The other marks of terminal punctuation are the exclamation mark (or point) and the question mark.

Honestly, I am not a proponent of the exclamation mark in any sort of abundance. In other words, use them sparingly. In technical writing, I don't think the exclamation mark should be used at all; in fact, I'd cut every instance of it in any piece I received. It looks unprofessional, and it does nothing to enhance the text. In fiction, it's only good in dialog, and only when it's not followed be a dialog tag.

Ex.

“Shut up,” John yelled

vs.

“Shut up!”

With question marks, it's a little different. Everyone uses questions, so they're a bit more common and can be used more liberally. I have a few thoughts on their use in dialog, but I won't go into that here.

As a general rule, the question mark goes within the quotation marks in dialog (ex. “Where is the store?”). If you're writing a question within text – say in technical writing – then you italicize it.

Ex.

The question, When is it appropriate to use colloquialisms in journalism?, is a common one.

These are both fairly simple, too. If you have questions on usage, please ask in the comments. We'll now be moving into more complicated items; those that give people more problems than ending a sentence correctly.

Table of Contents:

1. Grammar. Yes. Grammar: An introductory post on the series

2. That's It. Period: A post on the full stop.
3. Commas, Commas, Commas: A post on the use of commas
4. You Say Potato; I Say Potato: A post on semi-colons

It's the easiest form of punctuation there. The full stop. You put it at the end of the sentence. End of story, right? Yes, but not entirely. Grammatically, it's hard to mess up with a period; however, one always has to be aware of one basic element of sentence structure: clauses.

Without going too far into proper grammar and sentence structure (thus delving into the bowls of linguistics), there are two types of clauses: independent and dependent. The basics is that independent clauses are those that function entirely on their own – they're complete sentences with a very and a subject and no subordinating conjunctions. A dependent clause can either be one without a verb or subject or a complete sentence with a conjunction that forces it to be dependent on another, independent, clause.

So, moving on. Periods function to end a complete thought. Or, in the case of some crazy fiction writers, break up the wordiness of long sentences and clipping their language. Much of that is stylistic, though, and not at all grammatical.

Really, that's it. I won't belabor the point and come off as pompous and arrogant. I will make a small remark on spacing following a period, though. Between two sentences in fiction, there should be a double space place. More commonly in technical writing and journalistic writing, one space is used. This allows for more text in smaller spaces. Fiction doesn't really have that worry.

Over the next week or so, I'll be posting entries on other marks of punctuation, their use, some pitfalls, and some tips. After those posts, I'll most likely transition into some thoughts on syntax, variation, and usage.

Table of Contents:

1. Grammar. Yes. Grammar: An introductory post on the series.

2. OMG! What's the Deal?: A post on question marks and exclamation Points
3. Commas, Commas, Commas: A post on the use of commas
4. You Say Potato; I Say Potato: A post on semi-colons