Punctuation – Part 1

As a creative outlet, writing can really be a blast. There is deep satisfaction in weaving the words together to express the innermost workings of our heart and imagination. Words are fun. Punctuation? Well, it’s not for everyone.

Many writers would just as soon plead ignorance and leave the punctuation to the editors. But the fact is, punctuation can have just as much influence as the words on the meaning of a sentence, so we need to be just as diligent in refining our punctuation skills as we are in everything else. Case in point:

It’s time to eat, Jason.

It’s time to eat Jason.

Whether it is a simple period (.), question mark (?), exclamation point (!), comma (,), apostrophe (‘), hyphen (-), em dash (—), colon (:), semi-colon (;), or quotation mark (“), improper punctuation can mislead or distract the reader. In addition, publishers expect the manuscript to adhere to their style guide, which establishes the punctuation rules for their publishing house.

Journalists use The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook and most other writing in the United States follows The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS). These two style guides do handle punctuation differently in certain cases, so it’s important to familiarize yourself with the specific rules in your guide. This site follows the rules laid out in the CMOS.

Comma

Next to the period, the comma is the most frequently used mark in our writing. A comma is used to insert a pause into the sentence, to connect clauses, to separate dates, to connect phrases or items in a list, etc. This post will discuss some of the most common uses of the comma. Refer to the style guide for a comprehensive list of all the rules.

Connecting Independent Clauses: Independent clauses can stand alone as complete sentences; they are joined together by a comma with a conjunction.

EXAMPLE: Mary wrote a letter to her favorite author, and the author replied with a thank-you card.

Connecting a dependent clause to the start of an independent clause: Dependent clauses cannot stand alone; the comma joining the dependent clause to the independent clause does not use a conjunction.

EXAMPLE: After the publisher shared the testimonies of writers who tripled their income following basic marketing techniques, Mary was motivated to start her own newsletter.

Connecting a phrase to the start of an independent clause: An adjectival, adverbial, or participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence is followed by a comma.
NOTE: A participial phrase provides additional information about the subject at the time that the subject is performing the action described in the independent clause. So, the actions described in the participial phrase and independent clause must take place concurrently.

ADJECTIVAL PHRASE EXAMPLE: Blessed by Pastor Gregg’s sermon, Beth sent him a note thanking him for the message.

ADVERBIAL PHRASE EXAMPLE: After the conference, let’s practice what we’ve learned.

PARTICIPIAL PHRASE EXAMPLE: Breathing heavily, Mary crossed the finish line.
Incorrect usage: Turning on the ignition, Mary backed out of the driveway.
In this example, it is impossible to turn on the ignition and back out of the driveway at the same time, even in a “smart car.”

Compound Predicates: Commas are NOT used to separate parts of a compound predicate in a sentence. Compound predicates involve two or more verbs that have the same subject.

EXAMPLE: Kate took Gail to a writers’ conference in Tulsa and talked her into signing up for the next year as well.

Cities and States: Commas are used to separate the city and the state when locations are spelled out or when older forms of the state abbreviations are used. Newer two-letter abbreviations do not require a comma.

EXAMPLE: The University of Houston and Rice University are both in Houston, Texas. The University of Texas has campuses in Austin, Tex. as well as in Arlington and El Paso TX.

Dates: Dates include a comma only when the numerical date immediately precedes the numerical year.

EXAMPLE: On June 1, 2014, Sarah signed a new book contract.
EXAMPLE: On 6 October 1924, Clarice’s first poem was published.

Serial Commas: In a series of three or more elements, separate each element by a comma. When a conjunction joins the last two elements in a series, the comma precedes the conjunction.
NOTE: If any one of the list elements itself includes punctuation, the list elements must be separated by semi-colons instead.

EXAMPLE: Frank, Greg, and Ken argued over who would drive to the conference in Houston, Texas on August 1, 2015.

EXAMPLE: The three core subjects at school include reading, the comprehension of written text; writing, the inscription of characters on a page to express thoughts; and arithmetic, the manipulation of numbers to model natural systems.

This concludes our overview of commas. Stay tuned for Punctuation – Part 2 in which we will cover the proper usage of quotation marks.

Central Houston IWA!