<p>On the Internet and other informal environments, that's OK.</p>

<p>In official publications, the answer is no.</p>

<p>As far as I know, if you write a book and do not use Chinese punctuation, the government won't allow you to publish it. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-14T08:19:02.270Z
2011-12-15T03:45:14.377Z
2011-12-15T03:45:14.377Z
Alex Chen
<p>Well yes and no.</p>

<p>In classic Chinese, there is no punctuation at all. I <em>think</em> the punctuation in Chinese are actually from European. All most all the punctuation you see in English are used in Chinese too. However because the way computer system encodes them differently, you see them differently on computer screen. </p>

<p>For example, the Chinese exclamation mark looks like these ！and English exclamation mark look like these !  </p>

<p>In Chinese, single quotes are used when quoting a quote inside another quote. For example:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我妈妈说:"毛主席教导我们'为人民服务'"</p>
</blockquote>

<p>in this case, 我妈妈 is quoting 毛主席's 为人民服务.</p>

<p>Nevertheless, although in formal writing, you should always use the correct punctuation. In informal writing (for example, in txting, sms or chatting online), you can expect a lot of mix uses of both European punctuation and Chinese punctuation. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-14T08:37:37.563Z
Chinese's single quotes are different with european's. 我妈妈说:"毛主席教导我们'为人民服务'" and 我妈妈说：“毛主席教导我们‘为人民服务’”
Alex Chen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-14T08:29:42.997Z
2011-12-14T08:29:42.997Z
StarCub
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_punctuation" rel="nofollow">Chinese punctuation</a> is a little bit different from European punctuation, for example:</p>

<ul>
<li>The full stop (period) is "。" instead of "."</li>
<li>The ellipsis are six vertically centered dots (… …) instead of just three (…)</li>
<li>and others...</li>
</ul>

<p>Is the usage of European punctuation acceptable in Chinese writing?</p>

<punctuation>
Is the usage of European punctuation acceptable in Chinese writing?
# Is the usage of European punctuation acceptable in Chinese writing?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-12-14)

[Chinese punctuation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_punctuation) is a little bit different from European punctuation, for example:

* The full stop (period) is "。" instead of "."
* The ellipsis are six vertically centered dots (… …) instead of just three (…)
* and others...

Is the usage of European punctuation acceptable in Chinese writing?

**Tags:** punctuation


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2011-12-14. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

Well yes and no.

In classic Chinese, there is no punctuation at all. I *think* the punctuation in Chinese are actually from European. All most all the punctuation you see in English are used in Chinese too. However because the way computer system encodes them differently, you see them differently on computer screen.

For example, the Chinese exclamation mark looks like these ！and English exclamation mark look like these !

In Chinese, single quotes are used when quoting a quote inside another quote. For example:

> 我妈妈说:"毛主席教导我们'为人民服务'"

in this case, 我妈妈 is quoting 毛主席's 为人民服务.

Nevertheless, although in formal writing, you should always use the correct punctuation. In informal writing (for example, in txting, sms or chatting online), you can expect a lot of mix uses of both European punctuation and Chinese punctuation.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Chinese's single quotes are different with european's. 我妈妈说:"毛主席教导我们'为人民服务'" and 我妈妈说：“毛主席教导我们‘为人民服务’”  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2011-12-14. Score: 10

On the Internet and other informal environments, that's OK.

In official publications, the answer is no.

As far as I know, if you write a book and do not use Chinese punctuation, the government won't allow you to publish it.


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