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: An ellipsis does not normally need square brackets around it, because its function is usually obvious—especially if the guidelines above are followed. Square brackets, however, may optionally be used for precision, to make it clear that the ellipsis is not itself quoted; this is usually only necessary if the quoted passage also uses three periods in it to indicate a pause or suspension. The ellipsis should follow exactly the principles given above but with square brackets inserted immediately before and after it ({{xt|Her long rant continued: "How do I feel? How do you {{em|think}} I ... look, this has gone far enough! [...] I want to go home!"}}). | : An ellipsis does not normally need square brackets around it, because its function is usually obvious—especially if the guidelines above are followed. Square brackets, however, may optionally be used for precision, to make it clear that the ellipsis is not itself quoted; this is usually only necessary if the quoted passage also uses three periods in it to indicate a pause or suspension. The ellipsis should follow exactly the principles given above but with square brackets inserted immediately before and after it ({{xt|Her long rant continued: "How do I feel? How do you {{em|think}} I ... look, this has gone far enough! [...] I want to go home!"}}). | ||
== Commas == | |||
[[Comma]] | [[Wikipedia:Comma|Commas]] are the most frequently used punctuation marks and can be the most difficult to use well. Some important points regarding their use follow below and at {{section link||Semicolons}}. | ||
* Pairs of commas are used to delimit parenthetic material, forming an [[Apposition|appositive]]. Using commas in this way interrupts a sentence less than using round brackets or dashes to express parenthetical material. When inserting parenthetical material in a sentence, use two commas, or none at all. For example: | * Pairs of commas are used to delimit parenthetic material, forming an [[Wikipedia:Apposition|appositive]]. Using commas in this way interrupts a sentence less than using round brackets or dashes to express parenthetical material. When inserting parenthetical material in a sentence, use two commas, or none at all. For example: | ||
:{| style="background:transparent" | :{| style="background:transparent" | ||
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* In geographical references that include multiple levels of subordinate divisions (e.g., city, state/province, country), a comma separates each element and follows the last element unless followed by other punctuation. [[ | * In geographical references that include multiple levels of subordinate divisions (e.g., city, state/province, country), a comma separates each element and follows the last element unless followed by other punctuation. [[UniWiki:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers#Dates, months and years|Dates]] in month–day–year format require a comma after the day, as well as after the year, unless followed by other punctuation. In both cases, the last element is treated as [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Basic copyediting#Parenthetical comma|parenthetical]]. | ||
:{| style="background:transparent" | :{| style="background:transparent" | ||
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* On Wikipedia, place quotation marks by following the system [[#Punctuation inside or outside|described | * On Wikipedia, place quotation marks by following the system [[#Punctuation inside or outside|described above]]. This is called "logical quotation". | ||
:{| style="background:transparent" | :{| style="background:transparent" | ||