Punctuation

• Intro
• Commas (,)
• Quotations (“ ” and ‘ ’)
• Parentheses ()
• Slash (/)
• Dashes
• Colons and Semicolons
• Abbreviated English honorifics
• Sentence endings
• CPS Overflow
• Songs

Intro

Follow this for punctuation as best as possible: https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/index.html

All lines should end with punctuation; no exceptions!

If you need to break up a sentence into 2 parts due to CPS overflow, make sure you still follow standard punctuation rules.

Commas (,)

More info: https://prowritingaid.com/Comma

Comma chains

Use Oxford commas.

e.g. “I love my parents, Lady Gaga, and Humpty Dumpty.”

Comma splices

Avoid comma splices and try to replace them with full stops or semicolons.

Wrong: “Koala bears are not actually bears, they are marsupials.”

Right: “Koala bears are not actually bears. They are marsupials.”

Vocative commas

The use of vocative commas should be decided on a case-by-case basis. This is the comma appearing before/after a person addressed in a sentence. Always use them when needed to make the meaning clear.

Wrong: Let’s eat grandma!

Right: Let’s eat, grandma!

Quotations (“ ” and ‘ ’)

Use double quotation marks (“ ”) for quotations. In case you need to apply a "second layer" of quotation inside of an already present one, proceed to use single quotation marks (‘ ’).

Full stops and commas always go inside quotations, while all other punctuation varies on a case-by-case basis:

• Inside if they belong to the quoted sentence.
• Outside if they belong to the “main sentence.”

Parentheses ()

A space is always needed between a parenthesis and the preceding/succeeding word.

Punctuation can go either inside or outside, depending on the situation:

• Inside if it belongs to the sentence inside parentheses.
• Outside if it belongs to the “main sentence.”

Slash (/)

Make sure to always use a forward slash (i.e. “/”) instead of a backslash (i.e. “\”).

If used after a capitalized word, make sure to also capitalize the word that comes after it:

e.g. “...in the end. Red/Crimson should always…”

Dashes

Refer to the Punctuation guide for more details!

En dash (–)

• Mainly used to indicate spans of times (e.g. “1954–1956” = “From 1954 to 1956”).
• If you want an en dash, hold Alt and type 0150 from your numpad.
• Make sure not to mix these up with em dashes and hyphens.

On some EU keyboard layouts, the Alt codes only work with the left Alt key.

Em dash (—)

• Mainly used to replace commas or colons in certain cases.
• If you want an em dash, hold Alt and type 0151 from your numpad.

Em dashes require no spaces before or after them; pay special attention to this!

Use these for non-sequiturs:

e.g. “I was eating—by the way you look great today—and I started talking to Fred.”

Can be used to indicate that a line has been abruptly cut (either by the speaker or by someone else interrupting them). Make sure to capitalize the first letter of the next line when this happens.

e.g. “I was say— // Hey you, stop running!”

Hyphen (-)

Mainly used to create compound words.

Used to indicate stutters (these are different from abrupt cuts in a sentence, which are expressed through the use of em dashes). When this happens, make sure to repeat capitals as well.

e.g. “Th-This time you’re mine!”

There may be certain cases where stuttering can be better conveyed through the use of subbing effects; discuss this option with the subber if you feel like this may be the case in a specific situation.

Colons and Semicolons

More info: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/semi-colons-colons-and-dashes/

Colon (:)

Generally, the first word following the colon should be lower-cased if the words after the colon form a dependent clause (that is, if they could not stand on their own as a complete sentence). If the following phrase is a complete (independent) clause, you may choose to capitalize it or not. Make sure to be consistent throughout the video with this.

Semicolon (;)

These are very versatile. They can be used to join two independent clauses that share an idea. Don't be afraid to use them.

Abbreviated English honorifics

There is a difference by nation. Mr. is American, Mr is British. Use the former as per US English standard.

Wrong: Mr

Right: Mr.

Sentence endings

In all cases, make sure you have punctuation, aside from one exception with ellipses.

In dialogue, you often face sentences that are half-complete, abruptly cut or trailing off. You have four options: a tilde (~), an em dash (ー), a comma (,) or an ellipses (...). Choose the one that fits the best with the situation.

• Ending with a tilde (~) as punctuation is acceptable. Sometimes, this fits the tone better than an exclamation mark or an ellipses.
• If a strong emphasis is needed, using ~! or ~? is acceptable.
• If a line ends with an em-dash (ー), start a new sentence on the next line, treat it as if you used a full stop.
• Line ending with a comma (,): the next follow-up line (from the same speaker) should start lowercase with no prefixed punctuation.
• Ellipses (...) have multiple use cases but still should be used as sparingly as possible. See ellipses section below for further instructions.

Interrobangs

!? is the Japanese one. ?! is the English one.

Tilde (~)

• Do not overuse them.
• Can convey playfulness or imply that the character is speaking in a teasing tone.
• Does not require the use of a full stop after it, but it can sometimes be followed by an exclamation or question mark.

Ellipsis (...)

Plural: “ellipses.” Not to be confused with the mathematical term, “ellipse,” which shares the same plural writing.
Make sure that each ellipsis only has 3 full stops/dots. NO FOUR-DOTTED ELLIPSES. NO TWO-DOTTED ELLIPSES EITHER.

Ellipses can indicate a meaningful pause in speech.
“Meaningful” is the key word here because speech has pauses of all sorts, differing in length and sentence positioning and having an ellipsis for every single pause would result in a script with more ellipses than words. We want to avoid that. In this usage, have a space after the ellipses (think of it as a “super-comma”).

• Assuming the previous sentence trails off for a considerable pause, If the next line from the same speaker is the same sentence, start the sentence with an ellipsis.

“That’s… not a good idea.”

Ellipses can indicate trailing in or trailing out of speech. Insert an end ellipses for the first line.

It’s almost as if you’re… // dead.
It’s… // almost as if you’re… // dead.

If an ellipsis is used within a single sentence (i.e. not connecting two separate sentences on different lines), do not put a space after it.

e.g. “It’s almost as if you’re...dead.”

Ellipses can continue the thoughts of already finished lines. Insert a start ellipses for the second line.

I don’t hate you. // …or do I?

Ellipses can be used to trail off in a standalone line, but with ending punctuation.
Do not include any spaces before, and treat it following as the ending punctuation it is paired with.

What the…?
You son of a…!
You’re my… Never mind.

Note: Since the next line from the same speaker is a new sentence, start that sentence capitalized.

The first letter in a sentence starting with an ellipsis should not be capitalized if the line is picking up where the previous one left off. The only exception to this rule is the following:

• A trail-in ellipsis can also express doubt or hesitancy

e.g. “...Are you sure?”

CPS Overflow

You may need to artificially cut up a wordy line into two or more separate lines to handle CPS issues. When you do, you need to make sure proper punctuation is used and attempt to translate and/or proofread to accommodate this as best as possible.

Example:

Original:
“On Saturday, I was thinking of meeting up with Moona and Iofi and start working on our Minecraft house together.”

Fixed:
On Saturday, I was thinking of meeting up with Moona and Iofi,
so that we start working on our Minecraft house.

Songs

• Follow standard punctuation rules.
• Full stops can sometimes be replaced with tildes at your discretion.
• Can discuss with subber/editor if they have some idea on how to better render a specific clip.