence is within brackets, put the full stop inside:
   On hearing this they were upset. (Their sister had not told them yet.)
2. Square brackets should be used for interpolations in direct quotations:
   “Let them [the poor] eat cake.”⁽²⁾

   To use ordinary brackets implies that the words inside them were part of the original text from which you are quoting.

   Writing “Let them (the poor) eat cake” implies that also "the poor" were Marie Antoinette's own words.

Found at the end of interrogative sentences.

Found at the end of sentences conveying surprise or emotional outbursts (joy, anger ...).

The Style Guide recommends:

1. Use the normal possessive ending 's after singular words or names that end in s:
   boss's, St James's, Jones's, Shanks's.
2. Use it after plurals that do not end in s:
   children's, Frenchmen's, media's.
3. Use the ending -s' on plurals that end in s - Danes', bosses', Joneses' - including plural names that take a singular verb (Reuters', Barclays').

   Although singular in other respects, also "the United States", "the United Nations", "the Philippines", etc., carry the -s' ending:

   “Who will be the United States' next president?”

    but:

   “The United States has not signed the agreement on disarmament.”
   (Seen in its entirety as one country, it is a singular noun: "has not signed".)

4. "People" may have either kind of possessive apostrophe, depending on the meaning:
   • People's = of (the) people:
     
     People's views are negative on this.
   • Peoples' = of peoples:
     
     World peoples' representatives met at the United Nations headquarters.
5. Note the spelling of “Achilles heel” (no apostrophe) when used to mean "weak point":
   
   His “Achilles heel” is the inability to keep promises.
       but:
   Achille's death (apostrophe inserted) was celebrated by the Trojans.
6. Do not put apostrophes into decades: the 1990s (not 1990's).