Full Stop (.)
Full stop (British English, Hiberno-English, Australian English, and New Zealand English) or period (American Englishand Canadian English) is the punctuation mark placed to indicate the end of sentences. So in the other words, it is used to separate a sentence with another sentence. For example:
My cousin is a good footballer. He often scores in our village league matches. He is also a very good student.
Full stop is also used in incomplete sentences. For example:
- Fine, thank you. (The answer of asking condition)
- No, certainly not. (The answer of question: ‘Will you do it?’)
Ø The other usage:
· Indirect or Reported question
An indirect question tells what someone asked:
- The teacher asked them what their names were.
- John asked Mary if she loved him.
- I'm wondering if she's coming.
· Imperative sentence
An imperative sentence expresses a soft command:
- Please drive slowly.
- Close the door please.
- Don’t step on the grass please.
· Abbreviations
A full stop is used after some abbreviations:
- i.e. (id est = that is)
- e.g. (example gratia = for example)
- etc. (et cetera = and so on)
- Feb. (february)
- Tue. (tuesday)
- St. (street)
In “acronyms (words formed from the first or first few letters of a series of words, and are pronounced as words) and initialisms(words formed from the initial letters of a series of words, and each separate letter is pronounced)” (Cooper et al., 2011), full stops are somewhat more often placed after each initial in American English (for example, U.S. and U.S.S.R.) than in British English (US and USSR), but this still depends to the style of a particular writer or publisher.
A full stop is an optional usage after some abbreviations:
- a.m. (ante meridiem) and p.m. (post meridiem)
- A.D. (anno domini) and B.C. (before Christ)
- R.S.V.P (repondez s’il vous plait = please reply)
A full stop is never used after some abbreviations such as NATO, WTO, NASA, ECHO, Unesco, Unicef, Benelux, Saint, and so on.
· Titles
In British English, abbreviations of titles often omit a period, as in Mr, Dr, Prof, Rev, Gen, which in American English would be given as Mr., Dr., Prof., Rev., Gen. According to the Oxford A–Z of Grammar and Punctuation, "If the abbreviation includes both the first and last letter of the abbreviated word, as in 'mister' and 'doctor', a full stop is not used." This does not include Professor, Reverend, and General.
· Mathematical Usage
A full stop is needed as decimal separator in a monetary unit ($20.40), percentage (19.5%), and to present large numbers in a much more readable form. The former use is more prevalent in English-speaking countries. In much of Europe, Southern Africa, and Latin America (with the exception of Mexico due to the influence of the United States), a comma is used as a decimal separator, while a full stop or a space is used for the presentation of large numbers. The following are examples where the comma is or would be used as a decimal separator:
- 1.002,003 or 1 002,003 (One thousand and two and three thousandths)
- 1.002.003 or 1 002 003 (One million two thousand and three)
In countries that use the comma as a decimal separator, the full stop is sometimes found as a multiplication sign; for example, 5,2 . 2 = 10,4. This usage is impractical in cases where the full stop is used as a decimal separator, hence the use of the interpunct: 5.2 · 2 = 10.4. This notation is also seen when multiplying units in science; for example, 50 km/h could be written as 50 km·h−1. A full stop is also used to separate hour and minute (10.25 a.m.).
Sources:
Cooper, T., Fallas, J., & Flaherty, F. (2011). English Style Guide: Seventh edition. European Commission.
Englishclub.com. (2013). Punctuation. Retrieved from http://www.englishclub.com/writing/punctuation.htm.
Phythian, B. A. (2012). Correct English: Pedoman Belajar Bahasa Inggris. Jakarta : PT. Indeks.