Full-Stop - Usage,
Meaning, Punctuation

What is the full stop?

The full stop is a type of punctuation. Most people call it the period. It looks like a small black round-shaped dot, always in the corner of sentences. When we use the full stop, it represents a sentence is finished, and there is nothing more to add.

It can be used in both formal and informal situations. For example, when you write emails, you put the full stop punctuation to show the final word is completed. If the full stop punctuation misses, it will cause confusions that make others hard to understand. Therefore, the full stop is essential in paragraphs.

How to use the full stop?

1. The full stop can be used to finish a sentence and separate tedious clauses. Sentences can have different meanings with or without the full stop. Missing the full stop or putting it in the wrong place will make others hard to understand what you are trying to express.

Examples:

  • 1. I need to finish my homework.
  • 2. I am supposed to clean my room tonight.
  • 3. I am walking right now.
  • 4. I don’t think I will sleep tonight.
  • 5. I don’t want to waste my time on playing games.

2. The full stop can be used after abbreviations. We use the full stop to show missing letters in a word, but people can still understand what you write. This method has been wildly applied to our daily life, which helps us save a lot of time.

Examples:

  • 1. Dr. Mathew complimented my work yesterday.
  • 2. Prof. Gregary told us to polish our essay.
  • 3. Me and my friends are going to U.S. next year.

3. the full stop can be put with numbers and used under different circumstances.

Examples:

  • 1. the price of an orange is $2.5.
  • 2. we are going to study section 3.2 today.
  • 3. you only worked 7.5 hours yesterday.

Are there any situations you should not use the full stop?

1. Be careful when you try to enter web or email addresses

Some web and email addresses don’t come with any full-stop punctuations initially. If you accidentally type a dot at the end of addresses, the system can’t recognize the addresses you enter. As a result, you may not find the website or the email recipients you are looking for.

For example:

  • Correct: yri465@gmail.com
  • Incorrect: yri465@gmail.com.

2. Don’t put the full stop after other punctuations.

For example:

  • Correct: # breaking news
  • Incorrect: #. Braking news

  • Correct: I love my coworkers!
  • Incorrect: I love my coworkers!.

Do you know the history of the full stop?

The full stop is stemmed from Greek punctuation. In ancient Greek, people didn't care about writing that much compared with speaking. They preferred to express their thoughts and ideas verbally instead of writing them down.

In the 3rd century BCE, Aristophanes invented a series of dots to represent different meanings of sentences. For example, a high dot located in the upper corner means the full stop. It aimed to end a sentence. The middle dot represents the semicolon nowadays. The function was to let you take a long breath between sentences, while the comma was marked as the lower dot to show a shorter breath.

After a few centuries, the punctuation symbols and their meanings have changed and attested. In the 19th century, both British English and American English adopted and standardized the usage of these punctuations. That's why we have the full stop, comma, and semicolon nowadays.

A study about using full stop constantly in texting -Ending every sentence with the full stop punctuation in texting will make you sound less sincere!

If we follow grammatical rules, using the full stop at the end of each sentence is totally correct, but why do people feel less sincere with a full stop in texting? For example, my friends asked me to a birthday party next week. I replied, “I am down for it.” What does it sound like? It sounds like I am less excited, right? What if “I am down for it!!”? It probably sounds so much more profound and exciting.

That’s because texting lacks many social cues that we use in face-to-face conversations. When people talk face-to-face, we tend to use facial expressions, tone of voice, and body movements to express our feelings. However, we only can use words to express our thoughts in texting. So, we have to use punctuation and emojis to mimic what we would do in face-to-face conversations. Texting can be boring and dull if we keep using full stops

Do you know any other common punctuation except the full stop? Here are 5 most common punctuation

1. Question mark (?): When people ask a question, they tend to use the question mark at the end of a sentence.

For example: where is the market?

2. Exclamation point (!): People use this punctuation to show their excitement and surprises. Their feelings are stronger when they use exclamation points than the full stop.

For example: I love tonight's party!

3. Comma (,): a comma is used to separate different ideas to clarify sentences' meanings. But the difference between the full stop and the comma is that the comma only represents a short break. It doesn't mean the sentence is completed.

For example: Kids like to play basketball, soccer, and volleyball.

4. colon (:): Colon is used to explain and emphasize your points or list out examples.

For example: We need to learn some subjects today: geography, math, and English.

5. hyphen (-): Hyphens can connect two single words together to make compound words. The new word may have totally different meanings.

For example: Do you want to have a face-to-face meeting?

Do you know the spacing after the full stop?

The first is a one-word space. This is the most common space after the full stop in most countries which uses the Latin alphabet to type.

The second one is a two-word space. There are some arguments about the time of the existence of two-word space. Some people said that it originated from the use of the monospaced font on typewriters, while others claimed that it appeared earlier than that. Two-word space aimed to clear the space between words, although it was gradually replaced by one-word space.

We also have a one-widened space, which has been used in other typing systems. The modern digital computer system can also adjust the space, making it wider after the full stop.

Do you know the place of punctuation when quoting?

The convention in America and Canada is to place the full stops and commas inside of the quotation marks. However, the British follow the “logical quotation” rule, putting punctuation based on grammatical sense. For example, if the full stop is a part of the quotation material, it will be included in the quotation mark. Otherwise, it will be out of the quotation mark.

For example:

  • Here is the story called “The Sky and the sea.” (American Style)
  • Here is the story called “The sky and the sea”. (British style)
  • Jessica said, “I love my friends.” (both)

The full stop in terms of time

In British English, the full stop is commonly used in tracking time, no matter the 12-hour clock or the 24-hour counterpart, such as public broadcasts, published academic articles, and live news.

For example, 3.05 is five past three.

However, American and Canadian English prefer colons instead of full stops.

For example, the time is written as 3:05 to represent five past three.

Let’s see how meaning can be changed with or without punctuation

Here are some examples:

1. with comma: Let’s play, Michael!

Without comma: Let’s play Michael!

2. with the full stop: what you do will help someone. Join us now!

Without the full stop: what you do will help some join us now!

3. hyphens in different places:

ninety-five dollars is too much vs ninety five-dollar is too much

Using full stop and understanding it