Commas

1
Commas

• Use commas to separate items in a series.
• Ex There were books on the desk, posters on the
  walls, and clothing on the floor.
• Ex Dinner included a tossed salad, spaghetti and
  meatballs, garlic bread, and soda.

2
Commas

• Use a comma before a FANBOYS when they join two
  independent clauses.
• Ex We did not know whether to stay, for the
  weather forecast had predicted rain.
• Ex The police searched everywhere, but there
  were no fingerprints.

3
Commas

• Use commas to set off introductory elements.
• Introductory words such as well, yes, and why.
• Ex Well, what do you think?
• Ex Yes, you are welcome to join us.

4
Commas

• Use a comma after an introductory participial
  phrase and most other participial phrases (not
  gerund phrases).
• Ex Laughing like a child, he opened the present.
• Ex The linebacker, seeing his opening, sacked
  the quarterback.
• Ex Cleaning and painting my room was hard work.
  gerund

5
Commas

• Use a comma after introductory subordinate
  clauses.
• Ex When they finished eating dinner, they played
  basketball until dark.
• Use a comma after most introductory prepositional
  phrases.
• Ex After a lengthy discussion, we voted on the
  proposal.

6
Commas

• Words used in direct address are set off by
  commas.
• Ex Joe, please see me about your grade.
• Appositives and appositive phrases are set off by
  commas.
• Ex An interview with Florence Cohen, the noted
  landscape artist, will appear Sunday in The Sun,
  our local paper.

7
Commas

• Use commas to separate dates and addresses.
• Ex Hawaii achieved statehood on August 21, 1959,
  becoming the fiftieth state.

8
Commas

• Words used in direct address are set off by
  commas.
• Ex Joe, please see me about your grade.
• Appositives and appositive phrases are set off by
  commas.
• Ex An interview with Florence Cohen, the noted
  landscape artist, will appear Sunday in The Sun,
  our local paper.

9
Semicolon

• Use a semicolon between independent clauses not
  joined by a FANBOYS.
• Ex Read all the choices dont write the first
  answer that seems correct.
• Use a semicolon between independent clauses
  joined by words such as for example, moreover,
  nevertheless, therefore, however, etc (W660)
• Ex We saw no solution to the problem however,
  we refused to surrender.

10
Semicolon

• A semicolon may be needed between independent
  clauses joined by a coordinate conjunction
  (FANBOYS) when the clauses contain commas.
• Ex After we ate dinner, we played basketball
  until dark but we continued the game at a nearby
  rec center, the YMCA.

11
Semicolon

• Use a semicolon between items in a series if the
  items contain commas.
• Ex The winners in the election were John Smith,
  president Sue Jones, vice president and Steve
  Brown, treasurer.

12
Quotation Marks

• Use quotation marks to enclose a direct quote a
  persons exact words.
• Ex My dad said, My favorite actor is John
  Wayne.
• Ex Take care, he warned, that you dont spill
  anything.
• Ex He said, My favorite movie is The
  Godfather.
• Note commas and periods are always placed
  inside the closing quotations

13
Quotation Marks

• Question marks and exclamation points are placed
  inside the quotation marks if the quotation
  itself is a question or exclamation.
• Ex Is everyone present? asked the teacher.
• Ex Were you surprised when he said, You win?
  not win.?

14
Possessive Case

• Nouns that take apostrophes may be classified as
  either regular or irregular.

15
Possessive Case

• A regular, singular noun does not end with an s.
• To make it possessive, add an apostrophe s.
• Ex (boy) boys
• Ex (house) houses

16
Possessive Case

• A regular, plural noun ends in with an s.
• To form the possessive case, add only an
  apostrophe.
• Ex (boys) boys
• Ex (houses) houses

17
Possessive Case

• An irregular, singular nouns ends in s.
• The use of punctuation to create the possessive
  case depends on the words length.

18
Possessive Case

• An irregular, singular noun with one syllable,
  add apostrophe s.
• Ex (bus) buss
• In irregular, singular noun with two syllables,
  add apostrophe or apostrophe s. (either form is
  correct).
• Ex (Jesus) Jesus or Jesuss

19
Possessive Case

• An irregular, singular noun with three or more
  syllables, add only an apostrophe.
• Ex (hippopotamus) hippopotamus

20
Possessive Case

• An irregular, plural noun does not end in s.
• To form the possessive case, add an apostrophe s.
• Ex (children) childrens
• Ex (women) womens

21
Common writing errors

• Because every preposition requires an object,
  clauses should not end with a preposition.
• Ex I forget who I gave my book to. (incorrect)
• Ex I forget to whom I gave my book. (correct)

22
Common writing errors

• Misplaced modifiers place phrase and clause
  modifiers as near as possible to the words they
  modify.
• Ex I bought a new computer for our family, which
  gave everyone trouble. (confusing)
• Ex I bought our family a new computer, which
  gave everyone trouble. (clear)
• Ex We formed a dodge ball team composed of
  freshmen named The Gutter Balls. (???)

23
Common writing errors

• Dangling Modifiers
• A modifying phrase must clearly and sensibly
  modify a word in a sentence.
• When there is no word that the phrase or clause
  can sensibly modify, the modifier is said to
  dangle.

24
Common writing errors

• Ex Carrying a pile of heavy books, her foot
  caught on the step. her foot was carrying
  books?
• Ex Carrying a pile of heavy books, she caught
  her foot on the step.
• Ex While she was carrying a pile of heavy books,
  she caught her foot on the step.

25
Common writing errors

• Two-way Modifiers placing a modifier in such a
  way that it may be taken to modify two words.
• Ex Mark said during the meeting that Joe acted
  like a fool. does the phrase modify said or
  acted?
• Ex During the meeting, Mark said that Joe acted
  like a fool.
• Ex Mark said that Joe acted like a fool during
  the meeting.

26
Common writing errors

• Use of Correlative Conjunctions
• Correlative conjunctions must always be used in
  pairs.
• either or not only but also
• neither nor whether or
• both and

27
Common writing errors

• Ex Neither Jack nor Eric received parts in the
  play.
• Ex Not only was he late for school, but he also
  received a jug.
• Ex Both Dad and I gave blood at the Red Cross.