‘The buck stops here.’ What we wordsmiths have to know about, and do with, these stops: colon, semicolon, dash; parentheses and brackets; ellipsis and apostrophe. (We certainly need to buck the trend of writers using them less and less, or less correctly.)
Join PEG for a series of webinars covering some of the less used, even more obscure, and yet powerful punctuation marks.
| Wednesday, 18 November 2026 | 18:00–20:00 (CAT) | Webinar 1 will focus on colons, semicolons, dashes and parentheses and their different their functions and effects in sentences and lists. |
| Wednesday, 25 November | 18:00–20:00 (CAT) | Webinar 2 will focus on quoted matter, looking specifically at the roles of parentheses, brackets, ellipses, quotation marks and the conventions attached to them. |
| Tuesday, 8 December 2026 | 18:00–20:00 (CAT) | Webinar 3 will be all about the apostrophe, its uses and abuses in English texts. |
Presenter: John Linnegar
Platform: Online (Zoom)
Level: Beginner/introductory, intermediate (or advanced for those feeling in need of a CPD-type refresher)
Prerequisites/foundational knowledge: None
CPD hours: The duration of each webinar in this series is 2 hours. PEG members will earn CPD hours according to the criteria published on the PEG website. Attendees of the live presentation will receive a certificate confirming their attendance and the duration of the webinar. Those who are unable to attend the webinar live may submit their receipt as proof of having received the recording.
Pre-webinar materials: Exercises will precede the webinars to give the registrants an opportunity to engage with the different stops (aka punctuation marks) and either improve their use in sentences or correct their misuse.
Please send aspects of these punctuation marks you need to have covered/explained during the webinars or which you find problematic. Email them to [email protected] before the webinars.
Recording and PowerPoint slides: Everyone who registers for a webinar will receive a recording of the event and copies of the PowerPoint slides (if applicable) afterwards.
About our facilitator
John Linnegar has been a teacher and trainer, and a setter of more tests and examinations than he cares to remember, during a career spanning 40+ years. He has also acted as an external marker and moderator for examinations set by the Western Cape Department of Education and national examinations. He has been a copy-editor and proofreader for some time now, specialising in school and academic textbooks, non-fiction works and, more recently, journal articles, theses and dissertations, too. He researched and compiled PEG’s Accreditation Test curriculum, launched the first-ever PEG Accreditation Test in 2020, and has been a co-examiner of PEG’s first six Accreditation Tests and also one of the markers. John has also published several textbooks on aspects of English and copy-editing and proofreading.
Cost
Special offers on webinar combinations: PEG members
If you register and pay for all THREE webinars in advance in one transaction, you will qualify for a 20% discount of R177: you pay R708 instead of R885.
This discount applies only to PEG members and only to an early-bird registration for the webinar series.
| Early-Bird | Full registration | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| All three webinars1 | One webinar2 | One webinar3 | |
| PEG members | R708 | R295 | R380 |
| Members of affiliate organisations4 | R1 200 | R400 | R500 |
| Non-affiliated members | R1 500 | R500 | R600 |
1Early-bird registration fee: Before or on 10 November [Webinar series]
2Before 10 November [Webinar 1], before 18 November [Webinar 2], before 25 November [Webinar 3].
3Between 11 November and 15 November [Webinar 1], between 19 November and 23 November [Webinar 2], between 26 November and 6 December [Webinar 3].
4Professional Journalists’ Association of South Africa (ProJourn), Southern African Freelancers’ Association (SAFREA), South African Science Journalists’ Association (SASJA), the South African Translators’ Institute (SATI), Publishers’ Association of South Africa (PASA), Society of English-language professionals in the Netherlands (SENSE), Institute of Professional Editors Limited (IPEd), Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) and Nordic Editors and Translators (NEaT).
Take advantage of the early-bird specials: save money and secure your spot at this webinar by registering early!
Please register by completing and emailing the webinar administrator.
Deadlines for registrations: 10 November for the three-part special, 15 November for Webinar 1 alone, 23 November for Webinar 2 alone and 6 December for Webinar 3 alone.