Comments on: Parentheses

By: Jane

Jane — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 12:17:06 +0000

An em dash at the end of a sentence indicates that the sentence is unfinished or incomplete, so you would not use a question mark.

By: Emily

Emily — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 03:05:08 +0000

When using an em dash at the end of a question in dialogue, should I add a question mark?
For example, “What did you—(?)”
“Drop it,” he said.

By: Jane

Jane — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 01:53:34 +0000

If there are that many words that need further explanation, I would suggest adding either footnotes, which are notes at the foot of the page, or endnotes, which are collected under a separate heading at the end of the book in an appendix.

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 19:39:43 +0000

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By: Ravi Bedi

Ravi Bedi — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 03:55:31 +0000

I’m told not to use brackets in a fictional work. But what do I do if it contains references to local names/subjects and other such things that a western reader would not understand without the help of Google?
Ex: She wore a lose kurta over a dhoti, and put on a bindi on her forehead, before going to the haveli.
I can use italics, but that won’t help the reader.
Have a nice day.

By: Ravi Bedi

Ravi Bedi — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 03:43:59 +0000

Buddy, press the small dash key twice, write your word and press space bar. You will have the m dash.
I discovered this quite by chance.
Jane, I wish to change my e mail id. What do I do?

By: Jane

Jane — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:06:09 +0000

I can’t imagine not being able to create an em or en dash. All programs contain these two options, as far as I know.

By: Buddy

Buddy — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 06:42:04 +0000

If, for some reason, I cannot create an en dash or em dash, what should I use in place of it?

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:21:09 +0000

I can see your point; however, I think that if we type numerals such as $500, we may make an error and not catch it. So writing the number out makes sense. The reason for writing the number out on a check is to ensure that the recipient of the check does not change or add any numerals.

By: Sheldon

Sheldon — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:18:11 +0000

Rule: Use parentheses to enclose words or figures that clarify or are used as an aside.

Example: I expect five hundred dollars ($500).

How does the example clarify anything? Either expression is quite clear by itself. If I say “Send it to me in ten days” – or “Send it to me in 10 days” is it possible that someone would think I meant eleven (11) days?

The accepted practice of writing an amount on a check in both words and digits illustrates the fallacy of the argument. The more complex the number, the greater the chance that the person writing it will make a mistake. I suspect that in most cases, the amount written in digits will be correct.

If the logic is valid, we would write December (twelfth month) 17 (seventeenth), 2009 (two thousand nine).