Comments on: Five Lessons in Punctuation

By: Tara

Tara — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:55:24 +0000

(And don’t ask why a duck.)

LOVE IT!!! I used to have a t-shirt with “Why a duck?” across the front. :)

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:41:09 +0000

I am notorious for using the comma when I don’t need to, much to the dismay for all of my college professors. I am getting better at in in my Graduate studies though. My excuse has always been, “I would rather use the comma and not need one, then not use the comma and need one.”

As an inside joke, my wife bought me the “Comma Sutra” t-shirt from Mental_Floss and I wear it everytime I am writing a paper so that I do not forget.

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:37:54 +0000

It’s a hot point,it might be helpful to all seeking for a good English.Thank you for this site

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:00:11 +0000

After reading this last night, I am proud to say that I managed to fit several colons and semi-colons into my final exam in Lit this morning.

By: Anna

Anna — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:41:33 +0000

I’ve read that for important figures like “Jesus”, you make the possessive like this – Jesus’. Is that right?

By: SongLee

SongLee — Fri, 09 May 2008 05:43:24 +0000

I am so thankful for this blog “series”! I am an English major and love to read how I can improve!

By: Pointy-Hatted Geek

Pointy-Hatted Geek — Fri, 09 May 2008 04:41:46 +0000

Sorry, that should be “WHERE you get peanut butter and jelly in one jar.”

By: Pointy-Hatted Geek

Pointy-Hatted Geek — Fri, 09 May 2008 04:40:19 +0000

Annie-

That last comma is called an Oxford comma (there’s a song about it) and people seem to disagree about whether it is or isn’t necessary. I personally think that it is, as otherwise it seems that the last two objects listed go together.

For example:

In my book, “We went to the store to get bread, bananas, peanut butter, and jelly” means that we went to the store for those four things.

On the other hand, “We went to the store to get bread, bananas, peanut butter and jelly” means that we went for three things: bread, bananas, and that weird striped thing were you get peanut butter and jelly in one jar.

By: Aemi

Aemi — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:27:49 +0000

Er, alright, Lala, I’ll bite: what IS the difference? And aren’t you supposed to put spaces? As in: â€œThe soldiers entered the house â€“ what was left of it â€“ and looted it.â€

By: nutmeag

nutmeag — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:32:08 +0000

Annie:
Both are correct. I believe it depends on the style of writing you’re using. For instance, I’m a tech writer of government manuals and they prefer to leave out that last comma. Most scientific journals follow that same format. I think humanities writers prefer to leave the last comma in.