Ampersands

Writing in English

Only use ampersands in page headlines and site navigation, not in running text.

Exceptions: Always use the ampersand if it is part of the formal title of a published work or the name of a department or an organization. (Example: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation). Also, PB&J is acceptable in all references to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Writing in Somali

Somali writing employs common punctuation marks similar to English, including periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, and parentheses.  In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal punctuation rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard punctuation is the norm.

Writing in Spanish

Coming soon!

Bullet Points

Writing In English

Things to consider when using bullet points:

• Use a period after every bullet point that is a sentence and begin each bullet with a capital letter.
• Use a period after every bullet point that completes the introductory stem (see below). The introductory stem needs no colon.
• Use no punctuation after bullets that are not sentences and do not complete the stem. When a complete sentence introduces the bullets, use a colon before beginning the bulleted list.
• Use all sentences or all fragments, not a mixture.

Example of bullet points that complete the introductory stem:

I like living in Seattle because of its

• access to culture, natural beauty, and work opportunities,
• moderate climate—not too hot or too cold, and
• liberal politics and social attitudes.

Example of bullet points that are not sentences and do not complete the stem, so no period is used. Here are the things I like about living in Seattle:

• access to culture, natural beauty, and work opportunities
• moderate climate—not too hot or too cold
• liberal politics and social attitudes

Writing in Somali

Somali writing employs common punctuation marks similar to English, including periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, and parentheses.  In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal punctuation rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard punctuation is the norm.

Writing in Spanish

Coming soon!

Colons and Semicolons

Writing In English

Colons and semicolons always go outside quotation marks (e.g., Two-year-olds are so “helpful”: leaving toys out where they can be found and removing items from cupboards where they can be seen more easily.)

Writing in Somali

Somali writing employs common punctuation marks similar to English, including periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, and parentheses.  In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal punctuation rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard punctuation is the norm.

Writing in Spanish

Coming soon!

Commas

Writing In English

We use the serial comma. For example: The flag is red, white, and blue. (A comma is used before the conjunction “and.”)

Use a comma after i.e., (in other words) or e.g., (for example).

Do not use a comma when a date is given simply by month and year (e.g., June 2016 not June, 2016). See also Dates.

Writing in Somali

Somali writing employs common punctuation marks similar to English, including periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, and parentheses.  In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal punctuation rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard punctuation is the norm.

Writing in Spanish

Coming soon!

Contractions

Writing In English

Per federal Plain Language: Contractions are generally acceptable; as PlainLanguage.gov points out, using them is a good example of the dictum to write as you speak. But, as always, consider your audience.

Contractions may prove a challenge for struggling readers to decipher. If your intended audience includes struggling readers, try to stick to the most common forms – “I’m, can’t, don’t,” and even the troublesome “you’re.”

Writing in Somali

Somali writing employs common punctuation marks similar to English, including periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, and parentheses.  In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal punctuation rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard punctuation is the norm.

Writing in Spanish

Coming soon!

Dashes: En dash

Writing In English

The en dash (–) connects things that are related to each other by distance (May–September magazine issue or parent–child relationship). Also use the en dash for date spans, as in May 5–December 31.

Here is an en dash between words: July–Aug. (To get an en dash, type: July, space, hyphen, hyphen, space, Aug.) Or, you can use the following keyboard tricks:

• On a PC, hold the Control key and type the minus sign (the one on the numeric keypad to the right; this shortcut will not work with the one at the top of the keyboard).
• On a Mac, hold the Option key and type the minus/hyphen sign (the one on the top of the keyboard).

There should NOT be a space before or after the en dash.

For accessibility, do not use an em dash or an en dash to show a range, such as 5–10 minutes or 2–3 p.m. Instead use 5 to 10 minutes, 2 to 3 p.m.

Writing in Somali

Somali writing employs common punctuation marks similar to English, including periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, and parentheses.  In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal punctuation rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard punctuation is the norm.

Writing in Spanish

Coming soon!

Dashes: Em dash

Writing In English

The em dash (—) takes the place of commas or parentheses, each with a slightly different effect.

• When used to indicate an interruption, particularly in transcribed speech:
  • The chemistry student began to say, “An organic solvent will only work with—” when her cell phone rang.
• When used as a substitute for it is, they are, or similar expressions. In this way em dashes function like colons but are not used for lists of multiple items. They are used less frequently in formal writing situations:
  • There was only one person suited to the job—Mr. Lee.
• When used as substitutes for parentheses:
  • Mr. Lee is suited to the job—he has more experience than everybody else in the department—but he has been having some difficulties at home recently and would probably not be available.

Here is an em dash between words: job—Lee. (To get an em dash, after job, type: hyphen, hyphen, Lee, then press enter/return or the space bar.) Or you can use the following keyboard tricks:

• On a PC, simultaneously hold the CTRL and ALT keys while typing the minus sign on the numeric keyboard to the right; this shortcut will not work with the hyphen key at the top of the keyboard.
• On a Mac, simultaneously hold the Option and Shift keys while typing the minus/hyphen sign.

There should NOT be a space before or after an em dash.

For accessibility, do not use an em dash or an en dash to show a range, such as 5–10 minutes or 2–3 p.m. Instead use 5 to 10 minutes, 2 to 3 p.m.

Writing in Somali

Somali writing employs common punctuation marks similar to English, including periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, and parentheses.  In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal punctuation rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard punctuation is the norm.

Writing in Spanish

Coming soon!

Dates

Writing In English

Avoid using th or st after numerals in dates. For example: April 8, not April 8th. Write out all month names in full. Include a comma after the day if a full date is given (e.g., Teachers met on October 11, 2017.). No comma is needed when only the month and year are used (e.g., The instructors conference will take place September 2005.).

Writing in Somali

Somali writing employs common punctuation marks similar to English, including periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, and parentheses.  In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal punctuation rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard punctuation is the norm.

Writing in Spanish

Coming soon!

Ellipses

Writing In English

Use ellipses (. . .) as little as possible. Ellipses are most often needed to indicate the omission of one or more words from a direct quotation.

Use three spaced ellipsis points (. . .) within a sentence to indicate that you have omitted material from the original source.

Use four points to indicate any omission between two sentences. The first point indicates the period at the end of the first sentence quoted, and the three spaced ellipsis points follow.

Do not use ellipsis points at the beginning or end of any quotation unless, to prevent misinterpretation, you need to emphasize that the quotation begins or ends mid-sentence.

Writing in Somali

Somali writing employs common punctuation marks similar to English, including periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, and parentheses.  In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal punctuation rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard punctuation is the norm.

Writing in Spanish

Coming soon!

Italics

Writing In English

Use italics to introduce words that would normally be put in quotes. For example: Assessment means the action or an instance of making a judgment about something.

Titles of books, journals, films, television shows, websites, plays, poems, operas, lectures, and works of art in text are italic, not in quotations. (This aligns with non-citation use in APA style.)

This reduces the amount of quotations and makes the copy cleaner. Articles cited in text are in quotes rather than italics

Book titles, movie titles, student or instructor play-by-play video titles, television program titles and titles of lectures, speeches, and works of art should be italicized. When referring to activities or handouts, italicize the document’s title, e.g., “Distribute the Our Schedule: Infants learning activity handout.

Writing in Somali

Somali writing employs common punctuation marks similar to English, including periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, and parentheses.  In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal punctuation rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard punctuation is the norm.

Writing in Spanish

Coming soon!

Hyphens

Writing In English

The hyphen (-) connects two things that are intimately related, usually words that function as a single concept or work together as a joint modifier (two-year, day-to-day). The hyphen is also used when a compound modifier precedes the word it modifies (high-quality program).

Here is a regular hyphen: in-text. Simply type the hyphen key.

Writing in Somali

Somali writing employs common punctuation marks similar to English, including periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, and parentheses.  In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal punctuation rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard punctuation is the norm.

Writing in Spanish

Coming soon!

Periods

Writing In English

There should be one space between a period and the beginning of the next sentence.

Writing in Somali

Somali writing employs common punctuation marks similar to English, including periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, and parentheses.  In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal punctuation rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard punctuation is the norm.

Writing in Spanish

Coming soon!

Quotation Marks

Writing In English

Quotation marks should be used to indicate verbatim speech (e.g., The child said, “I’m sorry.”). Quotation marks are also used to indicate a word being used ironically or in a non-standard way (e.g., Two-year-olds are so “helpful.”). Periods and commas, when needed, are placed within the quotation marks.

To emphasize a word or phrase, use italics or bold rather than quotation marks.

Writing in Somali

Somali writing employs common punctuation marks similar to English, including periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, and parentheses.  In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal punctuation rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard punctuation is the norm.

Writing in Spanish

Coming soon!

Slashes

Writing In English

Use slash marks as sparingly as possible. Instead of flip charts/poster paper use, flip charts or poster paper.

Writing in Somali

Somali writing employs common punctuation marks similar to English, including periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, and parentheses.  In informal written communication, such as text messages and social media, some people may diverge from formal punctuation rules. Nevertheless, in formal writing, adhering to standard punctuation is the norm.

Writing in Spanish

Coming soon!

Trademark and Registration Symbols

Use a trademark symbol ™ or registered trademark ® after the first instance of a trademarked word in a document. Using the symbol on a title page is a sufficient first instance. After the first instance, neither symbol is necessary. Any punctuation should go after the symbol.

Circle Time Magazine™

Classroom Assessment Scoring System® (CLASS®)

Coaching Companion™

EarlyEdU Alliance® (EEdU acronym is preferred for in-house use only)

Environment Rating Scale® (ERS®)

Meaningful Makeover™

STEAM Trunk™

Teaching Strategies GOLD™ (Do not abbreviate as TS GOLD)

Web Links

In general, avoid spelling out long URLs, or naked links. Instead, embed the link within the title or other descriptive words in the text. Learn more in the APA style guide.

Spelling out simple web addresses is OK. (www.uw.edu.)

If spelling out the URL is necessary, omit the http:\\ or https:\\. Begin with www. and do not make the text a hyperlink.