[5 minutes to read] I am reading Benjamin Dreyer’s new book, Dreyer’s English. That’s what grammar geeks do in their spare time – read books by other grammar geeks. In his book, Dreyer clarifies a fine point about commas. Since it was new to me, I thought it might be new for you. Let’s do a […]
The “Only” Comma: Who Knew? Read More »
[4 minutes to read] How using the wrong punctuation can create confusion. “Can you schedule a meeting with me and Bob.”“Will you let me know when you find out.” “Could you send me one right away.” Have you seen sentences like these before? What do you notice? Of course, the questions are missing the question mark.
Are you asking or telling? Read More »
Many people suffer from secret feelings of stupidity because they don’t know how to use the semicolon. They imagine that everyone else knows what to do with this sophisticated mark of punctuation—and that they must have been absent or dreaming on the one day of school when the teacher explained it. Since they assume that
Punctuation: Secrets of the Semicolon Read More »
Writers often struggle over the gnarly question of whether to put a comma before the conjunction and and its fellow conjunctions. And is one of seven coordinating conjunctions which are punctuated similarly. These conjunctions spell out FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. DO Use a Comma Put a comma before and when connecting independent clauses. Remember, an independent clause has a subject and
When to Use a Comma Before “And” Read More »
Apostrophes are scattered like snowflakes across the landscape of today’s writing. People who are not quite sure how to use this little punctuation mark simply drop it in at random intervals. Possessives, plurals, contractions… some get apostrophes and some do not. Within the same document, some words have proper apostrophes and others do not. What
Apostrophe’s ‘R Us Read More »
