Punctuation

You will find many punctuation rules in grammar books and on the internet. In this section we highlight a few punctuation elements and their specific use at Q-Park. These will help you avoid making some common mistakes.

Apostrophes

In English we use an apostrophe for three reasons:

1. To show that one or more letters are missing

2. To show possession

3. In some expressions of time

Apostrophe don’ts

Do not use an apostrophe when making something plural.

Apostrophe confusion

Do you ever get confused with it’s and its? There’s an easy way to remember which to use. The confusion is understandable. You'll find a more detailed explaination here in the Cambridge Dictionary.

Capitalising headings and terms

In our chosen style, in titles and for terms consisting of more than one words, we only capitalise the first word.

When writing terms such as key theme, public transport, shared mobility and the like in full sentences, do not use uppercase/capital letters. If you need to emphasise such terms, consider using bullet points, and bold (FutureTDem) to draw attention. For example:

• Key theme of the presentation

• Public transport improves liveability

• Shared mobility makes economic sense

If a heading has an explanation or additions phrase after a colon [:] the following word starts with a lowercase letter.

Brackets

Brackets can be used to add information to a sentence, which can be read (and understood) with or without the information between brackets.

In Dutch, you can use brackets to indicate alternatives and save space, but this is very confusing for people who do not know this usage.

Hyphens and dashes

The longer en dash (–) can function like a comma, a colon, or parenthesis. It is used to separate extra information – instead of brackets – such as examples, explanations or supplementary facts and always has a single space on each side ‘ – ’.

Remember:

• Hyphen (-)

• en dash is approximately the length of the letter N (–)

• em dash the length of the letter M (—)

  • we don't use the em dash in Q-Park Corporate English

When writing ranges, do not add a space around the en dash.

Note:

• in Word and PowerPoint, a dash/minus sign/hyphen is turned into an en dash when you type a space after the next word.

• in Windows on a keyboard with a numeric keypad use Alt + 0150 to create an en dash.

• Do not use hyphens to abbreviate words:

Hyphenation rules

The following list of words commonly used in Q-Park texts which are hyphenated, or not.

If in doubt, consult the online Collins dictionary (free access).

Lists and bullet points

We recommend breaking down complicated information and presenting this in a bulleted list. There are different ways to punctuate lists, depending on the information you are presenting. Here are examples of the most common forms. For Q-Park communications, we recommend using types A & C. 

Type A: A list in which each point is a complete sentence

The Managing Director made three comments about using information technology.

• All barrier equipment and PMS need to be kept up to date.

• Staff must be trained to use new equipment.

• Don’t think that AI and technology will solve all our problems – it won’t.

Type B: A list which is a continuous sentence

We want to keep the panty clean and tidy, please remember to:

• wash mugs and glasses and put them back in the cupboard;

• label your own food before putting it in the fridge; and

• clean up after you have used the pantry.

Type C: A list of very short points

Every good parking facility should have the following:

• ANPR

• Clear signage

• EV charging points

• Spaces for PRMs.

Where possible, choose a system and be consistent in its usage throughout a document; however, in a publication with many diverse lists it may be better to allow all three types rather than to impose an artificial uniformity.

Quotation marks and their proper use

• Quotation marks are used in pairs, either single (‘   ’) or double (“   ”).

• Q-Park house style prefers the curly variants so quotation marks to not get confused with apostrophes (  '  ). 

• At Q-Park we use double quotation marks (“   ”) to indicate speech and citations and single quotation marks (‘   ’) to indicate a special word or a word or phrase used in an unusual way.

• When reporting speech, for example in a press release, remember to put the punctuation inside the quotation marks.

  • John Denton, Head of Commercial at Q-Park added “Q-Park aims to be the Sustainable Mobility Partner of choice by 2030. Strategic partnerships such as the ‘Dark Hub’ at Leicester Square allow us to make a real difference for the working people of London.”