Punctuation

Question

Hi, I am not sure about my usage of punctuation in this sentence. Btw, sorry if I posted in the wrong forum. I don't know where should I post this.

Mary likes to use crude language in her daily conversation. To cite an example, "Damn you!" and "Go to hell!"

Free_spirit · Accepted Answer

You sentences are ok, however your usage of "cite an example" is singular and you give two examples.

Try: Mary likes to use crude language in her daily conversation. To give two examples, "damn you!" and "go to ****!"

(I prefer to use "give examples" rather than "cite examples". You can use "cite", but it sounds more formal to me. I also suggest not using capitals as you are including the phrases in the middle of a sentence.)

The difficulty is that the examples you use have exclamation marks, which generally function to end a sentence the same way that a fullstop (period) does, although it shows that a sentence is shouted or said with emphasis. However, this is suitable for these two expressions. If you were using non-emphasised word you could write it something like:

Mary likes to use slang in her daily conversations. To give two examples, "well I'll be a monkey's uncle" and "He lives in the boonies."

If you are using multiple examples, you will need to use commas to separate your list of phrases:

"... phrase one," "phrase two," "phrase three," and "phrase four."

(some people may argue that the comma after "phrase three" is not needed. That is a matter of style and personal preference.)

Wysteria · Answer

I see. Thank you. It is clear to me now. Thanks for your help

Btw, just another question. How about if I say :

To give an example, "can I hear your sentences please?"

Do I need to put a fullstop after the comma?

Punctuation

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