It’s not really surprising why some members of the Forum differ in their use of punctuation. The reason is that most use the American standard for punctuation (especially Filipinos), some use the British standard (particularly the Britons and Australians), and the rest merrily—or should we say unknowingly—mix up both standards. There’s now a tendency towards a uniform punctuation style following the American standard, but in the meantime we have to contend with the deviations.
The style variations begin with the comma. American English requires a comma after each item in an enumerative sequence and before the “and” preceding the last item: “The senators, congressmen, governors, city mayors,
barangay captains, and all citizens are duty-bound to respect the Constitution.” British English doesn’t put a comma before the “and”: “The senators, congressmen, governors, city mayors,
barangay captains and all citizens are duty-bound to respect the Constitution.” However, although Philippine journalism uses American English, it has adopted the British English no-comma rule before the “and”—to the confusion of Filipino English-language learners. (My advice: let the newspapers do away with that comma as they please, but use it in your own writing as American English formally requires.)
How quotation marks are used also vary. As we know, American English uses double quotation marks (“…”) for quoted material, and single quotation marks (‘…’) for quotes within quotes:
“And God said,
‘Let there be light, and there was light’.”
Traditional British English does the exact opposite, using single quotation marks (‘…’) for quoted material, and double quotation marks for quotes within quotes:
‘And God said,
“Let there be light, and there was light”’.
And take note of one more thing: American English puts the period before the closing quotation mark; British English puts it outside the closing quotation mark.
In recent years, however, there has been a notable shift to the American punctuation standard among the British print media, particularly the broadsheets. Some of them now routinely use double quotation marks (“…”) for quoted material, and single quotation marks (‘…’) for quotes within quotes:
Here, for instance, is
The Independent-UK’s reporting on US President Obama’s laying down the Afghanistan exit timetable:
Obama is not expected to set a deadline for an American withdrawal, but Gibbs stressed, “This is not an open-ended commitment.”
“I think there has to be a renewed emphasis on the training of Afghan national security forces,” Gibbs said, explaining that the president's plan looked toward the day when the Afghan army and police would be “primarily responsible” for security.
Even the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) now uses the American punctuation standard for quoted statements:
But Lady Ashton, the former EU trade commissioner, said European leaders were “very comfortable” with her appointment.
“Over the next few months and years I aim to show I am the best person for this job,” she said. “I think for quite a few people, they would say I am the best for the job and I was chosen because I am.”
However, the BBC maintains the British style of putting the comma outside the closing quotation marks of an orphan quote, and does the same for the period at the end of a quoted statement that ends a quote. Look at the passage below from one of its online reports:
One estimate suggests 333 million people in India “use English”, but India's National Knowledge Commission says “even now, no more than 1% of our people use English as a second language, let alone a first language”.
Newspapers using the American punctuation standard 100 percent would, of course, render that statement as follows:
One estimate suggests 333 million people in India “use English,” but India's National Knowledge Commission says “even now, no more than 1% of our people use English as a second language, let alone a first language.”
Whatever punctuation standard we use in the Forum, there shouldn’t be any problem for as long as we are consistent in using that standard. However, since the Philippines uses American English, it would be highly advisable for Filipinos to use the American punctuation standard consistently.
