Full Stop (.)
Full stop (British English,
Hiberno-English, Australian English, and New Zealand English) or period (American English
and Canadian English) is the punctuation mark placed to indicate the end of
sentences. So in the other words, it is used to separate a sentence with another
sentence. For example:
My cousin is a good footballer. He often scores in
our village league matches. He is also a very good student.
Full stop is also used in incomplete sentences. For
example:
-
Fine, thank you.
(The answer of asking condition)
-
No, certainly
not. (The answer of question: ‘Will you do it?’)
Ø The other usage:
· Indirect or Reported question
An indirect question
tells what someone asked:
-
The teacher asked them what their names were.
-
John asked Mary if she loved him.
-
I'm wondering if she's coming.
· Imperative sentence
An imperative sentence expresses a soft command:
-
Please drive
slowly.
-
Close the door
please.
-
Don’t step on
the grass please.
· Abbreviations
A full stop is used after some abbreviations:
-
i.e. (id est = that is)
-
e.g. (example gratia = for example)
-
etc. (et cetera = and so on)
-
Feb. (february)
-
Tue. (tuesday)
-
St. (street)
In “acronyms (words formed from the
first or first few letters of a series of words, and are pronounced as words) and initialisms
(words formed from the initial letters of a series
of words, and each separate letter is pronounced)” (Cooper et al., 2011), full stops are somewhat more often placed after each
initial in American English (for example, U.S. and U.S.S.R.) than in British
English (US and USSR), but this still depends to the style of a particular
writer or publisher.
A full stop is an optional usage after some abbreviations:
-
a.m. (ante meridiem) and p.m. (post meridiem)
-
A.D. (anno domini) and B.C. (before Christ)
-
R.S.V.P (repondez s’il vous plait = please reply)
A full stop is never used after some
abbreviations such as NATO, WTO, NASA, ECHO, Unesco, Unicef, Benelux, Saint, and
so on.
· Titles
In British English, abbreviations of titles often omit a period, as in Mr, Dr, Prof, Rev, Gen, which
in American
English would
be given as Mr., Dr., Prof.,
Rev., Gen. According to the
Oxford A–Z of Grammar and Punctuation, "If the abbreviation includes both
the first and last letter of the abbreviated word, as in 'mister' and 'doctor',
a full stop is not used." This does not include Professor, Reverend, and General.
· Mathematical
Usage
A full stop is needed as decimal separator in a monetary unit
($20.40), percentage (19.5%), and to
present large numbers in a much more readable form. The former use is more prevalent in English-speaking countries. In much of Europe, Southern Africa,
and Latin America (with the exception of Mexico due to the influence of the
United States), a comma is used as a decimal
separator, while a full stop or a space is
used for the presentation of large numbers. The following are examples where
the comma is or would be used as a decimal separator:
-
1.002,003 or 1 002,003 (One
thousand and two and three thousandths)
-
1.002.003 or 1 002 003 (One
million two thousand and three)
In countries that use the comma as a decimal separator, the
full stop is sometimes found as a multiplication sign; for example, 5,2 . 2 = 10,4. This usage is
impractical in cases where the full stop is used as a decimal separator, hence
the use of the interpunct: 5.2 · 2 = 10.4. This notation is also seen when
multiplying units in science; for example, 50 km/h could be written as
50 km·h−1. A full stop is also used to separate hour and minute
(10.25 a.m.).
Sources:
Cooper, T., Fallas, J.,
& Flaherty, F. (2011). English
Style Guide: Seventh edition. European
Commission.
Englishclub.com. (2013). Punctuation.
Retrieved from http://www.englishclub.com/writing/punctuation.htm.
Phythian, B. A. (2012). Correct
English: Pedoman Belajar Bahasa Inggris. Jakarta : PT. Indeks.
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