Hello everybody, welcome back to my channel
Sparkle English, where I teach you ways to improve
your level of English. This video is a part of my English
writing essential series. And I will be teaching you how to
use and place periods and full stops in sentences.
We'll go over some more basic and more advanced uses of
periods and full stops in sentences. So let's get
started.
In this lesson, you will learn how to use periods or
full stops correctly when writing in English. So this
right here is a period, a simple dot. The end of a
sentence.
A period is called a full stop in British English. I'm
from Canada, and we call it a period and so do people in
the United States.
So rule number one is very basic. We use periods to end
a declarative sentence or a complete sentence that is a
statement. So we have declarative sentences, which
are statements, whereas interrogative sentences or
questions and with a question mark. So here are some
examples. What is your name? This is an interrogative
sentence. And it ends with a question mark. A declarative
sentence would answer an interrogative sentence. So my
name is Jennifer. That is a declarative sentence, it is a
complete statement. So it ends in a period. Let's look
at some more examples of sentences that end in
periods. I like dogs, period, he drinks coffee, Luke is my
best friend. These are all simple statements, complete
sentences that end in a period. In Rule number two,
we'll go over period placement where exactly you
place a period and where you do not place a period within
a sentence, we have to place a period at the end of a
sentence without leaving a space between the last word
of the sentence and the period, then you leave a
space after the period before starting your next sentence.
So look at this example here. I have a cat, this would be
incorrect. You can see a lot of people I see even in my
youtube channel when they're writing comments, they leave
a space after the last letter of the sentence and then put
a period that's incorrect. Correct would be I have a cat
period. So you do not leave a space between the T or
between the last letter and the period. So here would
this would also be incorrect. I have a cat space period
space. His name is whiskers. No, this is correct. Right
here, I have a cat period right after the T, then a
space. And then his name is whiskers. In the past, when
people used typewriters, they would put two spaces. But now
standard, it's standard just to put one space after a
period and then continuing your next sentence. Okay, we
also use periods at the end of sentences that are
intended to instruct or command. These are also known
as imperative sentences, you'll hear these sentences a
lot from your teacher or your mommy or dad telling you what
to do, or your boss, we usually use periods at the
end of imperative sentences or commands. Sometimes we use
an exclamation mark to express great emotion. And
this here is an exclamation mark.
So example, take out your notebook. We follow that with
a period it's a command. So we have a period, lock the
door when you leave the house. Again, that's an
instruction or command. So we end with a period, please sit
down. And that again with a period. Now what about an
exclamation mark? How would we use an exclamation mark?
That would be when you want to express greater emotion.
So if I said Please sit down. But what if I was, you know,
a teacher and I was really angry at my students, because
they would not sit down, I' say, "Sit down right now."
And that exclamation mark hows more emotion.
Another good example is be careful. You know, if say I
was my child was about to cross the road, and I didn't
want him or her to get hit by a car. Be careful, okay? Oth
rwise, a command would nor ally end with a period. Oka
, So rule number four sta ts to get a bit more com
licated, because a lot of peo le make this mistake both Eng
ish learners and also nat ve English speakers. An ind
rect question ends with a per od, not a question mark. So
hen a question is direct, you need to use a question mar
at the end. A direct que tion will often begin wit
one of these words who wha where when, why how can may
there's other words as wel that could
begin a question. But those are typical ones. When a
question is indirect, you need to use a period at the
end to indicate this. So let's look at the difference
between a direct question and an indirect question. So here
are some examples. A direct question. This one you can
see begins with the question word where, where is my
phone? This is a direct question. I'm wondering,
where is my phone? I want you to answer my direct question.
An indirect question would be, I wonder where my phone
is? This we end with a period? Because it's not
actually asking a question. It's just, it's really making
a statement. I wonder where my my phone is. But it's not
actually asking someone directly. Where is my phone?
Tell me, you know, do you know where my phone is? It's
not a direct question. Okay. Another example, can I come
to the party? This is a direct question. So it has to
end with a question mark. But an indirect question would
be, she asked if she could come to the party. Okay, so
when it's an indirect question, not a direct
question, we end with a period or a full stop. Okay.
So rule number five. If a sentence ends with an
abbreviation that ends in a period, do not follow it with
another period. We often use periods with abbreviations.
These are some examples of abbreviations Mr. Mrs. Dr.
St. a.m. p.m. when we re referring to time, etc.
nd incorporated, we're referr ng to a corporation. So we pu
a period at the end of th se abbreviations. Now, i
a sentence ends with an abbreviation that ends i
a period, we do not follow it with another period, t
at period at the end of he abbreviation works for
he sentence that completes he sentence we don't need,
nd we cannot use two periods. So this would be correct here
I have an appointment at 10 m. Finished, this abbreviat
on has a period. So we finish it like that. You do not sa
I have an appointment at 1 am and add an extra period
at the end. We don't do th t. Okay, that's incorre
t. Here's another example. J ck said, I just got a job
at Apple Inc., for exam le. So you can see here we h
ve the period. And then we h ve the quotation afte
wards, because this is a quot tion, it's what jack said
we would not write, jack said, I just got a job at A
ple Inc., and then have a eriod and then a quotation an
then a period No, this wou d be incorrect. We only need
to use the period insid the quotation marks. Now I
m going to skip to the next lide. And we're going to tal
about using periods with quotation marks. Now remember
this is American Eng ish, British English, the
have different rules with q otation marks than we do i
American English. So f you want to learn about
hat, then I will link you to he in the description
elow.
Okay, so how to place a period with quotation marks
in American English. If a sentence ends with a quote,
the period is placed inside the closing quotation mark.
Here's an example. Ross said they were on a break. So I'm
quoting Ross here. And we would put the period inside
the quotation mark. Now, if the quotation ends with a
question mark, or exclamation mark, the period is left out.
So Joey asked, how you doing? Here? we've ended it with a
question mark. And so this would be correct. But this
would be incorrect. We do not need a period, we just end it
with a question mark. And if this was a different, you
know, statement of Joey said, I want pizza, it would again
be a period, and then the quotation mark, just like we
see in this example here.
Okay, So rule number five is how we use periods with
parentheses. So these right here are parentheses. Okay,
and we're going to talk about how we use periods with
parentheses.
So when a sentence ends with a parent, that article that
is only part of a larger sentence, the period is
placed outside the closing parenthesis. So for example,
mom made apple pie for my birthday. And then we have
the parentheses my favorite dessert. Here we place the
period outside because
What we have inside the parentheses is not a complete
sentence. This is part of this full sentence here, mom
made apple pie for my birthday, my favorite
dessert. So we're going to put the period or the full
stop after the parentheses, okay? However, when a
complete sentence is entirely enclosed by parentheses, the
period goes inside the closing parenthesis. So mom
made apple pie for my birthday. Here, you can see
we have a period,
it is my favorite dessert period inside the closing
bracket. So it's actually quite simple. Just remember
that if it is a complete sentence inside the
parentheses, we end with a period inside right after the
complete sentence, okay, but if the parentheses is a part
of a larger sentence, then you have the period
afterwards, so that the parentheses is part of that
sentence. Okay, so you can see here we have two
different periods, mom made apple pie for my birthday
period, because that is a complete sentence. And then
it is my favorite dessert period, because that is also
a complete sentence inside the parentheses. Okay.
All right, so now we are ready to do some practice. So
which of these sentences are incorrect?
I have seven different sentences here. Some of them
are correct. And some of them have errors. And your job is
to correct them and see which ones and let me know which
ones have errors. So I want you to get out a piece of
paper or go to the comment section of this video. And
you can see how many you have right out of seven. So I'm
first going to read each of them to you, and then we will
correct them together. Alright, so let's start with
number one.
I can't go to the meeting tomorrow night. Can you
reschedule?
I got a promotion yesterday.
Jack asked, Do you want to go out tomorrow night?
Jean came to the concert with chat her boyfriend.
We have a conference next Monday at 2pm.
Lisa had an argument with Dina. They always argu
Clean up your room.
Okay, so take some time to think about these and write
down your corrections. And now I'm going to correct them
with you. So pause the video if you haven't finished. So
number one is incorrect. The placement of the period is
incorrect. This period should be touching right after the T
and then a space with C. So it should go
night.
The period right beside night and then a space and then the
next word and we should have a space right here between
the period and can.
Okay, number two is correct. That's a statement. I got a
promotion yesterday. It's a declarative sentence. So we
put a period at the end and the placement is correct. Now
the next one, jack asked, Do you want to go out tomorrow
night? This is incorrect. This one we do not need a
period because it ends with a question mark. So we don't
need a period.
Number four, Jean came to the concert with Chad, her
boyfriend. This one is correct.
Because her boyfriend is not a complete sentence. It is a
part of this larger sentence. Jean came to the concert with
Chad. So we put the period at the end.
Because her boyfriend is not a complete sentence. It is a
part of this entire sentence here. Okay, number five. We
have a conference next Monday at 2pm. This is incorrect. We
have too many periods here. It's an abbreviation that has
ended the sentence and it already has a period so we do
not need to add an extra period. Okay, number six,
Lisa had an argument with Dina. They always argue - th
s is also incorrect. Th y always argue is a comple
e sentence. So this peri d should be inside the bracke
. We have this period here th t has finished this statemen
. Lisa had an argument wi h Deena and then we have t
e parentheses they always arg e it's a complete sentence.
o we would end it with a peri d inside the parentheses. A
d the last one clean up yo r roo
This one is incorrect. You can either end this one with
a period or with an exclamation mark but you
can't use both. So let's say this one let's say it was a
mom who was really angry.
Clean up your room, she said it with a lot of emotion,
we'd use an exclamation mark. If she said it not with a lot
of emotion, clean up your room, then you could put a
period at the end but you cannot use both.
Okay
so thank you very much for watching this video. I really
hope that this has helped you understand how to use periods
and full stops. If you like this video, please click like
make sure to share with your friends and family or whoever
else would like to improve their level of English and
prove their writing skills. I encourage you to practice
writing some sentences in the comments using periods. And
let me know how you did on the test how many you got out
of seven? Make sure to subscribe for more videos
just like this one. I will be continuing more videos in my
English writing essential series and also link you in
the description below to my videos on how to use commas
how to use apostrophes, quotation marks, colons, semi
colons, all sorts of really important stuff that you need
to become an excellent writer in English. Thanks again for
watching and I will see you in my next video.