Punctuation: Implied subjects and complete sentences

[Jeremy Angel]

Hi Yakkers,

Probably a no brainer for grammar buffs, but allow me to reveal my ignorance.

I have a company timeline of events, a bulleted list. 

It's all crammed on one page, so to save space, I'm dropping the company's name as subject wherever appropriate, e.g.

• Open sales branches in Matsumoto, Morioka and Sendai.

My question is: Is this a complete sentence that requires a period at the end? I have ended all such sentences with a period, since the subject is implied, but the client thinks periods should be deleted, and I can't put my finger on the right place in Chicago.

TIA 

--
Jeremy Angel
Nagano, Japan

[Benjamin Barrett]

I personally think these shouldn't have periods whether they are full sentences or not.

See, for example,

http://www.meditech.com/corporatetimeline/homepage.htm

http://www.intersections.com/Timeline_corporate.html

In contrast, Radio Shack uses periods, which doesn't look as easy on the eyes to me:

http://www.radioshackcorporate.com/company/timeline.php

In terms of splitting hair, I agree more with the client, but really, consistency is far more important.

I also prefer the passive because I think they are easier to read ("Sales branches opened in..."). The first two links use a mix.

Benjamin Barrett

Seattle, WA

[Steven P. Venti]

Jeremy Angel <jeremy...@gmail.com> wrote:
> - Open sales branches in Matsumoto, Morioka and Sendai.

>
> My question is: Is this a complete sentence that requires a period at the end?

If written as a complete sentence with an implied subject, I add a period at
the end.

On the other hand, if written as a noun phrase, I would not add a period.

E.g.
Opening of sales branches in Matsumoto, Morioka, and Sendai

That's how I handle it, however, I am unable to put my finger on a reference
that supports this approach.

FWIW

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Venti
spv...@bhk-limited.com

All that glitters is not gold; all who wander are not lost;
All who babble are not fools; all that's caught is not tost.
--With apologies to J.R.R. Tolkien
-----------------------------------------------------------------

[Graham Chave]

Steven P. Venti said on 1/18/2012 12:54 PM:

> Jeremy Angel<jeremy...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> - Open sales branches in Matsumoto, Morioka and Sendai.
>>
>> My question is: Is this a complete sentence that requires a period at the end?
>
> If written as a complete sentence with an implied subject, I add a period at
> the end.
>
> On the other hand, if written as a noun phrase, I would not add a period.
>
> E.g.
> Opening of sales branches in Matsumoto, Morioka, and Sendai

I think this is an issue that is a constant thorn in the side of translators. I tend to omit the periods from such sentences, but then run into issues if there are two sentences within the same bullet point.

E.g.
Opening of sales branches in Matsumoto, Morioka, and Sendai. Starting production of reverse tachyon beam generators.

Should the final period be there? The grammarian in me says yes, but then I run into consistency issues with other noun phrases that are not concluded with a period.

I'd be interested in hearing opinions on this.

Graham

--
_______________________________________
Graham Chave Japanese-English Translations
(Mob.) +64 21 205 5473 (H) +64 9 435 1794
Skype: grahamch Japan time +4 hours
_______________________________________

[Benjamin Barrett]

On Jan 17, 2012, at 4:03 PM, Graham Chave wrote:

> Steven P. Venti said on 1/18/2012 12:54 PM:
>> Jeremy Angel<jeremy...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> - Open sales branches in Matsumoto, Morioka and Sendai.
>>>
>>> My question is: Is this a complete sentence that requires a period at the end?
>>
>> If written as a complete sentence with an implied subject, I add a period at
>> the end.
>>
>> On the other hand, if written as a noun phrase, I would not add a period.
>>
>> E.g.
>> Opening of sales branches in Matsumoto, Morioka, and Sendai
>
> I think this is an issue that is a constant thorn in the side of translators. I tend to omit the periods from such sentences, but then run into issues if there are two sentences within the same bullet point.
>
> E.g.
> Opening of sales branches in Matsumoto, Morioka, and Sendai. Starting production of reverse tachyon beam generators.
>
> Should the final period be there? The grammarian in me says yes, but then I run into consistency issues with other noun phrases that are not concluded with a period.
>
> I'd be interested in hearing opinions on this.

I once worked with a PM who made the rule that the second sentence gets no period. That was for photo captions, but the rule works in situations like this as well. It preserves the simple style that periodlessness provides.

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

[Christopher Carr]

Hi Graham et al.

I'm firmly entrenched within the no-period camp. The two clauses
should be separated by a comma or semicolon. In fact, I wouldn't even
capitalize the first letter of each clause:

i.e. - opening sales branches in Matsumoto, Morioka, and Sendai,
starting production of reverse tachyon beam generators

Then again, grammar rules are fairly squishy. It's best to choose
whatever grammatical structure best facilitates easy understanding of
the terms in question.

Christopher Carr

[Rob Nielsen]

On Jan 18, 8:39 am, Jeremy Angel <jeremy.an...@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>    - Open sales branches in Matsumoto, Morioka and Sendai.

>
> My question is: Is this a complete sentence that requires a period at the
> end? I have ended all such sentences with a period, since the subject is
> implied, but the client thinks periods should be deleted, and I can't put
> my finger on the right place in Chicago.
>

Chicago (6.127 in vers. 15 that I own) says use ending punctuation for
complete senteces only, but doesn't state explicitly whether they are
mandatory.

I have done several of these timelines and would probably phrase it
differently, as complete sentences.

- Sales branches open in Matsumoto, Morioka and Sendai.

If you poke around the Company History section on company websites,
you will see this phrasing often in timelines.

One advantage is that you eliminate any confustion with the second
person. Also, since the sense of this sentence is noun-like (a
statement of events) and not verb-like (instructions or rasks), it is
better to put the noun in the high-priced real estate next to the
bullet. This is where the reader's eyes go.

Rob

[Rob Nielsen]

Even in my sentence, I think you can go either way, but I would give
the tie to the client.

The justification for no period is that it is, of course, a full stop.
Why do you need to stop the reader reading to the right unless there's
a sentence to follow there? The bullets will stop the reader when
reading down.

Chicago was not written for marketing material anyway.

Rob

[Richard Sadowsky]

If I remember correctly, I tend to go with this kind of form:

- Sales branches opened in Matsumoto, Morioka and Sendai

The "are" is implied before "opened." When there is a second sentence I put
in a semicolon:

- Sales branches opened in Matsumoto, Morioka and Sendai; tachyon phasers,
decloaking devices go on sale

But sometimes I take one tack and halfway through the timeline decide it
looks strange, then change it. Hmm...

--
Richard Sadowsky, Awajishima

[Jeremy Angel]

On 18 January 2012 12:40, Richard Sadowsky <richard....@gmail.com> wrote:

- Sales branches opened in Matsumoto, Morioka and Sendai; tachyon phasers,
decloaking devices go on sale

So you wouldn't put a period at the end of the second sentence, even though it is a complete sentence?  

But sometimes I take one tack and halfway through the timeline decide it
looks strange, then change it. Hmm...

Yeah, it's that kind of issue. As someone advised privately, the only thing that really matters is consistency. Now if we could only convince clients! 

[Jeremy Angel]

Thanks very much to everyone for the input.

In the end I rephrased all 20 or so problematic instances based on your collective advice so as to eliminate the question, but I found the discussion very informative.

[Richard Sadowsky]

At 0:49 PM +0900 01/18/12, Jeremy Angel wrote:
>On 18 January 2012 12:40, Richard Sadowsky

><<mailto:richard....@gmail.com>richard....@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>- Sales branches opened in Matsumoto, Morioka and Sendai; tachyon phasers,
>decloaking devices go on sale
>
>
>So you wouldn't put a period at the end of the second sentence, even

>though it is a complete sentence? ロシ/div>
>
>

I see you've already completed the job in question, Jeremy, but to answer
your question, no, even for a complete sentence in a timeline, which may be
bulleted or in any case dated, I don't feel compelled to make sentences, or
to put a period at the end of a sentence

:-)
--
Richard Sadowsky, Awajishima

[Keith Wilkinson]

FWIW, Wikipedia's English style guide is at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style