164 Essential Skills for Health Careers Success
Parentheses. Parentheses are used to enclose words or phrases that clarify
meaning or give more information. When the entire sentence is enclosed
by parentheses, the period should appear inside the closing parenthesis. If
the parenthetical notation falls at the end of the sentence but only encloses
a portion of it, the period should follow the closing parenthesis.
Examples: I’ll see you at the meeting at noon (3rd fl oor lounge).
Please review the medical terminology abbreviations. (They are
in Appendix A.)
Parentheses are also used to enclose numbers or letters in a list that is
part of a sentence.
Example: Your essay has errors in (1) spelling, (2) punctuation,
and (3) capitalization.
Semicolons. When a sentence requires a stronger break than a comma, a
semicolon may be used. Semicolons are used to separate clauses or some
items in a series. The two clauses separated must be independent, meaning
they are stand-alone clauses.
Example: Our entire math class took the exam; everyone passed.
A semicolon can be used to separate a series when at least one item in
the series already contains commas.
Example: I applied for an internship in Los Angeles, California;
Seattle, Washington; and Las Vegas, Nevada.
Colons. When introducing elements in a sentence or paragraph, a colon
may be used. The elements can be words, phrases, clauses, or sentences.
The colon is a stronger break than a comma.
Example: We need to study three things for the medical termi-
nology quiz: abbreviations, prefi xes, and suffi xes.
Hyphens. Hyphens are used to separate parts of a compound
word. Hyphens are also used when spelling out numbers.
Examples: My mother-in-law is a nurse.
twenty-four
Apostrophes. When forming possessive words and con-
tractions, an apostrophe should be used. Possessive words
show ownership. An apostrophe and a letter “s” are added
to many nouns to create the possessive form. If the pos-
sessive noun is plural, the apostrophe is placed after the
pluralized noun.
Examples: Jennifer’s test score was excellent.
The nurses’ cars were parked in the hospital parking lot.
Using Hyphens
Rules for Use Examples
Fractions shown in words one-third, one-fourth
Numbers less than 100
with two words
thirty-one, fi fty-three
Telephone numbers,
Social Security numbers
1-888-2346,
558-34-1678
Between letters when a
word is spelled out
Awkward is spelled
a-w-k-w-a-r-d.
Figure 7.18 Follow these guidelines when using
hyphens in written communications.