Which Of The Following Sentences

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Last month I showed how to unstuff a sentence by removing unnecessary words. This month I'll offer a quick-and-dirty guide to punctuating a sentence. Goose egg that follows is meant to substitute for the nuanced explanations of what's usually called a writing handbook, the sort of volume that college students buy in a first-semester writing course. These five rules though have the virtue of existence manageable, which is difficult to say of a 1,000-folio book. In each paragraph that follows, the sentences illustrate the punctuation dominion involved. Note that I'm avoiding virtually all grammatical terminology. Instead, I'm emphasizing a modest number of sentence patterns.

Dominion one
If your judgement begins with an introductory element, put a comma after it. Even if information technology'due south a short element, put a comma later it. In time, you'll be putting this comma in without having to think most it.

Dominion ii
Any element which interrupts the movement of the sentence, whether it'south big or pocket-size, should be fix off with commas. This sentence, like the beginning, too has an element ready off with commas. An element that appears at the end of the sentence should likewise be set off with a comma, as I'g showing here.

Rule 3
Items in a series should be separated with commas. What practise I mean by "items in a series"? Wine, women, and song. Life, love, and laughter. Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.

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Rule 4
Complete sentences that are joined by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet) need a comma before the coordinating conjunction. That might seem obvious, but this comma oftentimes gets left out. Putting it in makes a judgement more readable, and any reader appreciates that.

Rule v
Complete sentences that are joined without a analogous conjunction demand a semi-colon instead of a comma; the semi-colon shows the terminate of ane sentence and the beginning of the next. Semi-colons are oft followed by a connecting word or phrase; however, a connecting word or phrase is not necessary. Sentences joined with only a comma are called comma splices; they're amid the most common errors that come up upward in college writing.

(Note: In the side by side-to-final sentence in the previous paragraph, at that place'south a comma after all the same because information technology'due south an introductory chemical element in the second sentence.)

Fixing comma splices requires familiarity with two recurring judgement patterns. The first involves a consummate judgement, a semi-colon, and some other complete sentence:

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[complete judgement]; [consummate sentence].

Some examples:

Your argument is persuasive; it addresses every objection I had.
His inquiry paper is plagiarized; he is going to neglect the class.
The novel is a relatively recent literary form; information technology's not nearly every bit old every bit epic verse and lyric verse.

The 2nd pattern to expect for involves a complete sentence, a semi-colon, a connecting give-and-take or phrase, a comma, and some other complete sentence:

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[complete judgement]; [give-and-take or phrase], [consummate sentence].

(Again, the comma later the connecting word or phrase is appropriate as that discussion or phrase is an introductory element in the second sentence.)

Some examples:

I decided not to take the job; instead, I'm going to graduate school.
The proposal is flawed; as a result, we're sending it back for revision.
She did well in the class; in fact, she did much meliorate than she had expected.

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How can you lot tell whether y'all have ii complete sentences or one sentence with an interrupting element at its end? With an interrupting element (something less than a judgement in itself), the parts of the sentence can exist switched and still make sense:

I'll go to piece of work, even though I'm sick.
Even though I'yard sick, I'll become to work.

Just with a 2d consummate sentence and a give-and-take or phrase such every bit instead, as a result, or in fact, the parts cannot exist switched and withal make sense.

Those are the nuts of punctuating sentences with commas and semi-colons. I know from working with many students that any author tin can become amend when information technology comes to punctuation. The cardinal is the ability to recognize a scattering of familiar patterns. Look for the patterns in your sentences, and y'all too can get better. With some practice, y'all'll exist able to see the parts of your sentences falling into place, and punctuating correctly will become, believe information technology or not, a habit, ane that you'll be happy to accept caused.

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Colons, by the manner, office every bit arrows or pointers: encounter what I mean?

Michael Leddy teaches higher English and blogs at Orange Crate Art.

Which Of The Following Sentences,

Source: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/how-to-punctuate-a-sentence.html

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