The Use of the Period in French

What is the period used for in French?

The full stop or period (point final) marks the end of a sentence. The sentence may be very short (for example a simple reference, a verb on its own, etc. — in this case it is more accurately called a phrase fragment rather than a full sentence) or longer. A full stop is followed by a capital letter, which marks the beginning of a new sentence. This punctuation mark is also used when writing abbreviations.

Contents

Le point final

A full stop is used to end a sentence without expressing any particular emotion (nuances of meaning can instead be conveyed by exclamation marks, question marks or ellipses). In spoken language, it is characterised by a falling intonation and a pause. Full stops structure the text and make it clearer and easier to read.

Example:
Une gare perdue dans la nuit. Le bruit d’un train qui s’éloigne de plus en plus vite. Une jeune femme qui pose sa valise sur le quai, l’air un peu perdu. Elle s’apelle Sarah. Elle a voyagé pendant des heures, peut-être des jours, pour arriver jusqu’ici. Maintenant, elle se dirige vers la grande porte en bois au-dessus de laquelle s’affiche le mot « sortie » en grandes lettres jaunes.A station lost in the night. The sound of a train moving farther and farther away. A young woman placing her suitcase on the platform, looking a little lost. Her name is Sarah. She has travelled for hours, perhaps days, to get here. Now she walks toward the large wooden door above which the word “exit” appears in big yellow letters.

Indirect questions also end with a full stop rather than a question mark (exception: if the indirect question itself is included in a direct question, the sentence ends with a question mark).

Example:
Je me demande où ma montre a bien pu passer.I wonder where my watch could have gone.
J’aimerais bien savoir pourquoi on gronde les élèves en difficulté plutôt que de leur apporter du soutien.I would really like to know why struggling students are scolded instead of being given support.
(mais : Tu pourrais me dire où est la gare ?Could you tell me where the station is?)

Note: Contemporary writers often use a full stop instead of a comma to isolate a group of words they want to emphasise. Journalism also frequently uses short sentences (often nominal sentences) with an assertive tone.

Example:
La nuit était tombée. Les explorateurs avaient froid. Très froid.Night had fallen. The explorers were cold. Very cold.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations with a full stop

All abbreviations that do not include the final letter of the word are followed by a full stop.

Example:
etc. (et cetera)
suiv. (suivant)
ex. (exemple)
cf. (confer)

Info

If the abbreviation appears at the end of a sentence, the abbreviation’s full stop replaces the final full stop or ellipsis. Therefore, no additional full stop should be added. However, exclamation marks and question marks are still written.

Example:
Jacequeline est allée au marché pour acheter des poireaux, des carottes, de la salade, etc.Jacqueline went to the market to buy leeks, carrots, lettuce, etc.
(not Jacequeline est allée au marché pour acheter des poireaux, des carottes, de la salade, etc..)
but: Jacqueline est-elle allée au marché pour acheter des poireaux, des carottes, de la salade, etc. ?Did Jacqueline go to the market to buy leeks, carrots, lettuce, etc.?

If the abbreviation is followed by a closing parenthesis or quotation mark, a final full stop must be added after the parenthesis or quotation mark (unless the words in parentheses or quotation marks form a complete sentence).

Example:
Vous pouvez vous rapporter à votre manuel de grammaire (p. 42 et suiv.).You can refer to your grammar book (p. 42 and following).
mais : Pour que votre jardin soit un endroit agréable, pensez à bien l’entretenir. (N’oubliez pas d’arroser les plantes régulièrement, de les tailler, etc.)To make your garden a pleasant place, remember to maintain it well. (Don’t forget to water the plants regularly, prune them, etc.)

Abbreviations without a full stop and acronyms

Abbreviations that include the final letter of the word are never followed by a full stop.

Example:
Mme (Madame)
Cie (Compagnie)
Dr (Docteur)
bd (boulevard)

Some other abbreviations are also written without a full stop, for example units of measurement, currencies or cardinal directions.

Example:
3 mm (trois millimètres)
5 cm (cinq centimètres)
7 kg (sept kilogrammes)
9 € (neuf euros)
O (Ouest)

Acronyms are also written without full stops. An acronym is formed from the initial letters (or initial elements) of several words and is pronounced either by spelling out the letters or as a normal word.

Example:
CD (Compact Disc)
DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)
SNCF (Société nationale des chemins de fer)
OTAN (Organisation du traité de l’Atlantique nord)
ONU (Organisation des Nations Unies)

Finally, truncated forms, which are mainly used in spoken language, are also not followed by a full stop.

Example:
Timothée va passer le bac l’année prochaine. (bac pour baccalauréat)
On va au ciné ce soir ? (ciné pour cinéma)

Ellipses

Ellipses (...) indicate that the reader must complete the meaning of an interrupted sentence (they leave the sentence “hanging”). They can have many different meanings. They may signal that the speaker stops speaking, that someone else interrupts the speech, or that the speaker hesitates. They can also be used to shorten an enumeration. At the end of a sentence, ellipses can create a sense of suspense or anticipation.

They can appear between sentences, within sentences, and sometimes within words. When used inside a word, after the initial letter, ellipses hide a word the author does not wish to write explicitly (for example, a swear word).

Example:
– Mais cela n’a rien de…
– Oh ! c’est déjà très important. (L’immoraliste, André Gide)
interruption of the speech by another person
Mais qu’est-ce qui se… ?
abandonment of the speech (out of surprise)
Sois forte, Thérèse, murmura-t-il… Nous avons longtemps à attendre… Souviens-toi. (Thérèse Raquin, Émile Zola)
expression of emotion and suspense
Claude n’était pas au bout de ses surprises…
effect of suspense
Je voulais m’excuser pour… enfin, tu sais… pour… ce qui s’est passé hier.
hesitation (long pause; the speaker is searching for words). In this case, no capital letters are used.
Au zoo, on peut voir des lions, des singes, des serpents, des phoques…
shortened enumeration
Après avoir hésité un moment sur le parti que j’avais à prendre, je résolus d’aller à B… pour faire un dernier effort auprès de ma sœur. (René, René de Chateaubriand)
place name the author does not wish to mention
Ah m…, je me suis trompé de chemin.
censorship of a swear word

Info

A full stop should not be added after ellipses. However, an exclamation mark, question mark or comma may follow them. Remember to leave a space before exclamation and question marks in French.

Example:
Oh non, c’est pas vrai… !Oh no, that can’t be true…!
Qui aurait cru qu’il en était capable… ?Who would have thought he was capable of it…?
Ce fut dans la rue S…, près de Passy, que nous nous installâmes. (L’immoraliste, André Gide)It was on S… Street, near Passy, that we settled.

Ellipses can be used to shorten a quotation. In this case, they are placed in square brackets.

Example:
Vous le savez, le Gouvernement a fait du droit des femmes et de l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes une priorité de son action. […] Dans ce domaine, comme dans beaucoup d’autres, pour faire bouger les lignes, faire sauter les verrous, il faut d’abord combattre l’ignorance, ou même pire l’indifférence, et rendre visible l’invisible […]. (Discours de Fleur Pellerin, ministre de la Culture et de la Communication, à l’occasion de la Réunion du Comité ministériel pour l’égalité femmes / hommes, le 29 juin 2015, à Paris)