Punctuation marks, signs, digits, and numbers in the USA don't differ greatly from those used in many other English-speaking countries,
but there are some regional variations and practices worth noting
Punctuation Marks
American English punctuation largely follows standard English practices. Some
notable points include:
Quotation Marks: In American English, periods and commas usually go
inside quotation marks, whether they are part of the quoted material or not.
This is different from British English, where punctuation is placed according to
logic - inside the quotation marks if it's part of the quote, outside if it's
not.
Oxford Comma: American English often uses the Oxford (or serial) comma. That is,
in a list of three or more items, a comma is typically placed before the
conjunction. For example: "I bought apples, oranges, and bananas." However, this
usage is not universal and can sometimes depend on the style guide being used.
Signs
Signage in the USA uses standard international symbols but also has some
specific characteristics:
Road Signs: Road signs in the USA follow the conventions set out by the Manual
on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. For instance, stop signs are red octagons,
and yield signs are red and white triangles.
Distances and Speeds: Unlike many countries that use the metric system, the USA
uses the imperial system for road signs. Distances are given in miles and yards,
and speeds are in miles per hour.
Digits and Numbers
Date Format: The USA follows the month/day/year format (MM/DD/YYYY) rather than
the day/month/year (DD/MM/YYYY) format common in many other countries.
Telephone Numbers: American telephone numbers typically have ten digits. The
format is usually (Area Code) XXX-XXXX.
Decimal Point and Thousands Separator: In the USA, a period (.) is used as the
decimal point, and a comma (,) is used as the thousands separator. For instance,
three thousand would be written as 3,000.00.
Currency: The dollar ($) is the primary currency in the USA. The symbol
generally precedes the amount and there are 100 cents in a dollar.
Overall, while punctuation marks, signs, digits, and numbers in the USA
follow international norms, these specific practices should be kept in mind.
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