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< The Period

The Period: The Period (#7)

Dennis Oliver

The Period (#7):
Directions and Addresses

One very common and important punctuation mark
( . ) looks like a small, dark circle. When this mark is
used with numbers, it's called a point. When it's used
in e-mail and WWW addresses, it's called a dot. In
other situations, it's called a period.

In American English, there are many common uses
for the period. One use is for abbreviations. Here are
some commonly used abbreviations for directions
and street addresses:

Directions

N.
(North)		 E.
(East)
S.
(South)		 W.
(West)
N.E.
(Northeast)		 N.W.
(Northwest)
S.E. 
(Southeast)		 S.W.
(Southwest)
N.N.E.
(North Northeast) 		  E.N.E.
(East Northeast) 
N.N.W.
(North Northwest) 		 W.N.W.
(West Northwest) 
S.S.E.
(South Southeast) 		 E.S.E.
(East Southeast) 
S.S.W.
(South Southwest) 		 W.S.W.
(West Southwest) 

Street Addresses

Ave.
(Avenue)		 Hwy.
(Highway)
Blvd.
(Boulevard)		 Pkwy.
(Parkway)
Ct.
(Court)		 Pl.
(Place)
Dr. 
(Drive)		 Rd.
(Road)
Fwy.
(Freeway)		 St.
(Street)

Other Address Terms

Apt.
(Apartment)		 Fl.
(Floor)
Bldg.
(Building)		 P.O.B.
(Post Office Box)
Dept.
(Department)		 RR.
(Rural Route)
Div. 
(Division)

_____________________________________________

Special Notes:

1.

Abbreviations for directions are often
written without periods:

N. / N

S.E. / SE

N.N.W. / NNW
2.

Street names are not normally abbreviated
unless they are numbered:

First ---> 1st

Twenty-Second ---> 22nd

One Hundred Twenty-Fifth ---> 125th
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