Period (full stop or full point)

In modern English, the period (or full stop, as its known in British English, and sometimes full point) has two main purposes: 1. A period ends a sentence that is not a question or an e clamation. !he period at the end o" this sentence is an e ample. #. $eriods "ollow a%%re&iations and contractions'although this is %ecoming less common, especiall( in the use o" acron(ms and initialisms. In British and Australian English, it is standard practice to use periods when a%%re&iating lowercase words (such as e.g., etc., a.k.a.) and no periods when the original words are capitali)ed (e.g., USA, CEO, MIT, NATO, UK). !his appears to %e %ecoming standard in American English as well. *ome pu%lications, particularl( in the +nited *tates, still use periods in all a%%re&iations, %ut the o&erall trend is toward "ewer periods. Americans still tend to use a period "ollowing a contraction, such as ,r. or -r. or .on., while Britons, Australians and /ew 0ealanders are apt to write ,r, -r and .on'that is, without a period or "ull stop. 1hen there is a lowercase a%%re&iation at the end o" a sentence, use onl( one period'"or e ample: In the real world, pesticides arent used alone but in combination with other pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, etc. The synergistic effects can be [NRDC Switchboard]

Parentheses and periods

1hen a standalone sentence is enclosed in parentheses, the period goes inside' "or e ample: On M !"#, #hris Matthews worried what would happen if al$%aida started dispatching bombers trained in martial arts. &Maybe well need to deploy Matt 'amons stunt double after all.( [Salon] 1hen parenthetical content is enclosed in a separate sentence, e&en when its an independent clause, the period alwa(s goes outside'"or e ample: The de)ice has a second microphone on the bac* that monitors inbound noise and automatically cancels it out &anyone whos used "ose noise cancellation headphones on a long flight will appreciate this(. [Tech Crunch]

Quotation marks and periods

In American English, periods go inside quotation marks, e&en when the quoted te t has no period: +ortlands #ounty #or* +ublic ,ouse on !ortheast -remont treet is named for the #ontae #horca., one of the traditional counties of Ireland also *nown as /The 0ebel #ounty.1 [Brew Public] In British and Australian English, the period goes outside the quotation marks. 2or more details on this, see the rules "or quotation marks.

Double space or single space after a period?

,ost pu%lications use one space, %ut this is a su%3ect o" endless de%ate among writers and usage authorities. I" two spaces look %etter to (ou, then "eel "ree to use the dou%le space, %ut i" (ou look closel( at the %ooks, newspapers, and maga)ines (ou ha&e at hand, (oull see that most, i" not all, use single spaces.