Sentence grammar tutorial Sentence grammar tutorial Part 3 RE Sternglantz Note: no part of this may be reproduced or linked without the permission of the author.
This is the payoff episode, folks. Now that you know what makes a sentence and what doesn't, now that you know about phrases and clauses, we can talk about punctuation. Let's start with the easiest rule: a period goes at the end of a sentence. The second easiest punctuation mark to learn is the semi-colon. The *main* rule about semi-colons is very, very simple. You use a semi-colon in place of a PERIOD. In other words, the stuff on either side of the semi-colon must be able to stand on its own as a sentence. Put another way, you must have main clauses on both sides of the semi-colon. Don't think of a semi-colon as a very serious comma; think of it as a very mellow period. The other place that you can use a semi-colon is in place of a SERIAL COMMA for the sake of clarity if you've already used lots of commas within the individual elements. If you use it this way, you must be consistent--that is, you must use the semi-colon to replace *all* of the serial commas in that series. The waitress offered us fresh, crunchy spinach greens ; sweet, tiny, vividly orange baby carrots ; and a stir-fried mixture of young, tender spring peas and baby corn. There is one other use of the semi-colon. I am tempted to withhold this information because in your normal writing you will never have cause to come across it. Instead I'll tell you about it, but PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME without exercising great care. You can use a semi-colon to suggest parallel construction without actually repeating the verb. For example: Girls are fond of playing with dolls; boys, with trucks. In this case, "are fond of playing" is distributed to the second element. As I said, this is not a construction we often use. 
Back to practical punctuation. The punctuation mark that gives people the biggest headaches is the comma. Let's start with the easy thing--the serial comma. A serial comma is a comma that separates elements in a series. A series is a list of *at least three* items. The elements can be simple (e.g., single words) or they can be complex (phrases), and we separate them with commas. There is of course a question with even this simple rule. If you have a list of items, the last two items are joined by the word "and," and there is a difference of opinion as to whether or not there should be a comma before that "and." So, is it: apples, bananas, and pears or: apples, bananas and pears? The answer is: either one is fine, as long as you are consistent. The other use of the comma is to separate clauses. Here's the formula, with MC=main clause, SC=subordinate clause, CC=coordinating conjunction. MC , CC MC. I like ice-cream, but you like sorbet. SC , MC. If you build it, they will come. MC SC.-----> no comma needed!!! They will come if you build it. If you put a comma where you should have put a period or semi-colon, you've got a COMMA SPLICE. If you use *no* punctuation where you should have put a period or semi-colon, you've got a FUSED SENTENCE. And if you put a period where you should have put a comma (or no punctuation at all), you've got a SENTENCE FRAGMENT. Now, obviously there are other places where people use commas. People use commas to mark off parenthetical bits of information, and people use commas to mark off opening "filler" words (like "now" in the previous sentence). I can't write rules to cover every possibility, but I can give you some rules of thumb. *Make sure to use the commas that you need--the ones connected to coordinating conjunctions, serial commas, and commas following SC. *Avoid unnecessary commas. They litter your writing. * Commas marking off parenthetical bits of info come in PAIRS--one comma before the info and one after . * Never, ever, ever end up with a *single* comma between a verb and its subject. This ALWAYS signals a mistake. Let me give you an example of this: Jack, a very nice boy lives next door to my uncle. The verb is "lives"; the subject of the verb is "Jack." The phrase "a very nice boy" modifies "Jack" and should have a pair of commas around it, not just one after "Jack." This is pretty much it. As I told you at the start, it's really simple stuff as long as you know verbs and subjects. Learn these rules, and practice on your old papers. Proofread, folks! Polish! (These are all commands, by the way, with the implicit subject "you.") Best of luck, and if you have any questions you know where to find me. |
