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©CapitalCommunityCollegeTheEnglishHouseofCommasThissetofslideswillillustratethemostcommonusesofoneofthemostcommonpunctuationmarks:Usetheinformationiconandhyperlinks(thiscolor)tolinktosourcesoffurtherinformationintheGuidetoGrammarandWriting.©CapitalCommunityCollegeUseacommatosetofftheelementsofaseries(threeormorethings),includingthelasttwo.MyfavoriteusesoftheInternetaresendinge-mail,surfingtheWeb,andusingchatrooms.Youmayhavelearnedthatthiscommaisnotnecessary.Sometimes,however,thelasttwoitemsinyourserieswillglomintooneifyoudon’tusetheso-calledserialcomma.TheEnglishHouseofCommas©CapitalCommunityCollegeUseacommaandacoordinatingconjunction(and,but,or,nor,for,yet,so)toseparatetwoindependentclauses.Thepublicseemseagerforsomekindofguncontrollegislation,butthecongressisobviouslytootimidtoenactanytrulyeffectivemeasures.Ifthetwoindependentclausesarebriefandnicelybalanced,thiscommamaybeomitted,butthecommaisalwayscorrect.Ourteamisverygoodbuttheirteamisbetter.TheEnglishHouseofCommas©CapitalCommunityCollegeUseacommatosetoffintroductoryelements.Anxiousabouttheupcomingwinter,settlersbegantobickeramongthemselvesaboutsupplies.Iftheintroductoryelementisbriefandthesentencecanbereadeasilywithoutthecomma,itcanbeomitted.In1649thesettlersabandonedtheirinitialoutpost.TheEnglishHouseofCommasInthewinterof1644,nearlyhalfthesettlersdiedofstarvationorexposure.©CapitalCommunityCollegeUseacommatoseparatecoordinateadjectives.Coachesgrewwearyofrunningpracticesinthedrafty,dreary,dilapidatedgymnasium.Ifyoucouldputabutoranandbetweentheadjectives,youshouldputacommabetweenthem.expensiveandmodern=expensive,modern....Butnot“alittleandoldhouse.”“Alittleoldhouse”wouldbecorrect.TheEnglishHouseofCommasThedesignsforanexpensive,moderngymshouldmakethemhappy.©CapitalCommunityCollegeUseacommatosetoffelementsthatexpressacontrastoraturninthesentence.Thehousewascute,buttooexpensiveforthenewlyweds.TheEnglishHouseofCommasTheywerelookingforsomethingpractical,notluxurious©CapitalCommunityCollegeUseacommatosetoffstatesandcountries,years(inafulldate),titles,etc.TheconferencewasoriginallysetforGeneva,Switzerland,butwasthenrescheduledforChicago,Illinois.TheEnglishHouseofCommasTheirweddingdatewassetforAugust5,2000,inthecollegechapelinNewton,Massachusetts.TashondaKlondike,ChairoftheWaysandMeansCommittee,submittedthecommittee’sfinalreport.©CapitalCommunityCollegeUseacommatosetoffquotedlanguage.Frost’spoem“FireandIce”beginswiththelines,“Somesaytheworldwillendinfire,/Somesayinice.”TheEnglishHouseofCommas“Firewhenready,Gridley,”theAdmiralsaid.“Wecan’tseeintothefuture,”saidthePresident,“butwehavetoprepareforitnonetheless.”©CapitalCommunityCollegeUseacommatosetoffparentheticalelements.Thisisthemostdifficultruleincommausage.Aparentheticalelementis“addedinformation,”somethingthatcanberemovedfromasentencewithoutchangingtheessentialmeaningofthatsentence.Decidingwhatis“addedinformation”andwhatisessentialissometimesdifficult.Seethenextslide.TheEnglishHouseofCommas©CapitalCommunityCollegeParentheticalelements:RobertFrost,perhapsAmerica’smostbelovedpoet,diedwhenhewas88.TheEnglishHouseofCommasFrankly,itdoesn’tseemtomatter.Whenanappositivephrasecanberemovedfromasentencewithoutchangingitsmeaningormakingitambiguous:Anabsolutephraseistreatedasaparentheticalelement:Anaddressedperson’s(orpeople’s)nameisalwaysparenthetical:Iamwarningyou,goodcitizensofHartford,thisvoteiscrucialtothefutureofourcity.©CapitalCommunityCollegeOnemoreparentheticalelement:Excuseme,butthereare,ofcourse,manypointsofviewthatwemustconsiderbeforevoting.TheEnglishHouseofCommasAninterjectionistreatedasaparentheticalelement:©CapitalCommunityCollegeOnelastrule:Don’tover-usecommas!Whenacommaisneeded,useit;otherwise,dowithout.Reviewingtherulesofcommausagewillhelpyouunderstandthewaysentencesarebuilt—andthat,ultimately,willhelpyoubecomeabetterwriter.TheEnglishHouseofCommas©CapitalCommunityCollegeThisPowerPointpresentationwascreatedbyCharlesDarling,PhDProfessorofEnglishandWebmasterCapitalCommunityCollegeHartford,ConnecticutcopyrightNovember1999