Punctuation
If a singular word ends in "s," then add " 's " to show possession, e.g.,
George Harris's house
witness's testimony
Clauss's land
PERS's liabilities
or if a name ends in "z," or " x," e.g.,
Sanchez's argument
Rex's children
Exception: Singular entity names that end in "s" take only an apostrophe, e.g.,
Boy Scouts' answer
General Motors' complaint
Form the possessive of most plural words by adding only an apostrophe:
the Joneses' driveway the boys' gym
Plural words that do not end in "s" take " 's " to form the possessive:
children's toys
women's tournament
If there are two (or more) possessors, proper punctuation depends on meaning. If the possession is separate, each possessor takes an apostrophe. If the possession is joint, only the last possessor takes an apostrophe, e.g.,
mother's and father's children (if referring to each parent's children with another partner)
mother and father's children (if they have children together)
mother's and father's arguments (if they are separate arguments)
mother and father's arguments (if their arguments are joint)
Use an apostrophe with the following indications of time, e.g.,
36 months' incarceration
two weeks' time
Do not use an apostrophe with these particular word phrases, e.g.,
Attorney fees
IRAs
When a name of a case or other italicized authority takes a possessive ending, the " 's " is not italicized:
Miranda's holding has been called into question.
NOTE: Sometimes the use of " 's " can be awkward and make for difficult reading. In those situations, use "of" instead. E.g., for "Church at 295 S. 18th St.'s analysis," consider using "the analysis of Church at 295 S. 18th St." for "ORS 123.456(1)(a)'s wording," consider using "the wording of ORS 123.456."
The court announced a general rule: Attorney fees may not be awarded in the absence of an authorizing statute or contract provision.
The officer found several items in defendant's apartment: a scale, five plastic bags containing white powder, and $751 in small bills.
Colons may not be used after a grammatically incomplete thought:
Incorrect: | The panel consisted of: Judge Yunker, Judge Bauman, and Judge Keenan. |
Correct: | The panel consisted of three judges: Judge Yunker, Judge Bauman, and Judge Keenan. |
Incorrect: | Defendant argues: (1) the trial court erred in admitting evidence, (2) the error was not harmless, and (3) alternatively, the trial court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict. |
Correct: | Defendant makes three arguments: (1) the trial court erred in admitting evidence, (2) the error was not harmless, and (3) alternatively, the trial court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict. |
EXCEPTION: Colons may be used after verbs to introduce block quotations only, e.g.,
ORS 123.456 provides:
"Now is the time for all good citizens to come to the aid of their country."
As part of that analysis, Justice Brennan observed:
"Under Article III of the Constitution, this Court may only adjudi-cate actual, ongoing controversies."
If the quotation is not blocked, then use a comma.
ORS 123.456 provides, "Now is the time for all good citizens to come to the aid of their country."
If the material following a colon is not a complete sentence, then it does not begin with an uppercase letter.
The court excluded three items: a gun, a ukelele, and a garden hose.
If the material following the colon is a complete sentence, then it does begin with an uppercase letter.
The rain in Spain does not fall mainly on the plain: It mainly falls in the north-ern mountains.
The court did not deny defendant's motion outright: It deferred its ruling until the evidence was offered at trial.
Remember the basic comma rule: Use a comma only when you know why you are using one.
The following guidelines do not set out all the situations in which commas are correctly used. They may be useful, however, in resolving some of the most frequent questions about when to use, and when not to use, commas. For more guidance, see The Chicago Manual of Style; Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage; and William A. Sabin, The Gregg Reference Manual.
A series of more than two items should be separated by commas. The courts' convention is to use the serial comma (i.e., a comma before the conjunction in a series of more than two items), because it eliminates the possibility of misreading:
Sheila invited Ben's parents, friends, and coworkers.
I agree that defendant's brief is well written, his analysis is cogent, and his arguments are persuasive.
A series of only two items should not be separated by a comma, regardless of the length of the items.
Plaintiff contends that the trial court erred when it granted defendants' motion for summary judgment on her claim for intentional infliction of emotional dis-tress and when it denied her motion to exclude witnesses and reporters.
NOTE: It may be more clear to separate two items in a series with a comma when the items themselves contain multiple elements, e.g.,
In support of his motion, defendant cited Oregon and Washington cases, and state and federal regulations.
A predicate is a part of a sentence that contains a verb, but not a subject. Compound predicates are simply predicates that contain a series of verbs. They should be treated like any other series: if there are three or more verbs, use commas; if there are only two, do not.
The defendant objected to the introduction of Yost's testimony, asked the court to call a recess, and requested permission to file a memorandum in support of her objection.
The court denied plaintiff's motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and granted his motion for a new trial.
A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction. A clause consists of a subject and a predicate. The most common coordinating conjunctions are and, but, or, and nor.
Independent Clause: | I will go to Elaine's New Year's Eve party. |
[Coord. Conj.] Indep. Clause: | [and] I will bring a bottle of champagne. |
[Coord. Conj.] Indep. Clause: | [or] I will stay home. |
Not a Clause: | and dance on the table. [This is a second predicate; see "compound predicates" above.] |
The coordinating conjunctions in compound sentences should be preceded by a comma.
Paul organized the outing, and everyone had a good time.
Defendant's brief presented a difficult argument, but Gina understood it better after she attended oral argument.
In the narrow factual context of this case, neither the attachment of the trans-mitter to the truck nor the subsequent monitoring of that transmitter's location invaded a privacy interest of defendant, and, it follows, no search implicating Article I, section 9, occurred.
Exception: When the clauses are short and there is no danger of misreading, the comma may be omitted.
Anna sang and Becca played the flute.
A complex sentence consists of one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. A clause is dependent when it is introduced with a subordinating conjunction (e.g., because, although, if, after, before, until, since, so that, unless, while, when, where, even though) or relative pronoun (who, whom, whose, whoever, whomever, that, which).
Whether to use a comma between an independent clause and a dependent clause depends upon the meaning of and relationship between the clauses. When the dependent clause is restrictive-or necessary to the meaning of the sentence- do not use a comma. When the dependent clause is nonrestrictive-or not necessary to the meaning of the sentence-use a comma. (Those rules also explain when to use "that" and when to use "which." See page 99. "That" is restrictive and is used without a comma; "which" is nonrestrictive and is used with a comma.)
Those rules often lead to confusion, because the same sentence can be punctuated more than one way and still be correct, depending on its meaning.
Restrictive: | John and Mary did not marry because they wanted money. (Meaning: they married for some other reason.) |
Nonrestrictive: | John and Mary did not marry, because they wanted money. (Meaning: they did not marry, and the reason was that they wanted money.) |
Restrictive: | I am not taking that course of action because I distrust Harry's motives. (Meaning: the reason I am not taking that action is not distrust of Harry's motives.) |
Nonrestrictive: | I am not taking that course of action, because I distrust Harry's motives. (Meaning: I am not taking that course of action, and the reason is distrust of Harry's motives.) |
(No Comma): | We first address defendant's argument that the evidence should have been suppressed because it derived from an unlawful police-citizen encounter. (Here, the "because clause" explains why the evidence should have been suppressed, not why it is addressed first.) |
(Comma): | We first address defendant's argument that the evidence should have been suppressed, because it is dispositive. (Here, the "because clause" explains why the argument is addressed first, not why it should have been suppressed.) |
In some situations, use or omission of a comma can cue the reader about the relationship between two clauses and accordingly prevent misreading. Compare the following two examples:
Defendant argues that the trial court erred because he presented adequate exculpatory evidence.
Defendant now argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to con-trovert, because he failed to preserve any challenge to the suppression ruling.
In the first example, the "because clause" explains the "that clause" element of the main clause (i.e., why the trial court arguably erred). By contrast, in the second example, the "because clause" explains the main subject and verb of the main clause (i.e., why defendant is making the argument).
Either use two commas or no commas to set off parenthetical elements that interrupt a clause or phrase. (Parenthetical elements include nonrestrictive appositives and nonrestrictive clauses.) Generally, longer parenthetical elements should be set off by commas, while shorter parenthetical elements may go without any.
Correct: | The state argues, as an alternative basis for its second assignment of error, that the trial court should not have suppressed the computer disk because it was in plain view when the officers searched defendant's apartment. |
Correct: | The state argues alternatively that Article I, section 9, does not require suppression in these circumstances. |
Incorrect: | The state cites as an alternative ground justifying suppression, Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution. |
Correct: | The state cites, as an alternative ground justifying suppression, Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution. |
The longer the introductory parenthetical element, the more helpful it is to set it off with a comma. If omitting a comma could lead to misreading, include it.
Yesterday I finished cleaning out my desk.
First, defendant objects to the denial of his motion to strike.
ORS 123.456(7) sets out, in part, the following:
When this case was before the trial court for the first time, defendant was sentenced to death.
Usually "Inc." is set out with two commas, e.g.,
Time, Inc., is the parent company.
But when "Inc." is followed by a parenthetical element, omit the second comma, e.g.,
Defendants Borg-Warner Automotive, Inc. (Borg-Warner) and Tenneco Automotive Operating Company, Inc. (Tenneco) allegedly manufactured * * *.
An appositive points out the same person or thing by a different name. Whether to use commas with an appositive depends on whether it is restrictive or nonrestrictive, which is a question of meaning. Compare the following examples:
My sister Jill conducted firefighter qualification tests last weekend.
My mother, Doris, stands on her head every day.
In the first example, the absence of commas indicates that "Jill" is restrictive (or necessary), because the author has more than one sister and so "Jill" identifies which of the sisters is being referred to. In the second example, the author has only one mother, so the commas indicate that "Doris" adds only additional, parenthetical information.
Dashes are most commonly used to amplify and explain ideas, digress from the main idea, or create an abrupt break or sudden change in a sentence:
He spent several hours explaining his case-a case that he knew could not be won.
The attorney-who had been waiting three hours for a ruling on the motion-entered the courtroom in an angry mood.
A space can be added before and after a dash when used as punctuation in the text of a slip opinion; however, when published in the Advance Sheets, those spaces will be removed. In slip opinions, use two hyphens "- not the typographical "-" dash.
See also Punctuating Parenthetical Elements, page 88.
anti, bi, bio, co, counter, extra, infra, inter, intra, macro, micro, mid, mini, multi, non, over, pre, pro, pseudo, re, semi, sub, super, trans, ultra, un, and under, e.g.,
antitrust, nonprofit, coworker, subconstitutional, pretrial
BUT
mid-nineteenth century.
The factfinder took note of the witness's demeanor.
The assailant put his hands over his head during the patdown.
When used as a verb, it should be shown as two words:
The officer pat down the suspect.
her eagerly awaited homecoming
his totally incompetent performance
Defendant's examination was court ordered.
BUT
The court-ordered examination was inconclusive.
10 percent increase, two percent annual pay raise
un-American, Anti-Federalist, pre-1998
pre-latency-period therapy, non-work-related activities
infra-area, non-neutral
BUT
preexisting
re-cover (to cover again), not recover (to get back or regain)
re-cite (to cite again), not recite (to read or declaim)
co-conspirator (not coconspirator); co-counsel (not cocounsel)
cross-assign, cross-appellant, cross-appeals post-conviction,
post-trial, post-certification
9-1-1 | I-5 |
case-in-chief | policy-making |
decision-maker | second-guess |
ex-husband | self-defense |
ex-wife |
three-year-old victim, five-foot-tall tree, 18-year marriage, 25-year minimum term, third-party beneficiary, case-by-case basis, full-time work (but he worked full time), common-law wife, court-appointed attorney, first-degree murder, death-penalty case, penalty-phase proceeding; two- and three-year-old children, self-defense, right-of-way, time-barred (but the claim is time barred)
NOTE: For more information on compound modifiers and hyphenation, see Garner, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage (on "phrasal adjectives"). The idea behind hyphenating compound modifiers is to promote readability and avoid misreading.
pre-ORCP
NOTE: For more examples, see Word Pairs, page 90; and Word Functions, page 101.
Lists may be set out in several ways. Remember that lists that consist of items that are themselves sentences can always be written as separate sentences. Otherwise, the following guidelines may be helpful:
If a list is introduced by a complete grammatical thought, use a colon at the end of the introductory sentence. If the list is not introduced by a complete grammatical thought, then a colon may NOT be used.Correct: | Defendant assigns error to three rulings: (1) the denial of his motion to disqualify Dr. Demento as an expert; (2) the denial of his motion to suppress chemical evidence; and (3) the granting of plaintiff's motion for a new trial. |
Correct: | Defendant assigns as error (1) the denial of his motion to disqualify Dr. Demento as an expert; (2) the denial of his motion to suppress chemical evidence; and (3) the granting of plaintiff's motion for a new trial. |
Incorrect: | Defendant assigns error to: (1) the denial of his motion to disqualify Dr. Demento as an expert; (2) the denial of his motion to suppress chemical evidence; and (3) the granting of plaintiff's motion for a new trial. |
The trial court announced three ground rules: Witnesses were to be excluded from the courtroom; only three members of the press were to be allowed in the courtroom at any time; and lions would be admitted only if accompanied by tigers and bears.
See also pages 78 through 84 for discussion of the proper use of colons and commas.
Nonrestrictive parenthetical elements (that is, parenthetical elements that give additional information but are not necessary to identify the antecedent) can be set off by commas, dashes, or parentheses. If a parenthetical element has a close logical and syntactic relation to the rest of the sentence, then use commas. Dashes indicate a more remote relation, and parentheses still more remote.
See also pages 83 to 84 for discussion of parenthetical elements.
The defendant refused to testify; he later was convicted of murder in the first degree.
Defendant was charged with three counts of rape in the first degree, ORS 163.375; two counts of sexual abuse in the first degree, ORS 163.427; two counts of rape in the third degree, ORS 163.355; and one count of sexual abuse in the third degree, ORS 163.355.
The Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case; therefore, the Court of Appeals had to decide the case for a second time.
The trial judge refused to suppress the evidence; thus, defendant was con-victed on all counts.