Punctuation

A few guidelines to help you punctuate in our brand style.

Apostrophes

• Use apostrophes where possession is involved (Angie’s phone), or when you’re shortening multiple words to a single one (couldn’t do it, haven’t got it, we’ll send it)
• Otherwise, these are gradually disappearing so generally don’t use it for trade names such as Barclays Bank, Diners Club or Currys. Sainsbury’s is a rare example of where it’s still used

Bullets

• Keep bullets logical and short
• Don’t put a full stop at the end of the bullet point
• Capital letters should be used at the start of each bullet point
• Don’t capitalise where all the points are part of the same sentence
• In the penultimate bullet point, use ‘and’ or ‘or’
• We shouldn’t introduce bullet points – for example, hints and tips – by saying “below”, as the reader can see that the tips are below. Instead of “Below, we’ve given you some tips on how your DMP can succeed:” use wording like “To make your DMP a success we recommend these:”

Brackets

• Generally, keep the use of brackets to a minimum. Words in brackets are usually sub-clauses, asides, or additional to the main point. Instead of using brackets, incorporate the words into the sentence, add another sentence, or consider not using the words at all
• Use square brackets ‘[…..]’ for inserting clarifying words into a quote
• Use round brackets ‘(..…)’ to signify detail that’s of lesser importance to the reader

Commas

• Avoid spoiling the flow of your writing by using too many
• Use them to join two complete sentences or long clauses

Contractions

• In client-focused communications, we use contractions wherever possible to convey a more informal, conversational tone. We use these contractions:
• It’ll, you’ll, we’ll, they’ll, he’ll, she’ll
• You’ve and we’ve (but not where ‘have’ is required as part of the sentence; we shouldn’t use “you’ve no money”, rather “you have no money”)
• It’s, he’s, she’s
• I’d, you’d, he’d, she’d, they’d
• We’re, you’re, they’re
• Isn’t, aren’t, won’t, don’t, can’t, hasn’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t, wouldn’t, mustn’t
• What’s, how’s, who’s, where’s, why’s
• We don’t use the following, because our style isn’t informal enough:
• There’ll, this’ll, that’ll
• It’d, that’d, there’d
• Ain’t
• The main exception to the above is when you need to avoid a contraction to retain emphasis. However, use this sparingly
• In communications with more formal audiences, we flex the use of contractions

Hyphens

• Avoid overuse
• Hyphens should not interrupt the flow of the sentence
• They can be used for inserting important additional information into a sentence
• Hyphenate compound nouns such as ‘build-up’ but not verbs such as ‘to build up’
• Adverbs linked to verbs do not need to be hyphenated unless there’s a risk of ambiguity, for example a ‘closely guarded secret’ does not need a hyphen
• Don’t use hyphens with words beginning with re and pre except where another ‘e’ follows, such as ‘re-entry’
• The same follows for co when another ‘o’ follows, such as ‘co-ordination’
• Compass points are hyphenated, such as ‘south-east’, ‘north-west’
• There are some hyphenated words that buck the established rules:
• Job types: Full-time, part-time and self-employed are hyphenated, whether it’s “a full-time job” or “employed full-time” etc.

Quotation marks

• Use quotation marks for words, phrases or sentences from a clear source
• Use single quotes (‘….’) in headings, double (“…..”) in text

Semicolons and colons

• Use semicolons where you have a series of clauses and you wish to give one greater emphasis such as: 'Europe refers to the entire continent including Britain; do not confuse Europe with EC or western Europe.'
• The function of a colon is to deliver on the previous words in the sentence, such as ‘The switch has four positions: up, down, left and right'

Spaces

• We put one space after all commas, semicolons, colons, as well as at the end of each sentence, after a full stop

Underlining

• Never underline a sentence or phrase to highlight it. Use bold instead