A full stop

marks the end of a sentence • John is coming. • Two and two makes four. In direct speech, the full stop is replaced by a comma if the quoted speech is followed by a verb of saying, wondering, etc • 'I have no complaints,' she said with a smile • 'Let's just forget it,' replied the girl.

It can be used to mark the end of an abbreviation • Wood St. • Wm. Shakespeare • John Brown and Co. There is an increasing tendency to write abbreviations without full stops, particularly those that include the final letter of the word, such as • Dr and • Mr, and abbreviations of countries and organizations, such as • USA, • UN and • EC.

Three full stops, sometimes called 'an ellipsis' or 'omission marks', indicate that something has been left out • She lay in her cabin, weeping, weeping... • As Evan Daniel has said, '...it is in the language itself, not in books, that these facts are primarily to be sought' • What the ... does he think he's doing?

A full stop

marks the end of a sentence • John is coming. • Two and two makes four. In direct speech, the full stop is replaced by a comma if the quoted speech is followed by a verb of saying, wondering, etc • 'I have no complaints,' she said with a smile • 'Let's just forget it,' replied the girl.

It can be used to mark the end of an abbreviation • Wood St. • Wm. Shakespeare • John Brown and Co. There is an increasing tendency to write abbreviations without full stops, particularly those that include the final letter of the word, such as • Dr and • Mr, and abbreviations of countries and organizations, such as • USA, • UN and • EC.

Three full stops, sometimes called 'an ellipsis' or 'omission marks', indicate that something has been left out • She lay in her cabin, weeping, weeping... • As Evan Daniel has said, '...it is in the language itself, not in books, that these facts are primarily to be sought' • What the ... does he think he's doing?

A full stop

marks the end of a sentence • John is coming. • Two and two makes four. In direct speech, the full stop is replaced by a comma if the quoted speech is followed by a verb of saying, wondering, etc • 'I have no complaints,' she said with a smile • 'Let's just forget it,' replied the girl.

It can be used to mark the end of an abbreviation • Wood St. • Wm. Shakespeare • John Brown and Co. There is an increasing tendency to write abbreviations without full stops, particularly those that include the final letter of the word, such as • Dr and • Mr, and abbreviations of countries and organizations, such as • USA, • UN and • EC.

Three full stops, sometimes called 'an ellipsis' or 'omission marks', indicate that something has been left out • She lay in her cabin, weeping, weeping... • As Evan Daniel has said, '...it is in the language itself, not in books, that these facts are primarily to be sought' • What the ... does he think he's doing?