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

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In Part II of the exam, answer questions A and B, or C.<br />

PUNCTUATION<br />

It may also sometimes be beneficial <strong>to</strong> break up a clause that is<br />

long or complex, even if not ambiguous. Skilled writers have a feel<br />

for when a comma would be a good idea, even when it isn't required<br />

according <strong>to</strong> the strict rules. Basically, you should consider putting<br />

a comma within a clause any time you sense that doing so would<br />

make the sentence easier for readers <strong>to</strong> follow.<br />

Exceptions aside, if commas aren't normally used within clauses,<br />

where do they go?<br />

First, the no-comma rule applies only when there are no more<br />

than two parts <strong>to</strong> a compound subject or two subunits of any part<br />

of the predicate. Commas are needed within a clause whenever<br />

there are three or more such parts, or two or more adjectives in<br />

front of a noun. This is described in "Separating Elements in a<br />

Series" on page 79. Second, commas are needed within a clause if<br />

it contains any embedded parenthetical text. This is described in<br />

"Setting Off Parenthetical Elements" on page 71. Third, commas<br />

are used <strong>to</strong> separate clauses from each other and <strong>to</strong> separate clauses<br />

from other elements in the sentence. <strong>The</strong>se scenarios are described<br />

in the next section.<br />

SEPARATING THE MAIN ELEMENTS<br />

OF A SENTENCE<br />

What's the difference between the following two sentences?<br />

<strong>The</strong>y settled only the budget issues, and work schedules and technical<br />

matters had <strong>to</strong> be tabled until the next meeting.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y settled only the budget issues and work schedules, and technical<br />

matters had <strong>to</strong> be tabled until the next meeting.<br />

In case A, only the budget was settled; work schedules and technical<br />

matters had <strong>to</strong> be tabled. In case B, the budget and work schedules<br />

were settled, and technical matters had <strong>to</strong> be tabled.<br />

When sentences contain multiple chunks of information, the boundaries<br />

between these chunks must be clear. Commas clarify precisely<br />

where one unit ends and the next begins. <strong>The</strong> syntax-the order in<br />

which the words appear-is not always a sufficient cue, because the<br />

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