Grammatically Correct: The writer's essential guide to punctuation ...

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PUNCTUATION The commas in the following examples are incorrect, and should be removed. DON'T SPLIT THE SUBJECT AND PREDICATE Rodney and his brother, were the worst female impersonators we'd ever seen. DON'T SPLIT THE SUBJECT AND PREDICATE, EVEN IF THE PREDICATE COMES FIRST Discreetly nestled in the tissue paper, was a small plaster bust of Elvis. DON'T SPLIT THE VERB PART OF THE PREDICATE FROM THE REST What he likes best about the condominium is, its no-frogs policy. DON'T SPLIT A COMPOUND SUBJECT The desire to succeed, and the ability to do so are not the same thing. DON'T SPLIT THE TWO ACTIONS IN THE PREDICATE Lily stomped down to her dungeon, and slammed the door. DON'T SPLIT THE TWO DESCRIPTIONS IN THE PREDICATE The meeting was brief, and to the point. DON'T SPLIT THE TWO ENTITIES AFFECTED BY THE ACTION Dudley planned to study astrophysics, and numerology. DON'T SPLIT THE TWO RECIPIENTS OF THE ACTION She lent her sister, and brother-in-law two thousand dollars. Exceptions Do put a comma within a clause if ambiguity would result without it. Consider the following sentences: The instructor gave out a sheet that described his course and explained how the grading would be done. She complained that he'd made a mess and stormed out in a snit. 61
GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT It was a shock to everyone when the consultant was arrested and the whole venture fell apart. In Part II of the exam, answer questions A and B or C. In the first example, did the instructor give out a sheet and explain the grading-or did he give out a sheet that contained a description of the course and an explanation of the grading? It isn't clear whether the action of explaining gets attributed to the instructor or to the sheet. This sentence would be clarified by adding a comma either between the two actions performed by the instructor or between the action of the instructor and the details of what the sheet contained. The instructor gave out a sheet that described his course, and explained how the grading would be done. The instructor gave out a sheet, which described his course and explained how the grading would be done. In the second example, does the final action connect with she or with complained that he'd? If the first scenario is intended (she stormed out in a snit), a comma should be added, even though it would break up two actions performed by the subject. If the second scenario is intended (she complained that he'd stormed out in a snit), this would be clarified by adding had to the last verb. She complained that he'd made a mess, and stormed out in a snit. She complained that he'd made a mess and had stormed out in a snit. In the third example, were people shocked by the arrest, and the venture subsequently fell apart-or were they shocked by both the arrest and the loss of the venture? A comma would clarify the first scenario; changing the form of the verbs would clarify the second. It was a shock to everyone when the consultant was arrested, and the whole venture fell apart. It was a shock to everyone to learn that the consultant had been arrested and that the whole venture had fallen apart. In the fourth example, is everyone expected to answer question A, and then choose between B and C? Or is the choice between answering both A and B, or C alone? 62 In Part II of the exam, answer questions A, and B or C.
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The WRITER'S ESSENTIAL GUIDE to pun
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C R E D T S American Psychological
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The En Dash 162 2-Em and 3-Em Dashe
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Readers may wish to know when to sa
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P A R T 0 N E Spelling In this age
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Misspellings COMMONLY :MISPELLED WO
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SPELLING Haemorrhage and manoeuvre
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SPELLING may spell these words the
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SPELLING Did you spot the errors in
Page 20 and 21: The car comes with duel airbags. Th
Page 22 and 23: SPELLING it doesn't, the ending wil
Page 24 and 25: SPELLING Philbert knew he would hav
Page 26 and 27: SPELLING effect these might have on
Page 28 and 29: SPELLING EIAE, OE For words origina
Page 30 and 31: SPELLING alternate spellings is the
Page 32 and 33: Hyphenation I worked with [William
Page 34 and 35: a dead on guess/a dead pan manner d
Page 36 and 37: SPELLING If one part of a compound
Page 38 and 39: SPELLING tively) unique constructio
Page 40 and 41: SPELLING With a fraction that inclu
Page 42 and 43: Frequently Misused Words Homonyms (
Page 44 and 45: PROBLEM WORDS common usages for eac
Page 46 and 47: PROBLEM WORDS Parents are assured t
Page 48 and 49: PROBLEM WORDS things that make a re
Page 50 and 51: PROBLEM WORDS fairness, some words
Page 52 and 53: ight of way passerby rights of way
Page 54 and 55: SOME WORDS OF ITALIAN ORIGIN THAT E
Page 56 and 57: PROBLEM WORDS HEBREW WORDS ADD IM (
Page 58 and 59: COUNTER- DE- DIS- DYS- E- Opposite
Page 60 and 61: PROBLEM WORDS construction (uncommu
Page 62 and 63: P A R T T H R E E Punctuation The w
Page 64 and 65: Basic Sentence Structure In order t
Page 66 and 67: The storekeeper/looked at the money
Page 68 and 69: SENTENCE FRAGl\1ENT PUNCTUATION A s
Page 72 and 73: In Part II of the exam, answer ques
Page 74 and 75: PUNCTUATION Exception If both the i
Page 76 and 77: PUNCTUATION If no comma appeared af
Page 78 and 79: PUNCTUATION She waited impatiently
Page 80 and 81: PUNCTUATION SETTING OFF PARENTHETIC
Page 82 and 83: PUNCTUATION Exception If a parenthe
Page 84 and 85: PUNCTUATION Zelda apparently has on
Page 86 and 87: For example, compare the following
Page 88 and 89: PUNCTUATION Ensure that the power s
Page 90 and 91: PUNCTUATION The panel consisted of
Page 92 and 93: She wore a pale green dress. [pale
Page 94 and 95: PUNCTUATION Do not set a quoted ele
Page 96 and 97: Semicolon (;) It was her prose that
Page 98 and 99: PUNCTUATION Put semicolons between
Page 100 and 101: PUNCTUATION USE SEMICOLONS IF COMMA
Page 102 and 103: PUNCTUATION this disk; and the revi
Page 104 and 105: PUNCTUATION intentions, but on its
Page 106 and 107: Colon(:) The colon acts as a signal
Page 108 and 109: PUNCTUATION Only one thing would sa
Page 110 and 111: PUNCTUATION reconcile the last sent
Page 112 and 113: PUNCTUATION Aside from the impact o
Page 114 and 115: PUNCTUATION • With regard to capi
Page 116 and 117: DON)T INCLUDE A PERIOD FORA GRAMMAT
Page 118 and 119: PUNCTUATION If you are not obliged
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PUNCTUATION GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES Opti
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Here are the topics that will be co
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PUNCTUATION Of course St John River
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PUNCTUATION Muriel said, "Once I wa
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INDICATING UNCERTAINTY PUNCTUATION
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'Are you guilty?' said Winston. PUN
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DRAWING ATTENTION TO A POINT PUNCTU
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Hyphen(-) This section looks at the
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No a-do i-vy i-dea tax-i a-bout e-n
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Consider the following sets of word
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PUNCTUATION This sentence is fine i
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PUNCTUATION DO NOT USE A HYPHEN WHE
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The salesman was fast-talking. The
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PUNCTUATION 'So he is, to be sure,'
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Slash(/) The slash (also known as t
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PUNCTUATION The tent offers suitabl
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PUNCTUATION Dalgliesh said: " 'Now
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• Working in digressions • Maki
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PUNCTUATION if you ask me, but that
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PUNCTUATION BETTER: A validity coef
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PUNCTUATION • It is permissible t
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Dashes Dashes come in several sizes
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PUNCTUATION Several of the neighbor
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PUNCTUATION but I am sure that you
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And when I found the door was shut,
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"How was I supposed to-" she sputte
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PUNCTUATION the discussions of the
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PUNCTUATION a quote. Another use is
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PUNCTUATION or editorial comment, i
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PUNCTUATION words italics mine, ita
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PUNCTUATION By Mrs Hurst and Miss B
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"Aces drawn after a deuce are high?
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PUNCTUATION 'Oh, but I think,' said
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PUNCTUATION it would look as if the
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it in quotation marks to alert the
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PUNCTUATION 6s and the closing ones
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PUNCTUATION Perhaps it would be bet
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ORIGINAL QuoTATION: Dear Theo, PUNC
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PUNCTUATION 'No, dear. Not Homer, t
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PUNCTUATION came to his room, inser
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Apostrophe(') The apostrophe often
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PUNCTUATION In other cases, the con
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the people's choice the alumni's lo
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Achilles' heel Euripides' plays Gra
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\ PUNCTUATION of the term itself. W
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P A R T F 0 U R Grammar The very me
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Agreement Between Subject and Verb
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Problem Category 1: The Subject, th
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GRAMMAR but that would slightly alt
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Pat, like the others, was determine
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DISTRACTING PREDICATE NOUNS GRAMMAR
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the components are included my cous
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Headquarters~ waiting for an answer
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GRAMMAR A generation ago, no one in
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GRAMMAR realize that there is more
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GRAMMAR that constitute a multimedi
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Achieving Parallel Structure The ve
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GRAMMAR The bankruptcy proceedings
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GRAMMAR It may be necessary to eith
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GRAMMAR action will follow; for exa
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GRAMMAR Rebecca seizing life with h
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GRAMMAR Dangling modifiers occur wh
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GRAMMAR The suspect's condition was
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The following sentences contain squ
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GRAMMAR that represents the entity
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GRAMMAR should be obvious that you
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GRAMMAR 4. Old King Cole was a merr
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GRAMMAR WHEN DO YOU USE WHO AND WHE
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GRAMMAR of spider; hence, it is not
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GRAMMAR • Its is the possessive o
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GRAMMAR Although the termjree-jorma
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AGREEMENT BETWEEN PRONOUN AND ANTEC
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GRAMMAR • Collective nouns are th
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GRAMMAR person plural. Many readers
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Bugbears and Betes Noires: Some Gra
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GRAMMAR Virtually every modern styl
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GRAMMAR Overdoing this type of sent
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P A R Y F I V E Style A sentence or
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Ann's Conscience, which up till thi
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STYLE • Question marks and exclam
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STYLE In some cases, if a person or
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STYLE with a consonant sound, prece
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ALLCAPSANDSMALLCAPS STYLE If your w
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Italics Italic type serves to make
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Come the crucial seventh, the Filmm
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use, to take them down into the mar
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STYLE all. If you are expected to u
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STYLE woman with a pretty figure ..
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STYLE PASSIVE: The letter received
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STYLE car is traded in every jour y
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STYLE not unintentionally distract
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STYLE BETIER: The following are sug
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STYLE Would any writer describe a p
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STYLE Many modern readers would not
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STYLE The clinician can play an imp
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STYLE Obviously you cannot use this
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Writing With Finesse BEN . ... But
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STYLE ensure randorrmess), and calc
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inwardleaning heads, smoking steadi
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STYLE behind altering them can be d
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STYLE of these types of help while
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STYLE First paragraph: Introductory
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STYLE all situations. Therefore, re
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STYLE tation. Although it is prefer
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STYLE the accent phonetically at al
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During my first tournament, my moth
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STYLE jump out at you: illogical co
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sentence with, 262-263; subordinati
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ending in y, 43-44, 197, 199-200; o
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