"Roundheads and Ramblings"
using commas
Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2012 10:19 AM
Since lots of people are talking about Oxford commas and other crazy comma rules, here's a borrowed test of your ability to "hear" the commas. Be sure to read each example out loud before you answer.
A Comma Quiz, by Mark Nichol
Do
the following sentences require an additional comma (or perhaps two),
the omission of an existing one (or two), or both? Answers and
explanations follow.
1. The word breakfast literally means to break the fasting period of your night’s sleep, so you can refuel for the day.
2. The first scene takes place in a dimly lit, tactical command center on an aircraft carrier.
3. The finishing stage is a series of asphalt “ski jumps,” only the “skiers” are skiing the wrong way.
4. One of their biggest challenges was coming up with a story that would resonate on a deep, emotional level.
5. Another English writer named Richard Browne used scientific reasoning to confirm the theory.
6.
Among slaves, other popular instruments included drums made from
hollowed logs covered with animal hides or kitchen pots and pans.
7.
They continued to run the establishment, and took great pride in the
accomplishments of their sons who kept in regular contact.
8. The storm inspired the title of Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God.
9.
As slaves were moved around, they encountered other tribes and dance
forms such as the Calenda gained widespread intertribal appeal.
10.
“Newspapers and polling organizations predicted that Republican
candidate, Thomas E. Dewey, would be America’s next president.”
Answers and Explanations:
1.
Delete. Inclusion of the comma in this sentence incorrectly implies
that thanks to the meaning of the word breakfast, you can refuel for the
day.
2. Delete. The reference is not to a command
center that is dimly lit and tactical; it’s to a tactical command center
that is dimly lit. (Don’t let technical jargon deter you from making
sense of a compound noun.)
3. Both. Only here is not a
qualifier that suggests “the ‘skiers’ and nobody else”; it’s a synonym
for however, so punctuate as you would were that word used instead.
Also, the first comma should be not just deleted but also replaced by an
em dash that sets off the unusual circumstance described in the final
phrase. (References to skiing are enclosed in scare quotes because the
participants are not actually skiers but are engaging in an analogous
activity.)
4. Delete. As with sentence #2, the
appositive structure is confused. The reference is to an emotional level
that is deep, not a level that is deep and emotional, so deep and
emotional are noncoordinate adjectives and therefore require no
intervening comma.
5. Add. Unless a previous sentence
referenced a different English writer by that name, the phrase “named
Richard Browne” should be set off by two commas to demonstrate that it’s
an appositive to “another English writer” and is therefore
parenthetical. (In other words, it’s nonessential; the sentence would
make sense without it.)
6. Add. The drums were not made
from logs covered with hides or with kitchenware; they could be
hide-covered logs, or they could be pots and pans. That fact needs to be
clarified with a comma following hides, plus a second from, inserted
before kitchen to complete the parallel structure.
7.
Both. The comma is neither necessary nor incorrect, but if it’s
retained, a second they, after and, would smooth the sentence somewhat.
But the definite error is this: Unless there are two groups of progeny —
sons who kept in regular contact, and sons who didn’t, an appositive
comma must be added after sons.
8. Delete. A quick
online search will inform you that Hurston wrote more than one novel, so
the nonrestrictive comma, which incorrectly implies that she published
just one novel, should be jettisoned.
9. Add. The lack
of a comma after tribes suggests that the slaves encountered other
tribes and other dance forms, but then another verb crops up after that
and creates a cognitive logjam. What the sentence means is that slaves’
encounters with slaves from other tribes led to increased exposure to
new dance forms. The inserted comma will clarify that a new clause
begins with and.
10. Delete. This error of apposition
is one of the most annoying, relentlessly viral mistakes in English
today. (Think of it this way: A comma implies a pause. Does the reader
pause at all, much less twice, during this sentence?) Evidently, the
misunderstanding stems from a confusion with the appositive structure of
the phrase form exemplified in “Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican
candidate.” The sentence would be correct if the were inserted
before the epithet “Republican candidate,” but it is alternatively
rendered proper by the omission of the two commas. The appropriate
correction depends on the context (that is, whether a previous reference
to a Republican candidate has been made).
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Posted on Friday, March 9, 2012 8:24 AM
Do rules about how to use commas
make you turn purple? No wonder! Let’s see if we can make them easier. Commas are a relatively recent
invention. When the Romans first started writing things down, they didn’t have
punctuation marks. They didn’t have spaces for that matter, or lower case
letters.
SOALLTHEIRWRITINGLOOKEDLIKETHISOBVIOUSLYTHATWASAPROBLEMFORTHEPOORGUYWHOHADTOREADIT
Just as spaces showed a reader when
one word stopped and another started, so commas told a reader when to pause and
take a breath. They were especially welcome when sentences grew longer than “Me
hungry. Kill deer.”
Try reading this sentence out loud:
“At the grocery we bought the following items: peas and carrots and macaroni
and cheese and chicken and dumplings.”
Obviously you need to replace some
of the "and"s with commas, but which ones? That will depend on how many separate
items appeared on the cash register tape. Did you buy peas, carrots, a box of
dry macaroni, a package of cheese, a whole chicken, and some frozen dumplings
for a total of six items? Or did you buy three: peas and carrots, macaroni and
cheese, and chicken and dumplings? Read the two versions aloud and listen for
the differences.
Other comma rules apply to things
like appositives, direct address, and restrictive versus nonrestrictive
clauses. You won’t need such esoteric terms if you apply the pause rule.
Consider this scenario. A fire occurred in the middle of the night at a rooming
house where several men were living. Deaths resulted. How many died?
“The men who were asleep died in
the fire.” (The sleepers died. The poker-players did not.) “The men, who were
asleep, died in the fire.” (They were all asleep and they all died.)
Listen for the pauses. Add commas.
As an aside, academics sometimes
argue over what is called the Oxford comma. That’s the one that appears before
the final “and” in a series. When I read a series of terms (like pens,
notebooks, pencils, and erasers), I hear a pause after pencils, and I always
use the Oxford comma. In other words, I follow my own rule about hearing
commas. You may, however, encounter an editor who thinks that extra comma is
not only unnecessary but adds an extra expense—one likely to drag the publisher
into instant bankruptcy. She will tell you that a comma takes the place of a
conjunction, so you never need both. My advice? Don’t waste your breath on an
argument in which both sides are right. Gracefully bow out, taking your Oxford
commas with you. (Because editors always win.)
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Posted on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 8:35 AM
. . ., here's a borrowed test of your ability to "hear" the commas. Be sure to read each example out loud before you answer.
A Comma Quiz, by Mark Nichol
Do the following sentences require an additional comma (or perhaps two), the omission of an existing one (or two), or both? Answers and explanations follow.
1. The word breakfast literally means to break the fasting period of your night’s sleep, so you can refuel for the day.
2. The first scene takes place in a dimly lit, tactical command center on an aircraft carrier.
3. The finishing stage is a series of asphalt “ski jumps,” only the “skiers” are skiing the wrong way.
4. One of their biggest challenges was coming up with a story that would resonate on a deep, emotional level.
5. Another English writer named Richard Browne used scientific reasoning to confirm the theory.
6. Among slaves, other popular instruments included drums made from hollowed logs covered with animal hides or kitchen pots and pans.
7. They continued to run the establishment, and took great pride in the accomplishments of their sons who kept in regular contact.
8. The storm inspired the title of Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God.
9. As slaves were moved around, they encountered other tribes and dance forms such as the Calenda gained widespread intertribal appeal.
10. “Newspapers and polling organizations predicted that Republican candidate, Thomas E. Dewey, would be America’s next president.”
Answers and Explanations:
1. Delete. Inclusion of the comma in this sentence incorrectly implies that thanks to the meaning of the word breakfast, you can refuel for the day.
2. Delete. The reference is not to a command center that is dimly lit and tactical; it’s to a tactical command center that is dimly lit. (Don’t let technical jargon deter you from making sense of a compound noun.)
3. Both. Only here is not a qualifier that suggests “the ‘skiers’ and nobody else”; it’s a synonym for however, so punctuate as you would were that word used instead. Also, the first comma should be not just deleted but also replaced by an em dash that sets off the unusual circumstance described in the final phrase. (References to skiing are enclosed in scare quotes because the participants are not actually skiers but are engaging in an analogous activity.)
4. Delete. As with sentence #2, the appositive structure is confused. The reference is to an emotional level that is deep, not a level that is deep and emotional, so deep and emotional are noncoordinate adjectives and therefore require no intervening comma.
5. Add. Unless a previous sentence referenced a different English writer by that name, the phrase “named Richard Browne” should be set off by two commas to demonstrate that it’s an appositive to “another English writer” and is therefore parenthetical. (In other words, it’s nonessential; the sentence would make sense without it.)
6. Add. The drums were not made from logs covered with hides or with kitchenware; they could be hide-covered logs, or they could be pots and pans. That fact needs to be clarified with a comma following hides, plus a second from, inserted before kitchen to complete the parallel structure.
7. Both. The comma is neither necessary nor incorrect, but if it’s retained, a second they, after and, would smooth the sentence somewhat. But the definite error is this: Unless there are two groups of progeny — sons who kept in regular contact, and sons who didn’t, an appositive comma must be added after sons.
8. Delete. A quick online search will inform you that Hurston wrote more than one novel, so the nonrestrictive comma, which incorrectly implies that she published just one novel, should be jettisoned.
9. Add. The lack of a comma after tribes suggests that the slaves encountered other tribes and other dance forms, but then another verb crops up after that and creates a cognitive logjam. What the sentence means is that slaves’ encounters with slaves from other tribes led to increased exposure to new dance forms. The inserted comma will clarify that a new clause begins with and.
10. Delete. This error of apposition is one of the most annoying, relentlessly viral mistakes in English today. (Think of it this way: A comma implies a pause. Does the reader pause at all, much less twice, during this sentence?) Evidently, the misunderstanding stems from a confusion with the appositive structure of the phrase form exemplified in “Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican candidate.” The sentence would be correct if the were inserted before the epithet “Republican candidate,” but it is alternatively rendered proper by the omission of the two commas. The appropriate correction depends on the context (that is, whether a previous reference to a Republican candidate has been made).
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Posted on Monday, August 1, 2011 10:05 AM
Have you ever really tried to understand a grammar book? Most sound like
this:
“Commas
are punctuation marks with a variety of different uses. They primarily deal
with helping the reader identify grammatical relationships between items in a
sentence, and are often instrumental in establishing the flow of a sentence.
Both commas and semicolons can link independent clauses together, but they're
used in different ways. When you use a comma to link two independent clauses
together, you also need to use a coordinating conjunction such as
"and." The relationship between the two clauses changes slightly
based on which coordinating conjunction you use. A semicolon can also link
independent clauses, but does not require a coordinating conjunction.”
Do rules about how to use commas make you turn purple? No wonder! Let’s see if we can make them
easier.
Commas are a relatively recent
invention. When the Romans first started
writing things down, they didn’t have punctuation marks. They didn’t have spaces for that matter, or
lower case letters.
SOALLTHEIRWRITINGLOOKEDLIKETHISOBVIOUSLYTHATWASAPROBLEMFORTHEPOORGUYWHOHADTOREADIT
Just as spaces showed a reader when one word stopped and
another started, so commas told a reader when to breathe. They were especially
welcome when sentences grew longer than “Me hungry. Kill deer.”
Try reading
this sentence out loud: “At the grocery we
bought the following items: peas and carrots and macaroni and cheese and
chicken and dumplings.”
Obviously you need to
replace some of the ands with commas, but which ones?
That will depend on how many separate items appeared on the
cash register tape. Did you buy peas, carrots, a box of dry macaroni, a package of cheese, a
whole chicken, and some frozen dumplings for a total of six items? Or did you
just buy three: a package of mixed peas and carrots, a container of macaroni
and cheese, and a can of chicken and dumplings? Read the two versions aloud and listen for the differences.
Other comma rules apply to things like appositives, direct address, and
restrictive versus nonrestrictive clauses.
You won’t need such esoteric terms if you apply the pause rule. Consider this scenario. A fire occurred in the middle of the night at
a rooming house where several men were living. Deaths resulted. How many died?
“The men who were asleep died in the fire.” (The sleepers
died while the poker-players did not.)
“The men, who were asleep, died in the fire.” (They were all
asleep and they all died.)
Listen for the pauses.
Add commas.
As an aside, academics sometimes argue over what is called the Oxford
comma. That’s the one that appears
before the final “and” in a series. When
I read a series of terms (like pens, notebooks, pencils, and erasers), I hear a
pause after pencils, so I always use the Oxford comma. In other words, I follow my own rule about hearing
commas. You may, however, encounter an
editor who thinks that extra comma is not only unnecessary but adds an extra
expense likely to drag the publisher into instant bankruptcy. She will tell you that a comma takes the
place of an “and”, so you never need both.
My advice? Don’t waste your
breath on an argument in which both sides are right. Gracefully bow out, taking your Oxford commas
with you. (Because editors always win.)
RULE: A NATURAL PAUSE INDICATES A COMMA.
Tomorrow I’ll have a quiz for you, so that you can test
yourself.
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