The Dreaded Comma
The comma. The word by itself isn't terrifying in the least but when you try to remember when and where to put the darn thing it becomes an evil monster of epic proportions. There are the obvious situations where you know you need one. A reviewer I had said it best:
"Let's eat, Grandpa!" as opposed to "Let's eat Grandpa!"
In this situation the comma morphs from an evil monster to a savior of grandpa. Aside from this instance, and one's similar to it, the lines become blurred for me. There are times when I think I'm using too many commas and times when I feel there aren't enough. It's a never ending game of "guess where to use the comma". I guess maybe I should brush up on my comma rules, but even then I don't think I'll get it right.
What are your thoughts on this mysterious form of punc
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Thank you for your advice. It's very helpful. :)
I love this! I am going to post it on Facebook. What I hate is when the change rules! I prefer a comma before and in a series even if they change the rules on me!
P.S. I believe the rules are different in Great Britain. I know their quotation mark rules are really off from ours.
Thank you Barbara. :) Aron: I didn't know there were different rules for different countries. Interesting.
Here is a site you may want to use for reference.Punctuation Errors: American and British Quotation Marks
www.dailywritingtips.com/punctuation-......
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If you are writing in British English, on the other hand, punctuation that is not part ... Correct use of punctuation not only helps a reader to make sense of the text ...
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The old standard rule is wherever you need to take a breath put a comma. A sentence shouldn't be more than 28 words. In some instances rather than using the comma, stop and make another sentence. The semi-colon will be placed between two independent thoughts. If you find they aren't independent, consider the comma. Anyway that is a basic rule. I find commas more difficult than semi-colons.