Chapter 20: Punctuation and Commands

Intro

This chapter will cover punctuation and Plover commands. As these are not really tied to any words, they may be less intuitive. Many of these will simply have to be memorized. There is no practice material for this chapter; instead, incorporating steno into daily computer tasks can be a great way to practise these miscellaneous outlines. It may be helpful to print out the punctuation graphic and keep it in a easy to reference location (such as taped to a wall). Playing typing games such as TypeRacer or monkeytype is also a great way to practise steno at this point.

Punctuation

Punctuation is a lot different to regular words where a space is almost always inserted before. For different punctuation, there may be different scenarios for spacing on one side or the other. Furthermore, punctuation can sometimes also govern the capitalization of the next word. Therefore, punctuation strokes contain special formatting rules to control the spacing and capitalization.

The following table lists several common punctuation marks along with the name, formatting, steno outline, and a mnemonic to aid with memorization.

CharacterNameFormattingSteno outlineMnemonic
.PeriodAttaches to the previous word and capitalizes the next word.TP-PLTop row ring and middle fingers on both hands.
?Question markAttaches to the previous word and capitalizes the next word.KW-PLSame fingers as the period outline, but the shape resembles a rising intonation as would happen in a question.
!Exclamation markAttaches to the previous word and capitalizes the next word.TP-BGSame fingers as the question outline, but the shape is sloped downwards to mirror the question mark outline.
.Decimal pointAttaches to the previous word and the next word.P-PResembles the period outline, but with only the middle fingers.
,CommaAttaches to the previous word.KW-BGSame fingers as the period outline, but on the bottom row.
…Ellipses (three dots)Attaches to the previous word and capitalizes the next word.SKW-BGSSymmetrical shape of three keys.
“Opening quotation markAttaches to the next word.KW-GSAs in “quotation”.
“Closing quotation markAttaches to the previous word.KW*GSSame as opening quotation mark outline, but with the asterisk.
’Opening single quotation markAttaches to the next wordKR-RGLike the double quote outline, but one key shifted over.
’Closing single quotation markAttaches to the previous wordKR*RGSame as opening single quotation mark, but with the asterisk.
`Opening backtickAttaches to the next word.KH-FGShape resembles a backtick.
`Closing backtickAttaches to the previous word.KH*FGSame as the opening backtick, but with the asterisk.
(Opening parenthesisAttaches to the next word.PREPBMakes the sound “pren” as in parenthesis
)Closing parenthesisAttaches to the previous wordPR*EPBSame as the opening parenthesis outline, but with the asterisk.
{Opening curly braceAttaches to the next word.TPR-BGTThis symbol is also called a “French bracket” (hence the outline).
}Closing curly braceAttaches to the previous word.TPR*BGTSame as the opening curly brace outline, but with the asterisk.
[Opening square bracketAttaches to the next word.PWR-BGTResembles “bracket”.
]Closing square bracketAttaches to the previous word.PWR*BGTSame as the opening square bracket outline, but with the asterisk.
:Colon (for writing)Attaches to the previous wordSTPH-FPLTThe entire top row of keys apart from left hand S.
;SemicolonAttaches to the previous word.STPH*FPLTSame as the colon outline, but with the asterisk.
:Colon (for time)Attaches to the previous word and the next word.KHR-PBResembles the word “colon”.
—EmdashAttaches to the previous word and the next word.PH-RBResembles “emdash”.
–EndashAttaches to the previous word and the next word.TPH-RBResembles “endash”.
–EndashSpace before and after.TPH*RBSame as the outline for regular endash, but with the asterisk.
-HyphenAttaches to the previous word and the next word.H-PBResembles “hyphen”.
-HyphenSpace before and after.H*PBSame as the regular hyphen outline, but with the asterisk.
‽InterrobangAttaches to the previous word and capitalizes the next wordTRAPBGResembles the word “interrobang”.
/SlashAttaches to the previous word and the next wordOEU
.
?
!
.
,
“
“
`
`
‽
(
)
{
}
/
[
]
:
;
:
—
–
-

Commands

Situations may arise where Plover will have to be explicitly told how to format a word. The following section goes over some useful formatting commands.

Enter

Outline: R-R

Enter (capitalize next word)

Outline: R*R

Insert a space

Outline: S-P

Mnemonic: space

Although Plover will automatically insert spaces before regular words, it may be necessary to manually insert a space so that two strokes should not be interpreted as a multistroke outline.

Example

  • KOR/TPHET cornet
  • KOR/S-P/TPHET core net

Retroactively insert a space

Outline: S-PD

Mnemonic: the S-P outline but with -D to indicate that this is a retroactive command.

Example

  • KOR/TPHET cornet
  • KOR/TPHET/S-PD core net

NOTE: this does not work with multistroke outlines if S-PD is pressed in between two strokes part of the same word. For example, the phrase “core nettle” cannot be written like KOR/TPHET/S-PD/-L.

Suppress the next space

Outline: SP-S

Mnemonic: suppress space

Example

  • how ever HOU/-FR
  • however HOU/SP-S/-FR

Retroactively suppress the last space

Outline: SP-LS

Mnemonic: suppress last space

Example

  • PHOR/AUFR more over
  • PHOR/AUFR/SP-LS moreover

Capitalize the next word

Outline: KPA

Mnemonic: the word “cap” but with the “a” and “p” out of order

Example

  • -T/KPA/AOEU/HRAPBD the Island

Retroactively capitalize the next word

Outline: KA*PD

Mnemonic: the word “capped” but with the asterisk

Example

  • -T/AOEU/HRAPBD/KA*PD the Island

Capitalize the next word and suppress the next space

Outline: KPA*

Mnemonic: the KPA outline with the asterisk

This is useful for starting a new sentence.

Uncapitalize the next word

Outline: HRO*ER

Mnemonic: the word “lower” but with the asterisk

Retroactively uncapitalize the next word

Outline: HRO*ERD

Mnemonic: the HRO*ER outline but with -D to indicate the retro command.