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Jim
Roth’s Website COMMAS MADE EASY The COMMA is the most used and misused
punctuation mark in English, and all sorts of odd rules have been created by
writers to survive. One you may have heard is, “Use a comma where you would
pause or take a breath.” Unfortunately, this one will let you down. Here’s an example: Raoul, dripping with emotion, says to
Estelle: Oh, Estelle, I, love, you, so, much, that, my, socks, get,
tight, on, my, ankles. Raoul might pause and breathe deeply after
each word, but, in fact, only the commas after Oh and Estelle are
needed. Another problem with using commas is that
some of the present rules are "soft": in other words, it's up to
you, the writer, whether or not to use a comma or not. Here's an example: Rule: Use
a comma after a long introduction: After the Halloween dance, Estelle walked
Raoul home. OR After the Halloween dance Estelle walked
Raoul home. Either version is correct since “long
introduction” has never been defined. Is "long" three words, four,
five, six or more? No one will tell. The best general rule is this: Try your best to learn a few important rules, and when in doubt, leave the comma out. That's right; writers more often use too
many commas than too few. THE FEW IMPORTANT RULES 1.) When you join two independent clauses (two complete
sentences) with a fanboys (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so), put a comma before the fanboys. EXAMPLE: Bob cried when
Sue left him, but he realized
later he was better off without her. 1A.) You don't need a comma if the independent clauses are
joined by because, when, if, until,
or any other dependent word. Don't
confuse these words with fanboys. Fanboys connect; these other words
create dependence. EXAMPLE: Sue left Bob after their date because she realized he was too young. 1B.) Do NOT put a comma before “and” if
“and” joins only two words or
phrases. EXAMPLE: Bob bought
Estelle roses for her birthday and a coupon for a free pedicure. (The “and” is joining only two phrases, so no
comma is needed.) EXAMPLE: The students
studied the rules of writing and began to do better on their assignments. (The words that follow the “and” are not an
independent clause--there is no subject--so no comma is needed.) 2.) Use a comma to mark where the main clause begins after a long
introductory word group. EXAMPLE: When Greg fell into the vat of fertilizer, he realized he had taken a
wrong turn. (The main clause is he realized he had taken a wrong turn. When Greg fell into the vat of fertilizer looks important, but it
just tells when the main action occurred.) 3.) Use a comma between three or more items
in a series to show their equality. EXAMPLES Wilma bought eggs for the party, milk for her cat, cookie
dough for her children, and a bone for her dog. We invited Ted, Larry, Erica, and Danny. 4.) Use a comma between coordinate
adjectives not joined by and. Don't panic--coordinate adjectives are
easy to understand. An adjective usually describes a noun or name word and
coordinate means the describing words are equal so you can switch their
positions and the sentence still sounds O.K. EXAMPLE: Debbie was an independent, confident, talented woman. Note I can also write Debbie was a confident, independent, talented woman. OR Debbie was a talented, confident, independent woman. No matter the order, the sentence still
sounds O.K., so I use commas. 5.) Use a comma on both sides of a common word or word group that
interrupts the sentence. EXAMPLES: The unicorn, however, is a very strange animal. Jim, it seems to me, is a little off. Your car, by the way, is in the driveway. Note that a common word or word group (however, it seems to me, by the way)
can fit into most any sentence. That's how to test it to see if it gets
commas. Another way to remember to put a comma on
both sides of a common word or word group is to imagine the sentence is held
together by a strong spring. When you pry the sentence apart to insert the common
word or word group, a comma on both sides keeps the spring from snapping the
sentence together and crushing what you've inserted. 6.) Use commas to set off non-restrictive word groups, but don't
use commas to set off restrictive word groups. Sounds confusing? It
isn't--read on. A non-restrictive word group contains
extra information about something or someone already identified. A
restrictive word group contains essential information needed to identify
something or someone. EXAMPLE: NON-restrictive: My
friend Vinny, who is wearing the tuxedo, is getting married today. Note that we do not need the underlined
word group to identify (or restrict) who is getting married today since we
are told at the beginning of the sentence that it is Vinny. Therefore, the underlined information is
extra or non-restrictive information. RESTRICTIVE: The man who is wearing the tuxedo is getting married
today. Note that we do need the underlined word
group to identify which man is getting married. Therefore, it's essential or
restrictive. In other words, the reader needs the information to restrict all
possible men to one--the one wearing the green coat. So in this sense, the commas surround
extra, less important information. In the old days this kind of information
was called parenthetical because a writer typically would put it inside of
parentheses. Today we use commas for this. 7.) Appositives--weird word, huh? But the
meaning is simple: An appositive is a second name for something. If it's
nonrestrictive, use commas; if it’s restrictive, don't. Try these: EXAMPLE: Professor Armsted's’s first class, 8:30 Intro to Literature, meets in the
library. See why it's non-restrictive? Do I need
it to identify which of Tom's classes I'm writing about? But how about this: EXAMPLE: U2's song Vertigo is one of the best they’ve written. See why the appositive Vertigo is restrictive? Take it out of
the sentence and see what happens. 8.) Nouns in Direct Address Check this one out. If we're talking to
or addressing someone in a sentence, their name is (you guessed it!) a noun
in direct address: EXAMPLES: We'd
like to thank you, Jim, for teaching us commas. Note that we're talking to Jim
(addressing him). But if we write, “We'd like to thank Jim
for teaching us commas,” no commas are needed because we're now talking about
Jim, not to him. If we forget the commas, sometimes
misunderstandings arise: Wrong: I said I would leave after I eat Bob. (Cannibals may find this a
correct sentence.) Better: I said I would leave after I eat, Bob. 9.) Direct Quotations When you lead into a direct quotation
with an expression such as Ralph said
or Johnson replied, use a comma: EXAMPLES Ralph said, You really did eat Bob! Johnson replied, Why, yes, I’m cannibal and he was quite tasty. 10.) Dates, Addresses, Titles, Numbers EXAMPLES: My birthday was June 12, 1985, according to my mother. Zack Smith was born in Spokane, Washington, in 1970. See the man at 508 East Courtland, → If the title follows the person's name, use commas. If the
title comes before the person's name, don't. EXAMPLES: Bob Marcus, my new plumber, smokes pipes. My new plumber Bob Marcus smokes pipes. →
Punctuate numbers this way: EXAMPLES: 3,100 or 3100 23,500 101,232 1,334,444 32,000,009,998 11.) Use commas to prevent confusion: After washing the women ate lunch. (Needs a comma after washing) When he entered the door blew shut. (Needs a comma after entered) What we feared might happen happened. (Put one after happen)
If you can walk to the sink and get the sponge. (One after can) AND THAT'S ABOUT IT--REMEMBER, WHEN IN
DOUBT, LEAVE IT OUT! PRACTICE EXERCISES
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