Full stop is the British English term for this punctuation mark; it is known as a period in American English. It is used:

Full stops are used:

• to mark the end of a sentence that is a complete statement:

My name’s Beth and I was 18 in July.

After leaving school, she went to work in an insurance company.

• to mark the end of a group of words that don’t form a conventional sentence, so as to emphasize a statement:

I keep reliving that moment. Over and over again.

• in some abbreviations, for example etc., Dec., or p.m.:

There’s a wide range of sandwiches, pies, cakes, etc. at very reasonable prices.

• in website and email addresses:

www.oup.com

If an abbreviation with a full stop comes at the end of a sentence you don’t need to add another full stop:

Bring your own pens, pencils, rulers, etc.

Back to punctuation.

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Abbreviations

Exclamation mark (!)

Question mark (?)