TheThread In Which I Ask A Question About The Comma.

Is the comma placed before or after the conjunction? Why and/or why not?

Or apostrophe?

but
and
or

duh! It's time to go home! My brain is in mush. Conjuntions... not contractions!!! Doh!

Before.

My boss is a professional writer of more than 30 years. Very old school. Comma before 'and' every time.

I have this great Greg Reference Manual... for days like this when my brain won't function, and I'm searching for the correct spelling of 'my' and can't for the life of me understand where the punctuation goes:)

".....,and......"

One of my pet peeves is spacing errors. Two spaces after a period, one after a comma.

I do see it all the time... but my agency is very old school and it just isn't allowed. I have MS Word set at the most stringent of grammar and punctuation settings... which includes two spaces after a period. The only variance on "old school" that is allowed, is with ellipsis. We can use space ... space or no space... space.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkO87mkgcNo


:hi:

lost

,but

but,

,and

and,

,or

or,


to join clauses and phrases. Do I even need the comma?

have a complete sentence, then you have the commas in the right place. If you would pause before you say the phrase, you need a comma.

For example:

We went fishing, but, because it was raining, we didn't catch anything.
(We went fishing, but we didn't catch anything.)

We want to go fishing or, if it's raining, maybe go to a movie.
(We want to go fishing or maybe go to a movie.)

We want to go fishing and, if we have time, maybe go to a movie.
(We want to go fishing and maybe go to a movie.)

Does this help?

(If not, it's okay--I'd make a lousy English teacher.)

my son's favorite video this past summer

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Come on, people. Think.

Was this a stupid question?

I always want to place it after:shrug:

think that is why I have this problem.

:rofl:

There are rules for commas with academic abbreviations; with additional considerations; in addresses; with adjectives; with adverbs; with afterthoughts; with ampersands; with appositive; with 'as well as' and similar phrases; with balancing expressions; with business connections; with city-state expressions; for clarity; with clauses dependent and independent; using a colon in place of; after complimentary closings; in compound-complex sentences; with compound predicates; in compound sentences; with contrasting expressions; with coordinating conjunctions; using a dash in place of; with dates; with descriptive expressions; with direct address; in email salutation; for emphasis; with essential expressions; with exclamations; with explanatory expressions, with geographic references; with 'however'; with identifying expressions, with interrupting elements; after introductory elements; with measurements; with company names; with inverted personal; with personal names; with nonessential expressions; in numbers; with parentheses; with phrases; with questions within sentences; with quotation marks; with salutations; in series; in simple sentences; for special emphasis... then there are rules for comma splice...

:mad:

Me talk pretty one day.

and it shows....
:sarcasm:






But I like it like that......

;)

You Rebel :evilgrin:

I was told that in school as well. I don't know if the rule changed, because many have, but if you look it up in Strunk & White, or the Gregg Reference Manual, you will find all sorts of rules about commas. None of which are a pause in speaking.

I proof-read articles for publication, and although I don't know it all by any stretch of the imagination, I do know where to find the answers.

I should have included the :sarcasm: smilie. Wife is an English teacher. Son graduated Summa as an English major. Daughter scored a 35 on the English section of the ACT. Thought it was so silly as not to need it.

:hi:

for starters. :P

away the comma. Deal?

is actually correct.

I would never use the word "and" and a comma. it is redundant.

This "elevation of punctuation" as referred to in countless style books is most commonly used when placed in front of every 's' in a word, thereby warning reader's that an 's' is about to appear. This belies the subjunctive case and will allow the ablative to supercede the dangling modifier and reduce the heat of the meat.

For instance, the phrase "bill and terry":


I saw Bill and Terry on Friday.

Before we left the house, I paid my bill, and Terry washed his car.

Some of my favorite couples are Alice and Bob, Bill and Terry, and Susie and Lenore.

That duck has a huge bill, and, terry cloth wrapped around it notwithstanding, is breathing well.

Way to go, Bill and Terry!!"

I paid my bill and, Terry being outside, left the store.