Punctuating Bullet Points: Do You Need Periods? We’re often asked whether you need a period at the end of each entry in a list. And, as a guideline, we’d suggest punctuating bullet points as follows: When listing full sentences, use a period for each entry (like here). For lists with longer sentence fragments, periods are optional.
Bullet points can be used to structure any list and are usually used to break up long blocks of text, highlight key points, or summarize text. How to Punctuate Bullet Points. The first thing to do is check whether your style guide has anything to say about punctuating bullet points. If it does, then follow its instructions. If no guidance has ...
Each bullet point or numbered element in a vertical list is generally capitalized. A period appears only at the end of a list item that is a complete sentence. ... Punctuation. If the elements in your list are complete sentences, end each one with a period or a question mark (i.e., terminal punctuation). ... Correct: For his trip to Mars ...
If bullet points are in sentence form, they should begin with a capital and end with punctuation. If bullet points are in phrase form, they don’t need ending punctuation and can begin with a capital or lowercase letter. Bullet points should be about the same length; you don’t want one to be super short, while the others are all long.
If the text of your bullet point is a complete sentence (or multiple sentences), use capital letters and punctuation. If your points are not structured as proper sentences, you don’t need to end with punctuation. Capitalization is a style choice—with sentence fragments, you can choose to start each with either upper- or lower-case letters ...
Rules of Bullet Point Punctuation. There are only two essential rules of punctuation you need to know since a bullet can be a single word or single phrase, sentence fragment, or complete sentence and still be considered grammatically correct in its usage. Capitalization Should Stay Consistent.
Punctuation Bullet Points. Let me tell you how I punctuate them, and then I will touch on other ways recommended by prestigious style manuals. Here is what I recommend: Use a period (full stop) after every bullet point that is a sentence (as these bullets do). Use a period after every bullet point that completes the introductory stem.
And when I refer to a list of bullet points, I’m talking about numbered lists too. Numbering is handy for showing the hierarchy of your information. Four ways to punctuate a list of bullet points Full sentences. What: The opening text is a full sentence. So are the individual bullet points. Opening sentence: Capital letter and either a full ...
In multi-author documents, inconsistencies in bullet punctuation are a constant concern. Authors often have their own preferred style of punctuation. For example, one author might prefer list items to end in semicolons, while another prefers full stops. It’s challenging enough for each author to apply their own rules consistently.
Bullet points and numbered lists are great for making your writing clearer, more organized, and easier to read. ... However, it’s crucial to know how to format and punctuate bullet points and numbered lists properly. So whether you’re working on a business report, an academic paper, or a professional email, here’s what you need to know ...
If the bullets are a self-contained list (ie there’s no sentence ending in a colon before them) do them like this. Capital letter at the start of each one. And a full stop at the end of each one. If your bullet points are all questions, ignore the above and start them with caps (even if you’ve got a colon). Because otherwise it looks a bit ...
Have no end punctuation after each point apart from the last one; Have a full stop after the final point. Style 3: Initial capitals and no end punctuation. Using this style, you: Introduce the list with a colon; Start each point with an initial capital; Have no end punctuation after any point; Adding extra information to bullet points in lists
This isn’t wrong – just another style (and there are many other styles). We simply prefer the clean look of minimalist punctuation. Check the guidelines. If you work somewhere that has style guidelines on how to punctuate bullet points, do follow those. If not, give this way a try. And you can download a reminder of our suggested style here.
No punctuation or conjunctions on the end of a bullet point. Don’t use any other punctuation (semicolon; comma, or full stop .) or conjunctions (joining words like “and”, “or”, or the dreaded “and/or”) on any of the line in the bullets/numbered list. Because these punctuation and conjunctions are already implied by the nature of a ...
bullet points should flow seamlessly from the lead-in text; start each point with the same type of word, such as a verb or noun (known as parallel structure) minimal punctuation, inserting a full stop on the last point only, is preferred; start each point with a lowercase letter. Note: Even lists in plain body text must still run in parallel.
Bullet points are a great way to present complex information… These six, simple writing tips show you how to format and punctuate a list correctly. Tip # 1: Be consistent. To keep things simple, choose one of the following three options: no punctuation; separate, punctuated sentences for each list item; one long, punctuated sentence.
How to punctuate bullet points is the topic of many business writing courses. Punctuating bullet points correctly is important. Here are 5 basic recommendations for bullet point punctuation UK: Not all bullet points need periods. But, bullet listings that are a full sentence should end with a period (a full stop).
