Hello again guys and gals! In today's post I'll concentrate on writing skills, specifically the correct use of commas in sentences. I'll mention some common comma mishaps as well as specific grammar rules and examples which I hope help you with future writing assignments.
The first topic covered will be using commas as identifiers!
Take a look at this comic.
What's wrong with this picture? As you can see in the first panel, we're describing the specific object we see, the steak, and describing it with the modifier "well done." In the second panel, when adding a comma after the modifier, we are telling the steak "well done!" Why is this? It is because commas can be used to identify the object we're talking about in a sentence. When we put a noun, noun phrase, or clause after a comma in the middle or end of a sentence, we are identifying a specific object.
This common mistake can completely change the tone and meaning of a sentence completely, so it is something to watch out for! Take these examples and compare: "My son John is a good student," against "My son, John, is a good student." In the first sentence it is actually implied, by the lack of commas, the speaker has more than one son and the one named John is a good student; in the second sentence the speaker only has one son and he's identifying and letting the listener know his name is John.
Another example: "I helped my uncle, Jack, off a horse," and "I helped my uncle Jack, off a horse." In the first one, we can identify the uncle's name as Jack, in the second example, the speaker is letting us know with a noun phrase that the whole object (the receiver of the action "help") is "my uncle Jack." The speaker is identifying his "uncle Jack" instead of identifying his uncle's name as Jack. This is another way with which we can identify the specific grammatical objects in a sentence.
Notice that the first two examples are VERY different from not using commas at all!
"I helped my uncle Jack off a horse."
The power of the comma is the it changes the way the internal and external narrator gives indents and emphasis on a sentence that can completely change the context. It is important to be aware and respect the presence of the comma because a skipped comma can lead to frowns and giggles in "reading aloud" class time. Let's save face and learn to use commas in both writing and reading.
Always be careful when using commas!
