Punctuation causes most writers even more anxiety than grammar. But it doesn’t need to be daunting; after all, punctuation is just a system of printers’ marks intended to bring clarity to the written word.
Imagine a paragraph as a musical score with punctuation marks as the rests that tell us when, and how long, to pause. Think of the comma as an eighth rest, the colon as a quarter rest, the semi-colon a half rest, and the period a whole rest.
Once you’ve got that down, try to avoid my punctuation pet peeves:
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The period (.) All sentences end with a period, but sentences need both a subject and a verb. Without them, all you’ve got is a fragment.
Pet peeve #1: Using a period when you don’t have a sentence. Unless you are using a sentence fragment for stylistic reasons, don’t put a period after a group of words that is just a phrase. Example: A bad thing.
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The semicolon (;) The semicolon has two major roles. First, it joins two complete sentences (or “independent clauses”) that the writer wants to link. Second, it acts as a supercomma in a complicated list whose elements have internal commas.
Pet peeve #2: Using a comma where a semicolon is required. Example: He intended to propose, she intended to ditch him at the next turn.
Pet peeve #3: Mixing commas and semicolons willy-nilly in a list. Example: Last year I traveled to Waialua, Hawaii, the highest mountain in the world, and Sierraville, California.The colon (:)-A colon, usually preceded by a complete sentence, introduces a second sentence or phrase-or a list or quote-that illustrates, restates, elaborates, or makes sense of the first sentence.
Pet peeve #4: Using a colon when the verb already does the introducing, making the colon redundant. Example: My favorite dances are: hula, the waltz, and the Cha Cha.
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The comma (,) The comma collects groups of words into phrases, separates elements of a list, and places badly needed pauses between parts of sentences.
Pet peeve #5: Dropping commas after long introductory phrases. Example: In the case of my great aunt the family just decided she was too wacky to listen to.
Pet peeve #6: Dropping the comma between two clauses joined by coordinate conjunctions. Example: My grandmother remained faithful to her but my father laughed her off.
Pet peeve #7: Using a comma, rather than a semicolon, to splice together two independent clauses. Example: We all have “Aunt Flossie stories”, the one about lunch at the Waldorf is my favorite.
Pet peeve #8: Dropping the comma after a subordinate clause. Example: While the waiter stood stoically Aunt Flossie showed him how to make a proper chef’s salad.
Pet peeve #9: Dropping the second comma in an appositive phrase. Example: The waiter, a real professional never let his smile wilt.
Pet peeve #10: Dropping the second comma at the end of a “weak interruption.” Example: Secretly, of course he was appalled.
Pet peeve #11: Dropping the second comma in a nonrestrictive clause. Example: My brother and I, who found Aunt Flossie entertaining never forgot her performance.
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Exclamation mark (!) An exclamation mark expresses surprise or excitement.
Pet peeve #12: Overly enthusiastic use. I get this! I really get this punctuation thing!
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Lynne Truss, in Eats, Shoots and Leaves, offers this metaphor to keep your marks straight: “In the family of punctuation, where the [period] is daddy and the comma is mummy, and the semicolon quietly practices the piano with crossed hands, the exclamation mark is the big attention-deficit brother who get overexcited and breaks things and laughs too loudly.”
—Constance Hale
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Posted in Talking Syntax | 5 Comments »
November 12th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I read in the NYT this morning, “…[Target] has maintained its philanthropy–giving 5 percent of its income, or $3 million a week, to causes in the arts, education, social services and volunteerism. I’m curious about the appositive phrase, (or $3 million a week, is it modifying income or 5% of income. Is Target giving away $3,000,000/ week or $156,000,000 a year? Or, is it 5% of 3,000,000 a week so $150,000/week and $7,800,000/year. Either way is generous!!
Thanks for the clarification.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
That’s a sharp eye, Sarah.
The way I read the appositive phrase (nice grammar, BTW!) $3 million a week is 5 percent of Target’s income. In other words, the appositive refers to the noun (5 percent) rather than to the prepositional phrase (of its income) modifying the noun.
That seemed like an not credible amount, but I just did some checking, and that does indeed seem to be the amount of Target’s current annual philanthropy.
Kudos to the NYT copy editors, and to Sarah for noticing such fine points.
December 14th, 2009 at 8:38 am
I have a question about pet peeve number 6. How can you tell whether you need a comma between two clauses joined by a coordinate conjunction? Do you have to decided based on the length of the clauses?
December 14th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Basically, Elise, you will never be wrong if you insist on a comma as well as a conjunction between two independent clauses. Sometimes, especially when the clauses are both short and parallel, writers and editors allow the comma to be dropped, as in “Lucy went to a party and I went to study hall.”
December 28th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
[...] See For Writers and Teachers for a sampling of the kind of work we did in the class. If semi-colons still have you stumped, see A Punctuation Primer and Punctuation: Pet Peeves. [...]