Punctuation: BE vs AE

- The ,,double comma''
- Spelling
- Quotations
- Titles
- Time
- Dates
British English
American English
Vs.
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Slide 1: Slide
EngelsMiddelbare schoolhavoLeerjaar 6

This lesson contains 12 slides, with interactive quizzes and text slides.

time-iconLesson duration is: 30 min

Items in this lesson

- The ,,double comma''
- Spelling
- Quotations
- Titles
- Time
- Dates
British English
American English
Vs.

Slide 1 - Slide

Gänsefüßchen = ,,Geese feet'' (inverted commas)
Used in newspapers and printed materials / online

Guillemets = >> << 
(/ˈɡiːmeɪ, French ɡijmɛ/)
Used in books

Two types of German quotation marks: 

Slide 2 - Slide

Which do you use?

Slide 3 - Open question

American style uses double quotes (“) for initial quotations, then single quotes (‘) for quotations within the initial quotation.
Example 1: "Oliebollen", said the Queen, "are far tastier than Poffertjes."

Example 2: "Oliebollen," said the Queen, "are far tastier than Poffertjes, and as the King said: 'much better when eaten warm.'"
Quotations

Slide 4 - Slide

American style often omits the 'U' and x1 'L' in certain words. It also uses Z instead of S in certain words.
Eg: Color, traveled, realize
British style includes the U, the extra L and uses S.
Eg: Colour, travelled, realised
Spelling

Slide 5 - Slide

British style uses single quotes (‘) for initial quotations, then double quotes (“) for quotations within the initial quotation.
Example 1: 'Oliebollen', said the Queen, 'are far tastier than Poffertjes.'

Example 2: 'Oliebollen,' said the Queen, 'are far tastier than Poffertjes, and as the King said, "much better when eaten warm."'
Quotations

Slide 6 - Slide

Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Dr. all take periods in American English.
In British English,
the periods are omitted (Dr Smith).
Titles

Slide 7 - Slide

American usage dictates a colon (e.g., 10:30)
Time
British usage dictates a period between the hours and minutes (e.g., 10.30)

Slide 8 - Slide

American English writes dates in MM/DD/YY format.
10/1/2019 means October 1, 2019.
British English writes dates in DD/MM/YY format.
10/1/2019 means January 10, 2019.
Dates

Slide 9 - Slide

Re-write the sentence, first with BE and then AE punctuation: I asked Karen for help, said Jen, but she shook her head and said, you don't deserve it.

Slide 10 - Open question

Re-write the sentence, first with BE and then AE punctuation: On the first of December 2005, Dr Ross traveled to Italy. His plane left at two thirty in the afternoon.

Slide 11 - Open question

Which do you use? Has your answer changed?

Slide 12 - Open question