When do you use an asterisk in writing

Using an Asterisk as a Footnote Symbol So, do asterisks differ from other footnote symbols, like numbers or letters? However, if you have more than one comment on a single page, you typically use a set of symbols in a specific order.

One common sequence is to start with the asterisk and continue with the dagger, double dagger, section mark, parallels, and number sign.

If you need more symbols, you start over in the sequence and double each symbol; for example, double asterisk, double dagger, double double dagger, and so on. Does it go before or after a dash, for example? Well, it turns out the dash is an exception: according to the U. Government Printing Office Style Manual, the asterisk goes before the dash, but after every other punctuation mark.

The asterisk goes before the dash, but after every other punctuation mark. You could also use a grawlix , which is the term cartoonist Mort Walker gave to the string of characters including the asterisk that appears in comic books when someone swears.

Summary To summarize, the asterisk is a little star symbol which can be used to indicate a footnote or be used to edit swear words in informal text. A footnote should begin on the bottom of the same page on which the asterisk or other footnote symbol appears. Learn more about censorship. Examples include the following:. Some publications—wishing to take a more restrained approach—will mark out every character of an offending word with asterisks, or simply replace such words with the word "expletive" in parentheses a punctuation mark used to set apart ideas or place a break in the sentence.

The asterisk originated in feudal times, when printers needed a symbol for marking birth dates. In its earliest form, the symbol was given seven tear-shaped arms. The symbol is used in computer science to indicate multiplication and to substitute for various other characters. In books, a large break between paragraphs is sometimes marked by three spaced-apart asterisks, which are meant to indicate a change in scene, subject, or idea. On certain online platforms—Usenet, Twitter—where typing features like italics and bold-type are not available, asterisks are often used to emphasize certain words.

Asterisks are sometimes used in lieu of bullets or numbers when listing items on a webpage or document. On Internet forums that don't make it possible to edit posts once submitted, misspellings and factual errors may be denoted with asterisks next to the errors when quoted in subsequent posts. There's no standardized rule as to whether the asterisk should come before or after the corrected word, as the following examples demonstrate:.

In historical linguistics, asterisks are used to mark words that wouldn't have appeared in an original text, such as words that are added to help with the readability of reconstructed pieces of writing. It is an error that, unfortunately, is seen too frequently today in printed material.

So, it is best to always use an asterisk as a pointer. It points to a footnote at the bottom of the page! Get a free editing sample outlining areas you need to fix before publishing.

Discover what works! Proper use of an Asterisk Within a text, an asterisk is typed directly after the final punctuation of the sentence it relates to, but before a dash.

Example of How to Use an Asterisk -Jenny states that this decision was sound. Thanks for reading! A footnote is an explanation or a comment at the bottom of a page that refers back to a specific part of the text. If there are multiple footnotes more than one , use one asterisk for the first footnote, two asterisks for the second and so on. Example: There are many forms of punctuation in the English language.

Three common forms of end punctuation are the period, question mark and exclamation mark. The period is used as the end of a sentence that is a command or a statement. The question mark ends sentences that are written as questions.