Minimalist punctuation
Always consider whether necessary
! Exclamation mark for high-level warnings only!
? Question mark only if necessary
: Use colons: especially to introduce lists
. Full stops at the end of all full sentences
. Full stops before all file extensions: .csv .txt .zip
. Consistent use of full stops throughout the application
… Ellipsis only for transitional text: Upload…
' Single quotation mark for possession: Customer’s role (single), customers’ roles (plural)
No quotation mark or brackets for plurals: PDFs
& Avoid ampersands unless in a product or company name: Siemens & Halske AG
* Avoid asterisks in applications
( Avoid brackets ( ) and [ ]
; Avoid semi-colons
: Avoid and remove colons whenever possible, for example Username instead of Username:
Formats
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12-hour clock: 11am and 11pm or 11AM and 11PM
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24-hour clock: 11:00 and 23:00
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Date: Monday, January 12, 2021
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Money: $400,456.50
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Measurement and quantities: 30 mm
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Hyphen for ranges: 10-40%
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Numbers: Use No. as an abbreviation for number, no spacing between abbreviated No. and number: No.8
- 11am
- Monday, January 12, 2021
- €999.50
- €2.5 million
- $400,456.50
- £320
- 30 mm
- 10 oz
- 10-40%
- No.7
- Number 7
- 11 a.m.
- Monday, 12 January 2021
- €999,50
- €2,5 million
- $400.456,50
- 320£
- 30 mms
- 10 oz.
- 10–40%
- #7
- Num 7
Spacing
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No space before %
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No space before colon, semi-colon, ellipsis
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Add a space after colon or semi-colon
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Add a space before and after equation marks, hyphens and em dashes
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Add a space before unit of measurement
- 50%
- 11am
- Tuesday: no data
- Browse…
- 50 %
- 11 am
- Tuesday: no data
- Browse …
Lists
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Consistent use of full stops in lists / bullet points
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If lists / points are not full sentences, do not use full stops
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Use fragments or full sentences in lists, not both
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If a bullet / list item has two sentences, use full stops for this point and all others
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Make lists parallel, i.e. all items / bullets have the same look, length, feel, punctuation, capitalization