Plain speaking

Introduction

Lawyers and punctuation do not go well together. Maybe it’s because we often see agreements with almost no punctuation. But. as one authority pointed out, “if you don’t punctuate, a reader will do it for you, in places you never wanted it.” So, punctuation is important. Some would argue you can prove how important by highlighting the fact “no two authorities completely agree” - and probably never will.

What follows is a set of guidelines on some key punctuation points. Feel free to favour your own grammar textbook. However, if you understand the principles and the goal, your writing will be clear and the punctuation will automatically fall into place.

Apostrophe

We use apostrophes for possessives, shortened words and plurals.

• Possessives

For the possessive of a singular noun, use ‘s. For the possessive of a plural noun ending in s, use an apostrophe only. If the plural doesn’t end in s, use ‘s. For example:

Bob’s new car

John Smith’s old bike

The unions’ agreement took time

The women’s movement

Never use an apostrophe in a possessive pronoun: his, hers, yours, ours, theirs, whose and its. You should use its for belonging to it. You should use it’s for it is. That is the next use of apostrophes.

• Shortened words

The apostrophe replaces the missing letters in it’s, wouldn’t and haven’t. You should avoid using these shortened words in formal writing such as contracts or court pleadings.

• Plurals

For the plural of words or symbols you should use ‘s if the plural is not obvious. For example:

Please mind your p’s and q’s.

The witness said the number plate had several 4’s.

My preference is not to use ‘s in the plurals of years or contractions. For example:

MSPs are back at their constituencies.

Liverpool football team dominated the 1980s.

Semicolon

We use semicolons to show a pause longer than a comma and shorter than a full stop. Sometimes we use the semicolon instead of a conjunction because the semicolon reads better. Gower explains the semicolon’s message to the reader as: “Here is a clause or sentence too closely related to what has gone before to be cut off by a full stop.” For example:

The lawyer objected to the evidence, he said there was nothing in the pleadings about it should have a semicolon instead of the comma. You could write the words as two sentences but the text may not read as well.

You can also use a semicolon to separate phrases with their own commas. For example:

The plans for the business to grow include stores in Carlisle, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee; distribution depots in Birmingham, Leeds and Bellshill; and two buying centres in other places.

Colon

Fowler suggested using a colon “to deliver the goods that have been invoiced in the preceding words.” For example:

They brought what they thought they would need: food, drink and warm clothing.

To test your colon use, try replacing the colon with namely. If the sentence makes sense with namely, the colon is probably fine.

If you are more comfortable with formal rules, think of using the colon to introduce a list or to introduce a summary or example. For example:

We will rely on the following cases: Smith v Jones, Brown v Black and Little v Large. The pursuer’s case is weak in two main areas: liability and causation.

Closing

This is only a brief look at some punctuation points. I have left over the dreaded comma and others for the next column. But, if you want to improve your skills now, see this month’s recommendation, or many of the books mentioned in earlier columns.