# Punctuation

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

# Intro

****Follow this for punctuation as best as possible:**** [*****https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/index.html*****](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 (,)

<p class="callout info"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">More info: </span>[https://prowritingaid.com/Comma](https://prowritingaid.com/Comma)</p>

#### Comma chains

Use Oxford commas.

<p class="callout success">e.g. “I love my parents, Lady Gaga, and Humpty Dumpty.”</p>

#### Comma splices

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

<p class="callout danger">****Wrong:**** “Koala bears are not actually bears, they are marsupials.”</p>

<p class="callout success">****Right:**** <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">“Koala bears are not actually bears. They are marsupials.” </span></p>

#### 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.

<p class="callout danger">****Wrong:****<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> Let’s eat grandma!</span></p>

<p class="callout success">****Right:****<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> Let’s eat, grandma!</span></p>

# Quotations (“ ” and ‘ ’)

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Use </span>****double quotation marks (“ ”)****<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> 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 (‘ ’).</span>

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. “<span style="color: rgb(45, 194, 107);">/</span>”) instead of a backslash (i.e. “<span style="color: rgb(224, 62, 45);">\\</span>”).

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

<p class="callout success">e.g. “...in the end. Red/Crimson should always…”</p>

# 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”).
- <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">If you want an en dash, hold </span>`<span class="editor-theme-code">Alt</span>`<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> and type </span>`<span class="editor-theme-code">0150</span>`<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> from your numpad. </span>
- Make sure not to mix these up with em dashes and hyphens.

<p class="callout info"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">On some EU keyboard layouts, the </span>`<span class="editor-theme-code">Alt</span>`<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> codes only work with the left </span>`<span class="editor-theme-code">Alt</span>`<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> key.</span></p>

#### Em dash (—)

- Mainly used to replace commas or colons in certain cases.
- <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">If you want an em dash, hold </span>`<span class="editor-theme-code">Alt</span>`<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> and type </span>`<span class="editor-theme-code">0151</span>`<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> from your numpad.</span>

<p class="callout warning">****Em dashes require no spaces before or after them; pay special attention to this!****</p>

Use these for non-sequiturs:

<p class="callout success">e.g. “I was eating—by the way you look great today—and I started talking to Fred.”</p>

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.

<p class="callout success">e.g. “I was say— // Hey you, stop running!”</p>

#### 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.

<p class="callout success">e.g. “Th-This time you’re mine!”</p>

<p class="callout info">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.</p>

# Colons and Semicolons

<p class="callout info"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">More info: </span>[https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/semi-colons-colons-and-dashes/](https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/semi-colons-colons-and-dashes/)</p>

#### 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.

<table id="bkmrk-wrong%3A-mrright%3A-mr." style="border: medium;"><colgroup><col style="width: 240px;"></col><col style="width: 240px;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border: medium;"><p class="callout danger">****Wrong:****<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> Mr</span></p>

</td><td style="border: medium;"><p class="callout success">****Right:****<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> Mr.</span></p>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

# 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

<span style="color: rgb(224, 62, 45);">!?</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> is the Japanese one. </span>****?!****<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> is the English one.</span>

#### 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 (...)

<p class="callout info">Plural: “ellipses.” Not to be confused with the mathematical term, “ellipse,” which shares the same plural writing.  
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Make sure that each ellipsis only has 3 full stops/dots. </span><span style="color: rgb(224, 62, 45);">NO FOUR-DOTTED ELLIPSES. NO TWO-DOTTED ELLIPSES EITHER.</span></p>

****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.

<p class="callout success">“That’s… not a good idea.”</p>

****Ellipses can indicate trailing in or trailing out of speech.****<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> Insert an end ellipses for the first line.</span>

<p class="callout success">It’s almost as if you’re… // dead.  
It’s… // almost as if you’re… // dead.</p>

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.

<p class="callout success">e.g. “It’s almost as if you’re...dead.”</p>

****Ellipses can continue the thoughts of already finished lines.****<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> Insert a start ellipses for the second line.</span>

<p class="callout success">I don’t hate you. // …or do I?</p>

****Ellipses can be used to trail off in a standalone line, but with ending punctuation.****  
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Do not include any spaces before, and treat it following as the ending punctuation it is paired with. </span>

<p class="callout success">What the…?  
You son of a…!  
You’re my… Never mind.</p>

<p class="callout info">Note: Since the next line from the same speaker is a new sentence, start that sentence capitalized.</p>

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

<p class="callout success">e.g. “...Are you sure?”</p>

# 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:****

<p class="callout warning">****Original:****   
“On Saturday, I was thinking of meeting up with Moona and Iofi and start working on our Minecraft house together.”</p>

<p class="callout success">****Fixed:****  
On Saturday, I was thinking of meeting up with Moona and Iofi,  
so that we start working on our Minecraft house.</p>

# 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.