Punctuation Questions

[Toasty]

Do these sentences have the correct punctuation?

1. The Book of James speaks of two wisdoms- the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below (James 3:18).

2. The Hebrew word bin can mean “become separated”, “be distinct”, “distinguish”, “discern”, “insight”, or “have understanding.”

I wasn't sure if sentence# 1 needed a dash or a colon.

In sentence# 2, does the word bin need to be italicized or put in quotes?

In sentence# 2, is the period supposed to go inside the quotes?

 

[Miss Marple]

My opinions:

1. I believe we use a colon if we are listing things. So, I say colon.

2. italicized and

period inside the quotes.

I stand ready to be corrected. . .

 

[Justified]

Do these sentences have the correct punctuation?

1. The Book of James speaks of two wisdoms- the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below (James 3:18).

2. The Hebrew word bin can mean “become separated”, “be distinct”, “distinguish”, “discern”, “insight”, or “have understanding.”

I wasn't sure if sentence# 1 needed a dash or a colon.

In sentence# 2, does the word bin need to be italicized or put in quotes?

In sentence# 2, is the period supposed to go inside the quotes?

For the first one you can use either a colon or an em-dash. You actually used a hyphen, which is incorrect. There are alt codes to use the em-dash. However, usually you can just use two hyphens (--), and the word processor will turn them into an em-dash. The em-dash is usually more disruptive to the flow of the text. This is fine if you want to be more emphatic about what you are about to say.

I think that it is usually practice to italicize words in foreign languages. Lastly, I'm relatively certain that the period goes on the inside of the quotes.

EDIT: Although you can use the em-dash, I concur with Miss Marple that you should use the colon.

 

[Toasty]

My opinions:

1. I believe we use a colon if we are listing things. So, I say colon.

2. italicized and

period inside the quotes.

I stand ready to be corrected. . .

Thank you, Miss Marple. I will do what you suggested.

 

[Toasty]

Do these sentences have the correct punctuation?

1. The Book of James speaks of two wisdoms- the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below (James 3:18).

2. The Hebrew word bin can mean “become separated”, “be distinct”, “distinguish”, “discern”, “insight”, or “have understanding.”

I wasn't sure if sentence# 1 needed a dash or a colon.

In sentence# 2, does the word bin need to be italicized or put in quotes?

In sentence# 2, is the period supposed to go inside the quotes?

For the first one you can use either a colon or an em-dash. You actually used a hyphen, which is incorrect. There are alt codes to use the em-dash. However, usually you can just use two hyphens (--), and the word processor will turn them into an em-dash. The em-dash is usually more disruptive to the flow of the text. This is fine if you want to be more emphatic about what you are about to say.

I think that it is usually practice to italicize words in foreign languages. Lastly, I'm relatively certain that the period goes on the inside of the quotes.

EDIT: Although you can use the em-dash, I concur with Miss Marple that you should use the colon.

Thank you, Evan. I'll use the colon.

 

[Jack K]

Your commas should go inside the quotes, just like your period does. I know it looks strange, but that's the current convention.

Evan is right about the em-dash. In MS Word, the shortcut is to hold down ctl-alt while typing the minus sign on your numeric keypad, if you're using a full keypad.

 

[Edward]

period inside the quotes.

That appears to be an institutionalization of an American practice. That was the one that I wasn't sure about when I first read the question, since it doesn't follow logic, and that's not I recall having been taught many years ago. I'll have to see if I can dig out my old AP stylebook.

In the meanwhile, I did dig up this:

"In the United Kingdom, Canada, and islands under the influence of British education, punctuation around quotation marks is more apt to follow logic. In American style, then, you would write: My favorite poem is Robert Frost's "Design." But in England you would write: My favorite poem is Robert Frost's "Design". The placement of marks other than periods and commas follows the logic that quotation marks should accompany (be right next to) the text being quoted or set apart as a title. Thus, you would write (on either side of the Atlantic):

What do you think of Robert Frost's "Design"? and
I love "Design"; however, my favorite poem was written by Emily Dickinson."
Quotation Marks