Punctuation is used to separate the items in the list. The usual way of doing this is to place a comma after each item in the list: The school has a vegetable garden in which the children grow cabbages, onions, potatoes, and carrots. The last item in a list is often preceded by the words and or or. Some writers and publishers always put a comma before the word and or or but it isn’t wrong to leave it blogger.comted Reading Time: 1 min Nov 20, · How to Make a List Into a Sentence Method 1 of 3: Adding a Subject and Verb. Let’s begin with a simple grocery list. Let’s say you’re sending your sister Method 2 of 3: Practicing Parallelism. Make sure your list 66%(17) May 25, · The list appears after the colon and each item in the list is marked with a number in parentheses. While MLA prefers items in lists to include numbers in parentheses, APA style allows you to use lower-case letters for seriation with sentences. Form Enhances Content. Use parallel structure, keeping all items in the list in the same form
Introducing a List
by David McMurrey. General Guidelines Guidelines for Specific Types of Lists Common Problems with Lists Format for Lists. Main index Related Courses:. Lists are useful because they emphasize selected information in regular text. When you see a list of three or four items strung out vertically on the page rather than in normal paragraph format, you naturally notice it more and are likely to pay more attention to it.
Certain types of lists also make for easier reading. For example, in instructions, it is a big help for each step to be numbered and separate from the preceding and following steps. Lists also create more white space and spread out the text so that pages don't seem like solid walls of words. Like headings, the various types of lists are an important feature of professional technical writing: they help readers understand, remember, and review key points; they help readers follow a sequence of actions or events; and they break up long stretches of straight text.
Your task for this chapter is to learn about the different types and uses of lists and to learn their specific format and style. In professional technical-writing contexts, you must use a specific style of lists, like the one presented here.
Note: In-sentence lists could be called "horizontal" lists. All the other lists types pesented here are "vertical" lists in that they format the items vertically rather than in paragraph format. It's difficult to state guidelines on choosing between the various kinds of lists, but here's a stab at it:.
Use the following for specific details on the capitalization, typography bold, underlining, different fonts, different types sizesand spacing for each type of list. Examples of in-sentence lists, grammatically correct way to write a list. Example of a simple vertical list.
No numbers or bullets. Example of a bulleted list. Items not in any required order. Computer developers like to use the Boolean OR as a verb. If two elements are logically joined by "or," they are said to be "ORed. True, you can end the first item with with "or," but ORed advocates think that is not visually emphatic enough. Here's an example:.
Example of an ORed list. The or between adds emphasis. Example of a numbered vertical grammatically correct way to write a list. Items are in a required order. Note: The best way to create a two-column list is to use a table and hide the grid lines. If you use tabs between the columns, you are in for a mess if the text changes at all. Example of a two-column list pairs of list items.
Not illustrated here, column headings are often used to indicate the contents of the two columns for example, here it might be "Term" as the heading for the column 1 and "Definition" for column 2. One last little variation on lists is the vertical list with labels at the beginning of the items.
This format is used extensively in this book. It's like another way of doing a two-column list. Example of a vertical list with labels. Very useful for indicating the contents of each item in a lengthy vertical list when a two-column list is not quite right for grammatically correct way to write a list situation.
A nested list contains two or more levels of list items. Nested lists can contain every combination of list type: numbered list items with lowercase-letter sublist items abc Example of a nested list. If the sublist items were in a required order, they would be abc Another example of a nested list, grammatically correct way to write a list.
Standard is to use lowercase letters for sublist items that are in a required order. Now here are two final examples of nested lists:. More nested lists. If the sublist items are in no required order, try using the clear disc standard in Word and Open Office or the en dash. Notice that all of the list-item "run-over" lines in this text and examples use a "hanging-indent" format. That's where any second and additional lines of a list item align to the text of the first list item.
Not a good idea to use tabs or spaces to achieve this format. Experiment with other indents. I would appreciate your thoughts, reactions, criticism regarding this chapter: your response — Grammatically correct way to write a list McMurrey. Bulleted and Numbered Lists Provide emphasis and sequence by David McMurrey. Tell us where you are located! Contents of This Chapter General Guidelines Guidelines for Specific Types of Lists Common Problems with Lists Format for Lists In-sentence lists Bulleted lists ORed lists Numbered lists Two-column lists Lists with labels Nested lists Hanging indents.
Lists: General Guidelines In professional technical-writing contexts, you must use a specific style of lists, like the one presented here. Use lists to highlight or emphasize text or to enumerate sequential items. Use exactly the spacing, indentation, punctuation, and caps style shown in the following discussion and illustrations. Make list items parallel in phrasing. Make sure that each item in the list reads grammatically with the lead-in. Use a lead-in to introduce the list items and to indicate the meaning or purpose of the list and punctuate it with a colon.
When two items are alternatives, use a bulleted list with or between. Do not use numbered lists for items connected by or. Booleans would call these ORed items. Indicate this OR relationship in the list lead-in. When a separate notice or explanatory paragraph follows a item, indent that separate material to the text of the parent list item. Indented material that elaborates on the parent list item. Avoid using headings as lead-ins for lists.
Avoid overusing lists; using too many lists destroys their effectiveness. Use similar types of lists consistently in similar text in the same document.
For example, if you have two areas of text that present steps for doing a task, both should use the same list format—in this case, numbered lists.
Use the "hanging indent" format for list items two or more lines long. This format is illustrated in the section on hanging indents. Use the grammatically correct way to write a list function in your software to create vertical lists rather than constructing them manually.
See this brief tutorial on using styles for lists. Guidelines for Specific Types of Lists It's difficult to state guidelines on choosing between the various kinds of lists, but here's a stab at it: Most importantly, use numbered lists for items that are in a required order such as step-by-step instructions or for items that must be referred to by item number.
Use bulleted lists for items that are in no required order. With in-sentence lists, there are no conventions when to use letters aband so on, as opposed to numbers 12and so on. If you are in a numbered list and need a sublist, use lowercase letters, to contrast with the numbers. Otherwise, there seem to be no widely agreed-upon guidelines—just be consistent!
Use vertical lists as opposed to in-sentence lists when you want the emphasis provided by the vertical presentation. In-sentence lists provide only minimal emphasis; vertical lists provide much more. Within an individual report, use in-sentence lists and vertical lists consistently for similar situations, grammatically correct way to write a list.
For example, if you have topic overviews for each section of a report, use in-sentence or vertical lists for the overview—but don't mix them for that particular use. Common Problems with Lists Problems with lists usually include the following: Mix-up between numbered and bulleted lists Lack of parallel phrasing in the list items Use of single parentheses on the list-item number or letter in other words, 1 or 1 Run-over lines not aligned with the text of list items Lack of a strong lead-in sentence introducing list items, and lack of a colon to punctuate lead-ins Inconsistent caps style in list items Unnecessary punctuation of list items Inconsistent use of lists in similar text Lists that have too many items and need to be subdivided or consolidated Format for Lists Use the following for specific details on the capitalization, typography bold, underlining, grammatically correct way to write a list, different fonts, different types sizesand spacing for each type of list.
In-sentence lists Use these guidelines for in-sentence lists: Use grammatically correct way to write a list colon to introduce the list items only if a complete sentence precedes the list.
In this problem version, the colon breaks right into the middle grammatically correct way to write a list a sentence how dare it! Revision: For this project, you need tape, scissors, and white-out. Use both opening and closing parentheses on the list item numbers or letters: a item, b item, etc.
Use either regular Arabic numbers or lowercase letters within the parentheses, but use them consistently. Do not punctuate either with periods. Use lowercase for the text of in-sentence lists items, except when regular capitalization rules require caps. Punctuate the in-sentence list items with commas if they are not complete sentences; with semicolons, if they are complete sentences.
Use the same spacing for in-sentence lists as in regular non-list text. Make the in-sentence list occur at the end of the sentence. Never place an in-sentence list introduced by a colon anywhere but at grammatically correct way to write a list end of the sentence, as in this example: Problem: The following items: tape, scissors, and white-out are needed for this project.
Revision: The following items are needed for this project: tape, scissors, and white-out. Simple vertical lists Use these guidelines for simple vertical lists: Introduce the list with a lead-in phrase or clause the lead-in need not be a complete sentence; the list items can complete the grammar started by the lead-in, grammatically correct way to write a list.
Punctuate the lead-in with a colon.
PUNCTUATION �� - English Grammar - How to use punctuation correctly
, time: 9:38Making a list. Checking it twice (for colons, commas, and semicolons). | Grammar Party
Nov 20, · How to Make a List Into a Sentence Method 1 of 3: Adding a Subject and Verb. Let’s begin with a simple grocery list. Let’s say you’re sending your sister Method 2 of 3: Practicing Parallelism. Make sure your list 66%(17) While I may be a product of my time, I think bulleted lists are an excellent way to break up a list of items and does so without a bunch of cluttering punctuation. In cases where a bulleted list would be out of place, I'd suggest using a colon and ditching the quotation marks, like so Punctuation is used to separate the items in the list. The usual way of doing this is to place a comma after each item in the list: The school has a vegetable garden in which the children grow cabbages, onions, potatoes, and carrots. The last item in a list is often preceded by the words and or or. Some writers and publishers always put a comma before the word and or or but it isn’t wrong to leave it blogger.comted Reading Time: 1 min
No comments:
Post a Comment