019 Punctuation

Introductory verbal phrase
Married before he turned twenty, William Shakespeare faced the dual problems of family and
career at an early age.
Introductory appositive
A married man before he turned twenty, William Shakespeare faced the dual problems of
family and career at an early age.
Punctuating “extra” clauses and phrases
This rule deals with adjective and adverb clauses and phrases that contain extra information.
Punctuation Rule 3
Extra Adjective and Adverb Clauses and Phrases
Adjective and adverb clauses, verbal phrases, and appositives that contain extra information must be
separated from the rest of the sentence with commas.
Necessary and extra adjective verbal phrases were discussed at length in Chapter 14 (pages 170—171), and
adjective clauses were considered in Chapter 16 (pages 212—219). You may recall that extra adjective clauses or
verbal phrases can be removed from a sentence without changing its meaning. They provide information that may
be interesting and helpful but is not essential to the meaning of the sentence.
Extra adjective clause
Stanley, who was working in a factory at the time, wrote several short novels during the
early 1970s.
Extra verbal phrase
Stanley, working in a factory at the time, wrote several short novels during the early 1970s.
Appositives can also be identified as extra or necessary. Extra appositives are not essential to the meaning of the
sentence.
Extra appositive
Stanley, a factory worker at the time, wrote several short novels during the early 1970s.
Extra adverb clauses are usually introduced by tip-off words like.
Extra adverb clause
Stanley wrote several short novels during the early 1970s, although he was working in a
factory at the time.
Punctuating interrupters and lists
The next three rules deal with interrupters, lists, and coordinate adjectives.
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