Grammar and Punctuation
The following grammar and punctuation rules cover items that don’t appear in the Chicago Manual of Style, items you’ll encounter frequently, or our exceptions to CMS style.
If you do not find what you are looking for here, you may want to check the Key Words and Terms page.
Grammar
Occasionally confusion can arise when a program or course has a pluralized subject, but the the program itself is still only be referred to as a singular subject. In these cases, use the pluralization of the program and not the subject.
- “Our program in Cinema and Media Studies is focused on analyzing moving images from every angle,” instead of “...in Cinema and Media studies are focused on...”
Punctuation
For consistency, we recommend using the ellipses character. This character can be made by pressing Alt + 0 1 3 3 on Windows and Opt + semi-colon on Mac. If this is not possible, use three periods with no spaces between and spaces to either side, unless being used at the end of a sentence to indicate trailing off, etc.
- The meeting was long ... but we planned for the future of Simmons.
- Stormy is sad when students are gone for the summer...
When using dashes to set out a section of a sentence, do not use two hyphens. Instead, use an em dash symbol. For screen readers, it is important to include a space before and after the em dash in digital publications and on the website. This is a departure from the Chicago Manual of Style, but important for accessibility.
Em dashes can be made by pressing Alt + 0151 on Windows and Shift + Option + hyphen on a Mac.
- The workshop included a variety of tips — from job hunting to networking — for recent graduates.
En dashes should be used to separate any range of numbers, such as date ranges, time ranges, page ranges, etc. En dashes can be made by pressing Alt + 0150 on Windows and Option + hyphen on a Mac.
- Students in the 2025–26 cycle must submit their final drafts by March 15.
- Hiring for this position will take place in the September–November window.
For ease of readability, both in print and web, write out numbers one through nine, and then for 10 and up, use numerals.
- Six of our students were invited to attend the Simmons Leadership Conference.
- We have 11 NCAA Division III athletic teams.
Use numerals for ages, except at the start of a sentence.
- Ellie is 19 years old and a sophomore.
- Fifty-four year old Suzanne is an adult learner.
As noted on the Formatting Dates and Times page, ordinals should not be used for dates, but may be used in other cases:
- This year is Simmons’ 125th anniversary.
- Tomorrow is the 47th Annual Women’s Leadership Conference.
When using a quote in a title, headline, heading, or subheading, it should use single quotation marks and not double quotation marks.
- Students Gain an ‘Edge’; not Students Gain an “Edge.”
Use a serial or “Oxford” comma before the words “and” and “or” when used in a series of three or more items:
- Jones participates in lacrosse, cheer club, and SGA.