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Punctuation – the full stop (.)

Average: 3 (42 votes)

We use a full stop at the end of a sentence. Some people also put full stops after abbreviations.

When people speak, they do not always use complete sentences. When we write down their conversation, we put a full stop (.) after each statement even if this is not a sentence:
John:  Look at this e-mail.
Peter:  Who's it from?
John:  Sandra. She's getting married.
Peter: Nice. Are we invited?

In a piece of writing, English sentences must be separated by a full stop (.), question mark (?), exclamation mark (!) or semicolon (;) or joined by a connective like: and, but, so, when, if etc.

Two sentences cannot be separated by a coma unless they are part of a list of three or more statements:
Sandra prepared the pasta, John prepared the sauce for it, and Mary laid the table.

A sentence cannot be separated this way:
We didn't do any shopping. Because the supermarket had already closed.
But
We didn't do any shopping because the supermarket had already closed.

Lesson by Tristan, English teacher at EC Malta English school

Which of the following is correct?

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  • 8) Which is correct?