1. Use “ ” for emphasis – use SPARINGLY
2. In a series, take out the comma before “and” (unless taking it out will cause confusion).
Example: Children play with bikes, boxes and books.
3. When quoting a statement, place any commas and/or periods inside the quotation marks.
Example: “The U of L received funding for the program,” he said.
4. Use commas before lists that start with e.g. or i.e.
Example: She wanted to take courses in management, i.e. marketing, accounting and finance.
5. Do not use a comma before etc. at the end of a sentence.
Example: She described the courses as fun, interesting, informative etc.
6. Hyphens/Dashes
a. Dashes can be used to separate lists from a sentence.
Example: You will learn valuable skills attending the University of Lethbridge –
effective study habits, communication skills, presentation planning and
test-writing abilities – all of which will be useful to you when you graduate.
b. Dashes can be used instead of commas or semi-colons.
Example: While all three divisions of the Faculty – humanities, science and social
science – are represented on the eighth floor of University Hall…
c. Use dashes to break long sentences into shorter ones
Example: She did much of her research while studying at the U of L – though
it took her many years – she felt rewarded when she finally completed her master’s degree.
d. Use dashes to separate lists from a sentence
Example: He needed five courses – geography, biology, chemistry, history and archaeology – to graduate on time.
e. If commas seem confusing, use dashes
f. In placelines, use a dash after the service logo
Example: LETHBRIDGE (CP) – The University of Lethbridge…
g. Common hyphenated words: first-year, full-time, part-time, fourth-year, re-entry, re-enrolled