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Writing & Grammar: Nauseated by Nauseous

by Jennie Ruby

Just as software experts have to keep up to date with the latest versions of software, professional writers and editors have to keep up with the latest versions of English. Our language gains new nouns and verbs constantly, and our existing words change meanings. Old rules of usage fall out of fashion or are debunked by the latest scholars, and common errors our school teachers pounded into our heads may have become accepted as correct over time.

Here is a pair of words that have been undergoing some of these changes:

• nauseated
• nauseous

In Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, originally copyrighted in 1935, with the fourth edition copyrighted in 2000, the writers flat out state that nauseous means "sickening to contemplate" and nauseated means "sick at the stomach." I personally have followed that distinction for as long as I can remember. In this view, if you say "I'm nauseous," you are saying you make people sick. I followed that view until today, when I did the research for this article!

That hard line was changing, even in the year 2000. In Bryan Garner's Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style, published in 2000, he says that the I feel nauseous usage is so common that "to call it an 'error' is to exaggerate." Nevertheless, he says that "careful writers" still follow the traditional distinction.

In 2003, The Chicago Manual of Style (15^th edition) said that even though the use of nauseous to mean you feel sick may no longer be an error, it is still bad usage. But their actual recommendation? Sidestep the entire nauseous issue and use "I feel nauseated" for feeling sick and "that smell is nauseating" for something that seems illness-inducing. Just never use nauseous, they said, just to be safe. And if you are surrounded by grammar sticklers, that advice still holds: you will always be safe with nauseated and nauseating.

But what is the best thinking on this today? The Merriam Webster dictionary online flat out states that "I feel nauseous" is the most frequent and acceptable usage, and they actually go on to say that those who insist that it is an error are "mistaken"!

The Free Dictionary online took a poll of its panelists and determined that most use nauseous as meaning you feel sick and nauseating as meaning sickening to look at.http://www.thefreedictionary.com/nauseous.

So, the [trending] bottom line is this: Don't use nauseated. Use nauseous to mean to feel sick and nauseating to mean sickening to look at.

The Nauseating [or is it Nauseous?] Challenge

Use the latest usage, not the traditionalist usage, to complete these sentences with some version of the word nausea. Trick question: one of these might not use the word nausea at all!

1. She found the car ride through the mountains to be ___________________.


2. When she got out of the car at the scenic overlook, she felt completely __________________.


3. When we opened the dumpster, the odor was ­_________________.


4. When the professionals were cleaning the fish on the beach, the vacationers found the sight ­­­­­­­­_________________.


5. The view from the top of the cliff was ___________________.


6. I felt ___________________ after seeing that Man Versus Food episode.


7. The kids said they felt ____________ after walking through the room with the gas leak.

When you are ready, add your answers as comments below.

***

Results of the Training and Computer Terms Challenge

Here is a table presenting the results of the challenge. We have great consensus about eLearning and website, but many of our technical terms have still not settled into a common usage. Many of you indicated that you have no real reasons for your choices, and that is par for the course in technical terminology. It is largely personal preference until a consensus starts growing around one particular way of naming a concept. Cheryl Dennis pointed out what many of us are doing is following our own office policy, at least until the major dictionaries agree upon a term. And Karla Marsh pointed out another reality: we follow our own style until we are overridden by our customers' styles!

Many of you did note that computer-based training or CBT is an older term, but one that we cannot seem to leave behind. And at least one respondent admitted that lowercasing the word Internet is born of laziness-but I might add, that laziness may eventually add up to a consensus! My thanks to Mary Welby von Thelen for her kind comments as well.

eLearning	87%
website	87%
mLearning	73%
email	67%
the Internet	67%
HTML	67%
web page	60%
computer-based training	40%
internet	27%
e-mail	20%
Email	20%
e-learning	20%
m-learning	20%
Web site	20%
html	20%
Web page	13%
E-learning	7%

***

Looking for help with your writing technique? Jennie teaches two writing classes: Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts and eLearning: Writing Effective Scripts.

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Writing & Grammar: Stylistic Conventions

by Jennie Ruby 

Many words in the computer training industry have different stylistic conventions depending on your office preference or on the style guide you use. In this challenge, indicate your preferred treatment of these terms (you can post your answers as comments below):

email/e-mail

e-learning/e-Learning/E-Learning/ eLearning

m-learning/mLearning

website/Web site

Web page/web page

computer-based training/eLearning/asynchronous training using technology

the internet/the Internet (actually, most of the industry does capitalize that one)

HTML/html

Answers to Last Week's Mouse Move Challenge

Answers this week are brought to you by Tara Aukerman. Additional responses after the slash marks are provided by Clay Walnum and Ann Whitfield. Jane Edwards also adds this mouse move, which you can use for putting a folder or file name into editing mode: Southern double-click: Click once, pause, then slowly click again.

1. Press and release the left mouse button 
   -- Click
2. Press and release the right mouse button 
   -- Right-click
3. Roll the wheel on top of the mouse 
   -- Scroll (up/down - never just "scroll to")/Use the mouse wheel
4. Quickly press and release the mouse button twice 
   -- Double-click
5. Quickly press and release the mouse button three times 
   -- Triple-click (but since this is uncommon, a parenthetical note like: "Click three times quickly")
6. Hold the mouse button down and move it from one point to another 
   -- Click and drag (or just drag)
7. Put the mouse pointer over an item but do not click 
   -- Roll over (for non-computer-saavy folks) or Hover (for computer saavy folks)/Rest the mouse pointer
8. Drag the mouse across text so that the text background changes color and you can then format or delete that text 
   -- Select (because often users will double-click to highlight a word or triple-click to highlight a sentence) or Highlight
9. Use the highlighter tool to color the background of text
   -- Select the text and click 
10. Hold down the shift button and click the left mouse button 
    --Press and hold the SHIFT key and click on XYZ (not a common problem for our audience so we've learned that anything else isn't specific enough)./SHIFT-click

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Looking for help with your writing technique? Jennie teaches two writing classes: Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts and eLearning: Writing Effective Scripts.

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Writing & Grammar: Name that Mouse Move!

by Jennie Ruby 

In training documents, help menu text and documentation we often find ourselves trying to describe common computer user actions. However, some of the terminology has changed over time, as new software and hardware features have been developed. Our challenge this week is about describing mouse behaviors. In a later article, I will discuss mobile device behaviors. So here is your challenge. Be careful! Times have changed on some of these!

How do you describe these mouse actions?

1. Press and release the left mouse button
2. Press and release the right mouse button
3. Roll the wheel on top of the mouse
4. Quickly press and release the mouse button twice
5. Quickly press and release the mouse button three times
6. Hold the mouse button down and move it from one point to another
7. Put the mouse pointer over an item but do not click
8. Drag the mouse across text so that the text background changes color and you can then format or delete that text
9. Use the highlighter tool to color the background of text
10. Hold down the shift button and click the left mouse button 

Please send your answers directly to me.

Results to Hierarchical List Format

We received many correctly categorized versions of this list, formatted at least 5 different ways. Here is one of my favorites, from Geri A. Moran, who must work with a lot of government regulations or proposals, because this numbering system is heavily redolent of legal document numbering. Perhaps it is the plan for a courtroom building's garden?

1. Shrubs

1.1. Azaleas

1.1.1. White azaleas

1.1.2. Pink azaleas

1.1.3. Red azaleas

1.2. Boxwoods

1.3. Hydrangeas

2. Flowers

2.1. Tulips

2.1.1. Double Early

2.1.2. Single Early

2.1.3. Single Late

2.1.4. Double Late

2.1.5. Darwin

2.1.6. Triumph

2.2. Roses

2.2.1. Tea

2.2.2. Floribunda

2.2.3. Climbing

2.2.4. Damask

Other favorites included this style, from Ann M. Whitfield, for its classic clarity: 

I.  Shrubs

A. Azaleas

1. White azaleas

2. Pink azaleas

3. Red azaleas

B. Boxwoods

C. Hydrangeas

 

An interesting version to me was one submitted by Matt Smith, which illustrates a business-style list. Many government agencies and print publishers have discontinued using the solo closing parentheses like this, for reasons unknown to me, but it still works and looks very clear:

1) Shrubs

a) Azaleas

i)  White azaleas

ii) Pink azaleas

iii) Red azaleas

***

Looking for help with your writing technique? Jennie teaches two writing classes: Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts and eLearning: Writing Effective Scripts.

Already a writing wiz? Join Jennie to learn how to create effective quizzes and surveys.

Writing & Grammar: What You Need to Know About Lists

by Jennie Ruby 

Readers like lists, and as writers, we know that. But there are many ways to go wrong with lists. Here is a step-by-step approach to making sure your list is a help, not a hindrance, to your readers.

1. Decide whether the list should be bulleted, numbered, or lettered. If the order of the items does not matter, use bullets. If the order matters, use numbers. If you are going to need to refer back to items on the list by name, consider using letters. Then you can refer to item A, item B, and so on.


2. Decide whether to capitalize the first word of each item. This is an arbitrary decision. If you are using a specific style guide, consult it for this decision. For example, the Chicago Manual of Style indicates that in numbered lists, the first word after each number should be capitalized, unless the list is being written in sentence form rather than in vertical list form. Bulleted lists also have each entry capitalized, according to Chicago. But for lists of short items with no bullets or numbers, use lowercase.


3. Decide whether to use punctuation after each item in the list. You can omit all punctuation, or you can puctuate the list as one giant sentence. If you use the sentence method, you use a comma at the end of each item unless any of the items contain commas. If any item does contain one or more commas, you use a semicolon at the end of each item. Using and before the last item is optional.


4. Make sure the wording of the list items is parallel. If you have a list of adjectives, all of the items must be adjectives. You can have a list of nouns, a list of gerunds (-ing verbs), a list of infinitives (in the form to x, where x is a verb), or a list of predicates. You just cannot mix them.


5. Like this list itself, you can make a list of paragraphs. Here, each item has multiple sentences. That means each item has to be capitalized, and each item has to end with a period.

Challenge: Fix this list

To fix up the yard for spring, we need to do the following:

1. to get rid of dead stalks from last year's growth
2. Restack the stones for the edging
3. We also need to plant more grass seed.
4. tulips

Feel free to post your answers as comments below.

***

Looking for help with your writing technique? Jennie teaches two writing classes: Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts and eLearning: Writing Effective Scripts.

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Writing & Grammar: Quoting at Length

by Jennie Ruby

Most people who quote someone's words in a document understand the need to use quotation marks around the text (lest you be accused of plagiarizing!). But a more confusing situation occurs when you are quoting someone at length. Last week I received the following question via email:

"If quoting someone's feedback that is more than one paragraph long, what is the correct formatting for quotes? Right now we have open and close quotes around every paragraph, but is that correct?"

I have two possible answers for this issue, and one of them does not involve using quotation marks at all!

1. If you are going to use quotation marks at all (see answer 2 for why you might not), the first paragraph should have opening quotes, but no closing quotes. Then the next paragraph also starts with opening quotes, to kind of remind the reader that you are still quoting the same person. Then you use one closing quote at the complete end of that person's last paragraph, to show you've stopped quoting them.
2. For quotes that are more than one paragraph long, there is a tradition of giving a different format to the text instead of using quotes. So it might be indented on the left, indented on both sides, smaller type, or a different color. If you use any of these methods to indicate you are extensively quoting someone, then you do not use any quotation marks.

I hope this helps clear up this issue. If you have formatting, punctuation, or grammar questions, don't forget that you cansend me your question and I may include it in a future column.

***

Looking for help with your writing technique? Jennie teaches two writing classes: Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts and eLearning: Writing Effective Scripts.

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Writing & Grammar: Punctuation and Compound Sentences

by Jennie Ruby

No "correct" answers came in from my last punctuation challenge. But one answer explained why, and another answer revealed a strange pattern I've been noticing lately in training voiceovers.

The answer that explained why I received no correct answers came from Krista Allen. Faced with these compound sentences--sentences that contain two entire sentences within them--she rewrote every one of them as two sentences. And, I have to say, she was correct to do so. Training writing should be concise, clear and written at about the 4th through 8th grade level. These compound sentences came up to almost 10th grade level. By breaking up the compound sentences, Krista brought them into the recommended range. Together, they now clock in at the 5.5 grade level:

1. You can share folders with everyone in your office without setting file and folder permissions. What's more, you can also use the shared folders with external clients through a shared link.
2. Right-click the folder. When you see the shortcut menu, choose Create Shortcut.
3. Using the Map Network Drive feature eases desktop access to a networked drive. It enables end users to type and click through much shorter path names.
4. On the General tab, click Settings in the dialog box. Next, access the Advanced group and click Delete Cookies.

Of course, by rewriting the sentences, Ms. Allen side-stepped the comma issue. I was looking for what people would do with the commas at the spots where two complete sentences were joined. I offered, in my intro to the challenge, the Gregg Reference Manual's recommendation. That well-respected grammar guide kept the comma before the word and. That comma is, after all, marking the clear boundary between the two sentences.

Here is how Gregg would have us punctuate sentence 1:

1. You can share folders with everyone in your office without setting file and folder permissions, and what is more, you can use the shared folders with external clients through a sealed link.

And here is how our respondent David Zimmerle punctuated it:

1. You can share folders with everyone in your office without setting file and folder permissions and, what is more, you can use the shared folders with external clients through a sealed link.

I was amazed at David's insight into this puzzling pattern that I hear in voiceovers. Trainers giving voice instruction regularly pause after the word and, not before. By the written rules and logic of punctuation, that is just wrong. But from a training standpoint, it does everything right. It immediately signals to the listener that another thought is coming. It then provides a pause during which the listener can prepare for the next instruction. And by providing a pause before the next instruction, the speaker calls attention to it.

Listen to some voiceovers this week--whether on YouTube or in your own work--and let me know if you hear what David and I hear. He has gone beyond the rules and is exercising what I call "literary punctuation." Rather than punctuating by the structure of the sentence (the rule states that we should separate the two parts of a compound sentence with a comma followed by a conjunction: , and), his rewritten examples reflect the cadence of training speech:

1. Right-click the folder and, when you see the shortcut menu, choose Create Shortcut.
2. You can ease desktop access to a networked drive by using the Map Network Drive feature and, thus, enable end users to type and click through much shorter path names.
3. In the dialog box on the General tab, click Settings, and then access the Advanced group, and click Delete Cookies.

Notice in the third example above, the comma after Settings is in the grammatically mandated spot. But it also marks a logical break in instructions, giving the learner time to click Settings before announcing the next instruction.

One more note: in the first example, the phrase introducing the second sentence in the compound ends up marked as parenthetical, with a comma on each side, when it is not. Again, however, the part about when you see the shortcut menu, in the spoken cadence of training, would typically have pauses before and after.

So should we go with technically correct, structural punctuation? Or should we just punctuate by feel? I think that skillful punctuation, as in any field that is part logic and part art, demands that we know the rules first before breaking them.

Challenge

Lower the grade level of each of these sentences.

1. It is incumbent upon the office holder to ensure that the documentation is filled out to a thorough and complete extent and that the printed names are clearly and legibly readable.
2. The sales representative must ensure that the introductions between the client and the technical staff are accomplished in a polite and courteous manner.
3. Confidentiality in regard to the final pricing decision points must be maintained by the financial services representative.

As always, your answers come straight to me.

***

Correction:

Two weeks ago, I misspelled the name of the vireo bird, even though I am a birdwatcher! Chris Niestepski sent in this fun correction notice. Thanks Chris. --Jennie

"I'm nobody's vereo!" rattled the vireo, scathingly.

***

Looking for help with your writing technique? Jennie teaches two writing classes: Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts and eLearning: Writing Effective Scripts.

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Writing & Grammar: So Many Commas, So Little Time

by Jennie Ruby

Are you guilty of overusing commas? If so, you're not alone. Consider the following sentence:

Fill in all the fields in the form, and, then, click the submit button to send it in.

The Gregg Reference Manual suggests that although you may feel like pausing before and after the word and, three commas are too many. It suggests omitting the one afterand. Thus we keep the comma before and, which is separating two independent clauses. We also keep the comma after then, which separates an introductory transition word from the rest of the sentence.

Too many grammar words in one sentence? Barge ahead and try punctuating these sentences. They need comma help.

1. You can share folders with everyone in your office without setting file and folder permissions and what is more you can use the shared folders with external clients through a sealed link.
2. Right-click the folder and when you see the shortcut menu choose Create Shortcut.
3. You can ease desktop access to a networked drive by using the Map Network Drive feature and thus enable end users to type and click through much shorter path names.
4. In the dialog box on the General tab click Settings and then access the Advanced group and click Delete Cookies.

Answers to Last week's Challenge

This week's answers are brought to you by Mark Rudden:

1. Diners may choose from steak, lobster, chicken, and tofu. [removed the colon after from]
2. The bundle includes a wireless router, cabling, backup power box, and installation. [removed the colon after includes]
3. Our bird-watching trip was a success; we saw woodpeckers, finches, vereos, and juncos. [removed the colon after saw]
4. The function displays the following: search results, formatting inconsistencies, and suggested corrections.[correct as is]
5. In this lesson, you will learn to apply a cover page, add a contents page, and set up custom page numbering. [I would put a coma after lesson, but I'm not sure if it's technically required. It just sounds better to my reading ear.]
6. New songs include Coins for the Canopy, Ice Room Graffiti, and The Figurine. [removed the colon after include]

Alternative answers are brought to you by David Zimmerle. Other respondents with all answers correct were Carol Ansorge, Howard Gold, Jay Herman, Carole Stull, and Vera Sytch.

1. Diners may choose from the following entrees: steak, lobster, chicken, and tofu.
2. The bundle includes everything you need for setup: a wireless router, cabling, backup power box, and installation.
3. Our bird-watching trip was a success; we saw such a variety: woodpeckers, finches, vereos, and juncos.
4. The function displays the following commands: search results, formatting inconsistencies, and suggested corrections.
5. In this lesson you will learn to apply a cover page, add a contents page, and set up custom page numbering.
6. New songs include the following tracks: "Coins for the Canopy", "Ice Room Graffiti", and "The Figurine".

Carol Ansorge also asked whether it is really okay to introduce a bullet list with no colon. The answer is yes. I edited scientific journals for years, and that style was the preferred style. But most people do prefer to see the colon. Therefore, the usual practice is to make sure to complete the introductory sentence and use a colon.

***

Looking for help with your writing technique? Jennie teaches two writing classes: Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts and eLearning: Writing Effective Scripts.

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Writing & Grammar: Use of Colons with Complete Sentences

by Jennie Ruby 

A very common error I see at all levels of writing is failure to use a complete sentence before a colon. I see this most often in text after words such as including, are and such as, in sentences like this:

*Our new monitoring centers have many advanced features, including: multiple server backups, high-speed fiber-optic cabling, and 48-hour backup power systems. [no punctuation needed after including]

The other main place I see this error is in the introduction to a bulleted or numbered list. The introduction does look better with the colon, but it has to be a complete sentence. Here is an example of this error:

*Our main objectives are: [no colon needed, or more words needed to complete the introductory sentence]

• Meet or beat the deadline
• Come in under budget
• Exceed the stated quality standards

Here are two ways to correct this error:

Our main objectives are as follows:

We seek to meet these objectives:

 Challenge: Correct these sentences. Be careful! Some are correct as they are.

1. Diners may choose from: steak, lobster, chicken, and tofu.
2. The bundle includes: a wireless router, cabling, backup power box, and installation.
3. Our bird-watching trip was a success; we saw: woodpeckers, finches, vereos, and juncos.
4. The function displays the following: search results, formatting inconsistencies, and suggested corrections.
5. In this lesson you will learn to apply a cover page, add a contents page, and set up custom page numbering.
6. New songs include: Coins for the Canopy, Ice Room Graffiti, and The Figurine.

When ready, send your answers right to me.

***

Answers to my last challenge are brought to you by Vera Sytch, who also voiced this opinion for many of us: "Glad I'm not in the field of economics!" I am happy to report that everyone who submitted answers won this week: all punctuation of these compound sentences was done correctly. Many of you injected transition words or changed transition words in an attempt to make this writing clearer. All of them were an improvement.

1. Perfect markets are not at all proxies for real markets; they suppose an institutional form opposed to the idea of a market.
2. Preference orderings and endowments are a good abstraction of consumers' production sets; hence, and they give an idea of the level of technology use within a firm.
3. There is no relation, let alone identity, between individual and collective behavior; this has been philosophically acknowledged since ancient times.
4. The methodological implications of differing definitions of economic processes are quite drastic; however, long-term investment cannot be determined in an acceptably meaningful manner because the system is subjected neither to the rules of competition nor to the optimizing behavior of cooperative arrangements.
5. The moment a macro-system is broken up into subsectors it no longer holds together; nor can itcannot be built from the bottom up either.

***

Looking for help with your writing technique? Jennie teaches two writing classes: Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts and eLearning: Writing Effective Scripts.

 

Already a writing wiz? Join Jennie to learn how to create effective quizzes and surveys.

Writing & Grammar: Compound Sentences and Run-Ons

by Jennie Ruby 

Putting two sentences together to form one larger sentence is a common way to express more complex thoughts. But I see even academic writers with MAs or PhDs get the punctuation wrong. Here's how it works. You put two complete sentences together.

Nothing is more central to neoclassical microeconomics than the concept of a market.

+

Textbooks leave its meaning up in the air.

=

Nothing is more central to neoclassical microeconomics than the concept of a market*textbooks leave its meaning up in the air.

The asterisk indicates where the two original sentences meet. The three most common ways to correctly negotiate this meeting spot are as follows:

Add a comma plus a conjunction (but, or, yet, for, and, nor, so)

Nothing is more central to neoclassical microeconomics than the concept of a market, yet textbooks leave its meaning up in the air.

Add a semicolon alone

Nothing is more central to neoclassical microeconomics than the concept of a market; textbooks leave its meaning up in the air.

Add a semicolon plus a transition word (however, therefore, hence, etc.) followed by a comma

Nothing is more central to neoclassical microeconomics than the concept of a market; nevertheless,textbooks leave its meaning up in the air.

Although there are some circumstances where a colon or a dash can work well, these three are the most frequent correct methods. Failure to use sufficient punctuation between two sentences combined into one creates an error called a "run-on sentence."

Challenge: Correct these run-on sentences from the technical field of economics using the three methods described above. Please send your answers to me when ready.

1. Perfect markets are not at all proxies for real markets, they suppose an institutional form opposed to the idea of a market.
2. Preference orderings and endowments are a good abstraction of consumers production sets and they give an idea of the level of technology use within a firm.
3. There is no relation, let alone identity, between individual and collective behavior, this has been philosophically acknowledged since ancient times.
4. The methodological implications of differing definitions of economic processes are quite drastic, long-term investment cannot be determined in an acceptably meaningful manner because the system is subjected neither to the rules of competition nor to the optimizing behavior of cooperative arrangments.
5. The moment a macro-system is broken up into subsectors it no longer holds together it cannot be built from the bottom up either.

Note: Sentences are adapted from A Guide to What's Wrong With Economics edited by Edward Fullbrook. All of the punctuation errors were added.

Last Week Answers

The answers this week are brought to you by Phil Eschtruth Harrison.

1. If you need to file a claim (even during nonbusiness hours, when we are not available), submit the form by fax or online. [Removed comma after "available".]
2. Please verify your address (our database needs to be updated). [Moved comma outside closing parenthesis.] Or, another option would be to make it a separate sentence like this: Please verify your address. (Our database needs to be updated.)
3. It is extremely important that all of your membership data is verified before the end of the month (when we finalize our billing). [Removed extra period after word "billing".]
4. Use our paperless option (it's easy, we swear!), and we'll give you a credit to use in our online store.[Removed comma before the parentheses.]
5. Choose the Internet speed that's perfect for your needs. (We offer four different speed and price options.) [Added a period after "needs" to make it two separate sentences.]
6. Our network is 99.9% reliable (even during extreme weather events). [Moved period outside the closing parenthesis.]

By far the hardest item was number 4, with 25 percent of respondents getting something wrong--usually removing the comma after the parenthesis. This sentence is actually two complete independent clauses, so a comma is needed, along with the word and, to separate them. Although extremely short sentences can be combined with a conjunction alone, the parenthetical element adds enough complexity that I think the comma is required. One respondent removed the exclamation point, but that is not required.

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Looking for help with your writing technique? Jennie teaches two writing classes: Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts and eLearning: Writing Effective Scripts.

Already a writing wiz? Join Jennie to learn how to create effective quizzes and surveys.

Writing & Grammar: Parentheses

by Jennie Ruby 

I routinely get questions on this mechanical detail in my grammar and editing classes: does a period or comma go inside or outside of the closing parenthesis? And the answer is it depends. The way I think of it is that if the previous sentence was over before you inserted the parenthetical part, and you have a complete sentence inside the parentheses, then the period goes on the inside:

We offer classes on writing and grammar. (We also offer classes on training design, but that is a different topic.)

If the sentence was not over, and the parenthetical element is actually inside the end of your main sentence, then the period goes on the outside. That is true regardless of whether the words inside the parentheses form a complete sentence or not:

All fifteen participants took three classes last week (InDesign, Photoshop, and Captivate).

All of the participants completed the final exercise on Friday (the snowstorm had no detrimental effect on their learning).

And what about commas? Never put a comma before a parenthesis. If your main sentence needs a comma, place it after the parenthetical element:

We offered two classes last week (Proofreading for Nonproofreaders and Essentials of Adobe Captivate), but we had only 18 students registered.

Here is this week's challenge: Add parentheses, periods, and/or commas as necessary. When ready, you can send your answers directly to me.

1. If you need to file a claim (even during nonbusiness hours, when we are not available,), submit the form by fax or online.
2. Please verify your address (our database needs to be updated.)
3. It is extremely important that all of your membership data is verified before the end of the month (when we finalize our billing.).
4. Use our paperless option, (it's easy, we swear!), and we'll give you a credit to use in our online store.
5. Choose the Internet speed that's perfect for your needs (We offer four different speed and price options.)
6. Our network is 99.9% reliable (even during extreme weather events.) 

 

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