However, the following list item is not a sentence, so we left the t in lowercase and omitted a period: While they should be used sparingly, lists are a great way to convey information in an easily digestible and recognizable format. Lists are either embedded in the prose or defined vertically, depending on the purpose of the list and the amount of information presented. Baldwin was known for his astute sociological observations, meticulously crafted sentences, and decidedly metropolitan dialogue. The following list is parallel because all elements are complete sentences with uppercase and lowercase letters and punctuation: 21. Use short paragraphs. An author can improve the clarity of a regulation by using short, compact paragraphs. Each paragraph should deal with a single and coherent topic. Long, complex or technical discussions should be presented in a series of related paragraphs. 22.
Use a checklist and review your design for each of these principles separately. 12. Prefer simple words. The government`s letter should be worthy, but it does not need to be pompous. Writing can be dignified if the language is simple, direct and strong. To make your writing clearer and easier to read, and therefore more effective, prefer the word simple. When you think about this upcoming use of semicolons, a superhero comes to mind. In fact, the semicolon acts as a kind of supersemicolon (keyword superhero music and voiceover) when list items require sublists. If you want to decide this for yourself, I found this handy link on bulleted lists that cite many different references: www.grammar-quizzes.com/punc-lists.html. Be sure to write down a list of numbers if the order is important or if you are writing a step-by-step guide that requires point #1 to come before point #2.
You should create bulleted lists that start with an introduction and then use between 4 and 10 list items. You use bullets for most list items. A bulleted list delineates items for which order is not important, such as items on a shopping list or types of software. This is a non-parallel list. The first and third elements are in active voice, but the second element is in passive voice. In my opinion, when capitalizing, you should use periods at the end of each sentence instead of linking semicolons and a conjunction as in the example above. Punctuation of lists embedded in scientific documents Lists are often used in academic and academic literature to present clear and orderly information to readers. Whether the material a scholarly writer wants to convey is short and relatively simple or long and extremely complicated, an effectively designed list can increase the accessibility and impact of the material, which can also prove more interesting and memorable when presented in a well-organized list. Lists can be incorporated into the body of an academic or scientific paper, or viewed by separating them from the body of the text. In both cases, punctuation that distinguishes each item and helps clarify their relationship to each other is essential for a successful list. Built-in lists follow the rules of normal sentence structure and are especially useful when the elements are not too complex. In its simplest form, a list in the body of the text that correctly completes a sentence does not require special punctuation and no numbers or letters to mark individual items, as in “She brought pens, pencils, and paper” and “Our study focused on scribes, marginalia and writings”.
A comma can be used (as in the second example) or not (as in the first) before the conjunction “and” that precedes the last element, but this must match the pattern of using a series comma elsewhere in the document. Even if a serial comma is not normally used, it may sometimes be necessary to avoid ambiguity when a composite element connected by a conjunction appears in a list before the main conjunction. In “She brought pens, blue and red ink, and pencils,” for example, the comma before the last “and” is necessary to avoid the implication that the “pencils” were also “blue and red.” If the introductory part of the sentence that contains a list does not naturally lead to the list (for example, with a verb or preposition) but forms an independent sentence, a colon is usually used to introduce the list part of the sentence, as is the case in the following example. “The document was a team effort: David did the research, Emily analyzed the data, and Amanda wrote the text. If an embedded list is short or informal, a hyphen (in rule or em rule) can be used instead of the colon, as in “She brought what we needed – pens, pencils and paper”, but since the hyphen implies a secondary or afterthought rather than a main idea, a colon is the best choice in most cases. The two should certainly not be used together, with the hyphen following the colon, as they once were in scientific prose. If one (or more) items in an embedded list are particularly long or contain internal commas, semicolons should be used instead of commas to separate each item. In this case, the conjunction must be preceded by a semicolon before the last element, even though the document does not normally use a serial comma. My next sentence provides an example, but built-in lists with this structure can be much longer and more complex. “The paper was a team effort where everyone did their best: David had designed the methodology, so he did the research; Emily took several statistics courses, so she analyzed the data; and Amanda was working on her English degree, so she wrote the text.
Finally, numbers or letters can be added to an integrated list to achieve a clearer division or establish a hierarchy of order or importance. Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) are more suitable for this task than Roman numerals (I, II, III, etc.), which can be cumbersome in built-in lists and are best avoided unless required by the editor`s or lecturer`s instructions. The letters are also appropriate and usually appear in lowercase (a, b, c, etc.), sometimes in italics or bold (although this aspect may not appear in my last example here). “Our study focused on (1) writers, (2) marginalia, and (3) scripts” or “The work was a team effort: (a) David had designed the methodology, so he did the research; b) Emily took several statistics courses, so she analyzed the data; and (c) Amanda was working on her English degree, so she wrote the text. Whether numbers or letters are used, they should be placed in parentheses to clarify their function. 15. Use specific words. Government writings often deal with abstract subjects. But abstract words can be vague and open to different interpretations. Put the instructions in simple, concrete words. Technical writers classify the latter type as a vertical list, because formatting causes list items to stack on top of each other in a top-down structure. Read on to learn more about the different sample list items.
16. Don`t use words that are disturbing. Words can attract or repel readers. It is possible to choose words in our writing that do not give a bad impression or annoy our readers. Use words that people respond positively to, not words they don`t like. There are two main types of lists: vertical lists and horizontal lists. Horizontal list items use commas to separate each list item into a sentence (for example, “a horse, a cat, and a dog”). Do not use a colon before a list unless the introduction to the list is a complete thought, i.e.
an independent sentence. Remember this rule: if you can`t insert a dot there, you can`t put a colon on it. However, if the first sentence already contains one or more commas, use the semicolon. If any of the items listed contain more than one sentence, uppercase is required. Therefore, in the following example, it seems optional to capitalize the first letter in each list. Change the style and structure of the sentence to make sure it`s formal, clear, and correct The following numbered list is not parallel because two of the sentences begin with an imperative verb, but not the third element: Partial introductory sentence (no punctuation after introduction) You insert colons before introducing horizontal lists, but only if there is a complete sentence before the list. For example, “I must give you three names: Janet, Isaiah, and Thomas.” A “nested” list is a list within a list or list of child items.
