Rules for Writers, ch 32, summary

This weeks reading in Rules for Writers will be about the comma, in my opinion a poorly misunderstood little fella! The comma is used to help make sense of sentences, to keep confusing and maybe sometimes embarrassing things from being misconstrued. It is used to separate items in a sentence. For example, She liked tomatoes, cucumbers, lemons, and pineapple. When using commas for separating items, it doesn't have to be a noun. It can be single words, phrases, or clauses. (273) Comma's are used with numbers and titles, as well as to express the plural of a noun. You can use a comma to pause a sentence, add related details, and continue with the original thought. It can be used to separate a title from a name. Comma's can also be used to serve as a bridge between two separate sentences, keeping the writing from being too wordy.

If you have a hard time knowing exactly where comma's are to be placed, I would suggest asking a friend to read what you've written, and see if all your sentences are clear and concise to them.