Languages 1001

Chinese Punctuation & Typography

1. Marks & Usage

| Mark | Symbol | 用途 (Usage) | 示例 (Example) | | --------------------- | ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- | | Full stop | 。 | Indicates end of a sentence. | 他今天去了北京。 | | Comma | ， | Separates clauses or items within a sentence. | 我买了苹果，香蕉和橙子。 | | Enumeration comma | 、 | Lists multiple items in a series (more formal than ，). | 他喜欢看电影、听音乐、打篮球。 | | Question mark | ？ | Ends an interrogative sentence. | 你叫什么名字？ | | Exclamation mark | ！ | Marks strong emotion or imperative. | 太好了！我通过考试了！ | | Ellipsis | …… (6 dots) | Indicates omission or trailing off. | “我……我不知道该怎么办。” | | Dash | —— (2 em-dashes) | Adds a pause stronger than a comma, or indicates interruption. | 他想说——可是又停住了。 | | Quotation marks | “ ” vs. 《 》 | “ ” for direct speech or quotations; 《 》for titles of books, films, articles. | 老师说：“明天考试。” 《红楼梦》 | | Parentheses | （ ） | Enclose asides, explanations, or pronunciation guides. | 他去过北京（Beijing）三次。 |

Usage tips

• Full stop 。 always follows the last character of the sentence—no space before it.
• Enumeration comma 、 is preferred in formal/written lists; use ordinary comma ， in less formal contexts.

• Quotation marks:

• Inside a nested quotation, you may alternate: “‘…’” or 《…》 inside “…” depending on style guide.

• Ellipsis must be six dots; avoid mixing with English “…”.

2. Spacing & Line-Break Rules

2.1 No Inter-Character Spacing

• Chinese characters stand side-by-side with no spaces between them.

• 正确：我喜欢学习汉语。

• 错误：我 喜欢 学习 汉语。

2.2 Spaces with Latin Text & Numbers

• Insert a single space between Chinese text and embedded Latin script, Arabic numerals, or units.

• 他在 Google 上搜索。

• 距离是 5 km。

2.3 悬挂标点 (Hanging Punctuation)

• Forbidden to start or end a line with the following:

。 ， ； ？ ！ …… ” ’ ） ] 》 】 “ ‘ （ [ 《 【 —— …… * Implementation: when a punctuation mark would otherwise fall at line-start or line-end, it “hangs” outside the text block. This keeps the text edge visually neat.

3. Fonts & Styles

3.1 Serif vs. Sans-Serif

| Style | 特点 (Characteristics) | 场景 (Usage) | | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | ------------- | | Serif (衬线体) | 小装饰线 (feet) at stroke ends; high readability in print. | 书籍、杂志、印刷材料 | | Sans-serif (无衬线体) | 简洁笔画，无装饰; 显示器和屏幕上更清晰。 | 手机应用、网页界面、PPT |

Tip: On screen, sans-serif fonts (e.g. 思源黑体 / Source Han Sans) usually outperform serif (e.g. 思源宋体 / Source Han Serif) at small sizes.

3.2 Simplified vs. Traditional Glyph Variants

• Simplified (简体字)

• 国家标准 GB 2312／GB 18030；笔画较少，输入更快。

• Mainland China, 新加坡常用。

• Traditional (繁體字)

• 台湾、香港、澳门、日本（汉字表意）使用。

• 结构更接近原字形，但笔画较多。

Recommendation:

• For a Mainland-focused app, default to Simplified.
• Offer a toggle: allow users to switch to Traditional for advanced learners.

Practice Activities

1. Punctuation Drill

2. Punctuate this raw text correctly:

   他去过北京 他喜欢 红楼梦 你明天有空吗 2. Line-Break Simulation

3. In a word-processor, enable hanging punctuation and type a paragraph of Chinese—observe how marks adjust at margins.

4. Font Comparison

5. Show the sentence “中国加油！” in both serif and sans-serif at 16px on-screen. Ask learners which feels more readable.

Further Resources

• 《现代汉语标点符号用法》by 商务印书馆
• Adobe’s “Hanging Punctuation” guide for InDesign
• Google Noto Sans CJK and Noto Serif CJK font families

Next steps:

• Record a 5-minute screencast demoing how to set up hanging punctuation in common word-processors.
• Create a one-page PDF cheat-sheet summarizing these marks for learners to print.