What Is a Period (.)
The most common use of the period is to end a declarative sentence.
Examples:
- I am a doctor. I live in Africa.
- Period is placed inside the quotation mark if it is at the end of sentence.
Examples:
- My mother loved to remind me of the old saying “waste not, want not.”
- Phillip said, “I can’t remember where I heard about the banjo concert, but I surely want to go.”
Periods and Parentheses?
When a complete, independent sentence is entirely enclosed by parentheses, the period goes inside the closing parenthesis.
Examples:
- Charlie scarfed up every Cheeto that fell out of the bag. (I was not fast enough to stop him.) At least we won’t have to sweep the floor.
However, if the parenthetical material is nested inside another sentence, the period should go on the outside.
- Charlie barked wildly when he caught the scent of fresh meat (his favourite).