Q. Is it appropriate to add a semicolon before i.e. or e.g.? For example, is it correct to say “by focusing on prevention; i.e., identifying and intervening”?
A. You can use a comma unless the material after the abbreviation starts a new independent clause.
She carried only the essentials, i.e., business cards, lipstick, pepper spray.
She saw to the last two details; i.e., flowers were waiting and the driver kept mum.
In either case a colon, an em dash, or parentheses might also work. And please note that Chicago doesn’t use i.e. or e.g. in running text (though we allow them in parentheses or notes). We use that is or a similar phrase. In many sentences (such as mine), you don’t really need the abbreviation; a colon or dash alone would be better.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. What’s the proper orientation of the apostrophe when using a contraction such as ’70s or a title such as ’Night Mother? Should it curve as the computer sets it?
A. In typefaces with curly quotation marks (like Times New Roman), apostrophes come in only one shape—they curve like a backward c and happen to be identical to a closing single quotation mark. (The flipped version, curved like a c, is an opening single quotation mark.) In almost all typefaces, they should look like the comma (raised, but not inverted) in the same typeface. Word-processing applications are not yet sophisticated enough to know the difference between an opening quotation mark and an apostrophe at the beginning of a word, so they automatically supply an opening quote mark at the beginning of a word. If you need to be sure you’re using the right mark, the apostrophe and closing single quotation are defined by the Unicode standard as U+2019; the opening single quotation mark is U+2018. Or use the special characters (or symbols) menu in your word processor. For more on the apostrophe, see CMOS 6.116–18. For information about Unicode, see CMOS 11.2 and https://www.unicode.org/.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I have a question that involves multiple adjectives and compound adjectival phrases. How would you punctuate the phrase “hard-drinking,
hard-drugging, womanizing cowboy-landed-gentry myth,” or should phrases this complex just be avoided?
A. Your punctuation looks fine. If you use them only very occasionally, you needn’t avoid such phrases,
although you might want to avoid the cowboys.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is it ever possible to put a period after other punctuation as in: He had asked, “Will she go?.”
Q. I was hoping you could tell me if brackets can be used instead of parentheses for most things. For example, HG Blending
Salt without any additives (P7-726) and HG Blending Salt (P7-727) with an additive. Could I use brackets instead?
A. Conventional usage calls for parentheses. Brackets have other uses: they can set off a parenthesis within a parenthesis (like
this [and this]), and they can indicate words that the writer or editor is inserting into text written by someone else. So
if parentheses will do, it’s probably not a good idea to use brackets instead.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Contracts often employ defined terms in quotes and parentheses, e.g., ABC Corp. (the “Seller”)
shall sell ten widgets to XYZ Corp. (the “Buyer”). When drafting such a contract,
I always put a period after the close parenthesis if it is the end of the sentence, such as in the above example. But it’s
like listening to nails on a chalkboard to me to have a period essentially (ignoring the parenthetical) follow the period
employed in an abbreviation. What do you recommend?
Q. Where does the second comma belong in this phrase: my cousin, Joseph’s son? Is it my cousin, Joseph’s,
son? But you wouldn’t say “my cousin son.” Rather it should
be “my cousin’s son.”
A. Because commas are not helpful in such constructions, don’t use them: my cousin Joseph’s
son. If you worry that commas mean that you have only one cousin, whereas you actually have a passel of them, you can rephrase
instead: the son of my cousin Joseph.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Dear CMOS, I am working on a book for children that uses both Spanish and English. CMOS 11.5 notes that translations appear in quotation marks or parentheses, and examples show commas inside the quotation marks. However, I have a sentence that ends with a translated word and an exclamation point. Would the exclamation point (and in other cases, the question mark) come before or after the last quotation mark? The exclamation point must be included. The sentence currently reads: The Spanish word for puzzle means “head breaker!”
A. In quotations, question marks and exclamation marks are not treated like other punctuation; they must stay with the part of the sentence they belong to (CMOS 6.10).
The sign said “Stop!”
The sign said “Stop”!
In the first case, the exclamation point appeared on the sign; in the second case it didn’t, but the writer is very excited for some reason. Since the Spanish translation of puzzle does not include an exclamation mark, put it outside the quotation marks: The Spanish word for puzzle means “head breaker”!
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’m teaching a class at the university after a long break and have discovered that most of my students are putting commas or other punctuation outside quotes rather than inside. Is either correct?
A. Tsk—the things kids get up to these days! You have to watch them every minute. Unless you’re teaching in the UK, the punctuation goes inside the quotation marks. (But see CMOS 6.10 for exceptions.)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is it always necessary to use an en dash while it is representing a range of numbers (15–30)?
A. No, but it’s Chicago style. Since en dashes used to be available only to typesetters, typists have
long used hyphens instead. Even with word processors, many people don’t know how to produce an en dash.
Many editors seek the abolition of en dashes, believing that they serve no purpose that couldn’t be
served by other punctuation. (Legal writing is an arguable exception.)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]