Full stops with abbreviations

When to use full stops with abbreviations

The rules around punctuation with abbreviations are as follows.

Abbreviations of first letters

When a word is abbreviated after the first few letters, the traditional rule is to put a full stop after the abbreviation.

Inc. cont.

However, many writers no longer use a full stop with some common abbreviations, such as days of the week or months.

Mon Jan

Abbreviations of first and last letters

When a word is shortened by using the first and last letters, you do not need a full stop.

Mr Dr Pty

I notice that many US writers use full stops with Dr. and Mr. so maybe the US guidelines are different.

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