The 'Period', 'Full Stop' or 'Point'

The period (known as a full stop in British English) is probably the simplest of the punctuation marks to use.

You use it like a knife to cut the sentences to the required length. Generally, you can break up the sentences using the full stop at the end of a logical and complete thought that looks and sounds right to you. Use the full stop

1. to mark the end of a sentence which is not a question or an exclamation.

• Rome is the capital of Italy.
• I was born in Australia and now live in Indonesia.
• The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.

2. to indicate an abbreviation

• I will be in between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Note: Dr and Mr and Mrs and Ms do not take a full stop nor do most abbreviations taken from the first capital letters such as MA Phd CNN

3. special case - three dots

Often you will see a sentence concluding with three dots. This indicates that only part of the sentence or text has been quoted or that it is being left up to the reader to complete the rest of the sentence.

• The Lord's Prayer begins, 'Our Father which are in Heaven...'

3. fullstop after a single word

Sometimes a single word can form the sentence. In this case you place a fullstop after the word as you would in any other sentence.

• "Goodbye."
• "Hello."

Note: This is often the case when the subject is understood as in a greeting or a command such as "Stop."