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Paul Sparks,
Sino-Canadian International College, Guangxi University, Online English Lesson Plans, Lesson Material and Ideas
for Semester 2 Reading Lessons...
Reviewing the rules of comma usage will help you understand the way
sentences are built up and that, ultimately, will help you understand what
you are reading.
Use a comma and a
coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so) to separate two
independent clauses.
Example: "The
public seems eager for some kind of gun control legislation, but the
congress is obviously too timid to enact any truly effective
measures."
If the two independent
clauses are brief and balanced, this comma can be omitted, but the comma
is always correct.
Example: "Our team
is very good but their team is better."
Use a comma to set off introductory elements.
Example: "Anxious
about the upcoming winter, settlers began to argue amongst themselves
about supplies."
Example: "In the
winter of 1644, nearly half the settlers died of starvation."
If the introductory
element is brief and the sentence can be read easily without the comma, it
can be omitted.
Example: "In 1649
the settlers abandoned their initial outpost."
Use a comma to separate
coordinate adjectives.
Example: "The
designs for an expensive, modern gym should make them happy."
If you could put a but
or an and between the adjectives, you should put a comma between them.
Example: expensive and
modern = expensive, modern
Use a comma to set off
elements that express a contrast or a turn in the sentence.
Example: "The house
was cute, but too expensive for the newlyweds."
Example: "They were
looking for something practical, not luxurious."
Use a comma to set off
states and countries, years (in a full date), titles, etc.
Example: "The
conference was originally set for Geneva, Switzerland, but was then
rescheduled for Chicago, Illinois."
Example: "Their
wedding date was set for August 5, 2000, in the college chapel in Newton,
Massachusetts."
Use a comma to set off
quoted language.
Example: Frost's poem
"Fire and Ice" begins with the lines, "Some say the world
will end in fire, / Some say in ice."
Example: "We can't
see into the future," said the President, "but we have to
prepare for it nonetheless."
Reviewing the rules of
comma usage will help you understand the way sentences are built up and
that, ultimately, will help you understand what you are reading.
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