Why do non-1st language English speakers put a space between their punctuation marks?

[Wilderess]

A good rule for the brackets is that if you take the bracketed expression away (with the brackets), a complete sentence should remain. There should be no extra commas or full stops, and there should be nothing lacking either.

[Urban Ranger]

I always thought that brackets are the square things: [].

[Dauphin]

They're 'square brackets' as opposed to just 'brackets'.

[RGBVideo]

I put the period outside the end bracket if it's pat of a sentence (like this is).

(If it's a complete sentence, I put the period inside the brackets.)

I do the same thing, however it always confuses me and I've never read anything
about this thing from books...

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by Kassiopeia
SD, PH, odd. I think every single book I've read has this way of punctuation. I'll have to go and check...



That's how Finns would put it...

From what I learned in school the comma would go outside the quotations unless it was apart of the quote.

( ) Parenthesis
one or both of the curved marks ( ) used in writing and printing to enclose a parenthetical expression or to group a symbolic unit in a logical or mathematical expression


[] Brackets.
one of a pair of marks [ ] used in writing and printing to enclose matter or in mathematics and logic as signs of aggregation -- called also square bracket b : one of the pair of marks < > used to enclose matter -- called also angle bracket

[Inverse Icarus]

thats what i learned spray... now what are these

{ }

i just call the squiggles

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Ted Striker
Mein Schwanz ist ein grosse Banane !

Nein. Dein Schwanz ist eine kleine Banane.

As for the "plenking" (putting a space between last word and punctuation mark is called here this way), it's a grammatical mistake in German as well. Some people do it, but it's wrong. Other people do it just to offend those who prefer to be nitpicking . Right ?

Numbers: the amount of one thousand two hundred and thirty four euros and fifty six cents would be written here either

€1234,56

or

€1.234,56

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by UberKruX
thats what i learned spray... now what are these

{ }

i just call the squiggles

Braces.

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by UberKruX
thats what i learned spray... now what are these

{ }

i just call the squiggles

braces
one of two marks { } used to connect words or items to be considered together b : one of these marks connecting two or more musical staffs carrying parts to be performed simultaneously

edit: what SD said. I wasn't for sure what they did from memory.

[KaiserIsak]

how come places like china/japan use abarbic numerals today? what did they use before?

I think they have used arabic numerals for centuries, at least that is what my history teacher told me many years ago.

[Method]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
Well there is the alternative: use spaces to separate 000s which saves the confusion all round

1 000 000 000.8937897324

as for commas being used as decimals that confuses the hell out of me...5,432 can either be 5.432 or 5 432

[Wilderess]

Originally posted by Sprayber
[] Brackets.
one of a pair of marks [ ] used in writing and printing to enclose matter or in mathematics and logic as signs of aggregation

That's right, Sprayber. Brackets are also frequently used in old-fashioned library catalogues, meaning that the phrases in brackets are not copied from the title page of the book:

Seven brothers / [written by] Aleksis Kivi ; [translated by] John Smith.

[Hurricane]

Another strange thing. English countries write prices with the currency sign before the amount, i.e. $5,000, while most other people put the currency sign after the amount, i.e. 5.000 €. Or do they? I'm really confused after reading this thread.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Hurricane
Another strange thing. English countries write prices with the currency sign before the amount, i.e. $5,000, while most other people put the currency sign after the amount, i.e. 5.000 €. Or do they? I'm really confused after reading this thread.

50p, 50¢ etc..

[Immortal Wombat]

I agree with Kassi, and his magic book.