Punctuation: Just as important as the words.
We use punctuation to indicate the the [i]structure[/i] of our posts. Without it we vastly reduce the meaning and readability.
[b]Full-Stop or Period (.) and the capital letter.[/b]
The full stop comes when you end a sentence. When we end a sentence, we always capitalize the first letter of the next sentence.
Refrain from using ALL CAPS. It reads as shouting - and when are you going to have to shout?
[b]Comma (,)[/b]
The comma is one of the most important punctuation marks. We can use it in lists, for example in the following example - note that we don't put a comma before the 'and':
[i]I went to America and visited New York, Boston, Chicago and Washington D.C.[/i]
Furthermore, we use the comma to join independent clauses, or ideas, as or as interrupting a one clause with another, for example:
[i]My dad is tall, whereas my grandfather is short.[/i]
[i]My dad, even though his father is short, is tall.[/i]
[b]Apostrophe (')[/b]
We add an apostrophe and an s to indicate the possession of a singular noun. When the singular noun already has an 's' sound, we just add the apostrophe.
[i]This is Spazzy McGee's post.[/i]
[i]We visited the town where we used to live, for old times' sake.[/i]
If there is more than one of the noun, or a plural noun, we put the apostrophe after the s.
[i]It's the girls' hockey team.[/i]
We also use the apostrophe to indicate omitted letters.
[i]Do not = don't.
Can not = can't.
Are not = aren't.
You are = you're.
They are = they're.
[/i]
[b]Exclamation and Question Marks (!, ?)[/b]
These replace the full-stop (period) at the end of a sentence, to indicate an exclamation or influx when reading the sentence.
This being a forum, we don't mind the odd double exclamation mark (!!), or exclamation-question (?!), but more than that (!!!!!!!) looks idiotic.
[b]These are guidelines.[b] On an internet forum, nobody is going to shout at you for putting an apostrophe in the wrong place, or forget a capital letter - just try to punctuate as best you can. It really helps the readability of your posts.