Full stops (periods) in contractions

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If the last letter of a contraction is the same as the last letter of the whole word, then no full stop (period ) is required.

Full Stops (Periods) in Contractions

Only use a full stop (period) at the end of a contraction if its last letter is different to the last letter of the whole word.

Examples:

Mr (contraction of Mister)

Revd (contraction of Reverend)

Rev. (also a contraction of Reverend)

para. (contraction of paragraph)

paras (contraction of paragraphs)

Dr. (contraction of Doctor; r is the last letter of Dr and Doctor)

para (contraction of paragraph; last letters are different -
full stop required)

The theory is supported by Prof. Munro.

CONTRACTION?

A contraction is a cut-down version of a word.

Mr (contraction of Mister)

Revd (contraction of Reverend)

para. (a contraction of paragraph)

DON'T WORRY

The rule explained on this page is not a hard and fast rule. All contractions used to be followed by full stops. However, nowadays, the rule outlined on this page is widely accepted.

Associated lessons:

Using AD, BC, BCE and CE
Forming the plurals of abbreviations
Using full stops (periods) in abbreviations