MLA style is commonly used by students and academics in the humanities. In this citation guide, we give a broad overview of the guidelines from the 9th edition (the most recent) of the MLA Handbook.
MLA citations have two parts:
In-text citation: Every quotation or paraphrase of another source is accompanied by a parenthetical citation including the authorโs last name and the page number.
Works Cited entry: At the end of the paper, you include a Works Cited page, which gives a full reference for each source cited, listed alphabetically by the authorโs last name.
APA Style is quite commonly used in the field of social and behavioral sciences. In this citation guide, we give a broad overview of the guidelines from the 7th edition (2020) of the APA Publication Manual.
An en dash (โ) is used to indicate number ranges (e.g., 2022โ2024), to show a connection or relationship (e.g., โthe BostonโNew York trainโ), and to connect certain compound adjectives (e.g., โa World War IIโera buildingโ).
The en dash is longer than a hyphen (-) but shorter than an em dash (โ). It is so named because, historically, it was about the same length as a typeset N.
En dash examplesFor homework, read pages 195โ230.
The Wildcats beat the Huskies 32โ17 to win the championship.
The urbanโrural political divide has grown in recent years.
TipThe em dash has been a part of human writing for a long time. However, it is sometimes associated with AI writing as it often appears in the ouputs of generative AI tools. If you’re concerned that your writing feels overly patterned or a bit too โAI-like,โ QuillBotโs Humanize AI tool can help refine your tone, balance your punctuation, and make your text sound effortlessly human.
Demure is an adjective that means โmodest,โ โshy,โ or โreserved.โ It is most commonly applied to women and girls or their clothing, though it can be used to describe people of any gender.
Demure in a sentence examplesThe CEOโs demure demeanor belied her shrewd negotiation skills.
She wore a demure dress to the gala, choosing understated elegance over flashy trends.
In response to the interviewerโs question, the actor gave a demure smile and changed the subject.
Either โฆ or is a correlative conjunction that is used to present two options or say that one of two things is true (e.g., โIโd like either ramen or sushiโ).
Correlative conjunctions are pairs of words that are used to show the relationship between two words, phrases, or clauses. Others include neither โฆ nor and not only โฆ but also.
Either โฆ or examplesEither Marisol or Asher will lead the meeting.
The movie was divisive: people either hated it or loved it.
Will you either wash the dishes or sweep the floor?
Neither โฆ nor is a correlative conjunction that is used to indicate that two things are not true (e.g., โThe candidate appeared neither prepared nor interestedโ).
Correlative conjunctions are pairs of words that are used to show the relationship between two grammatically equal parts of a sentence. Others include either โฆ or and not only โฆ but also.
Neither โฆ nor examplesNeither the rain nor the wind could stop the match.
The new policy neither addresses employee concerns nor improves productivity.
The committee accepted neither the proposed rule change nor the amended budget.
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Not only โฆ but also is a correlative conjunctionโa pair of words that is used to show the relationship between two grammatically equal parts of a sentence (e.g., โThe company let down not only its shareholders but also its employeesโ).
You can use not only โฆ but also when you want to emphasize that in addition to something already known, assumed, or expected (the โnot onlyโ phrase), there is something else (the โbut alsoโ phrase) that makes the statement more surprising, interesting, terrible, etc.
Not only โฆ but also examplesShe has visited not only all 50 states but also 13 countries.
Not only minor celebrities but also true superstars turned out for the event.
The high winds not only downed power lines but also overturned mobile homes.
