WRITING IS AN ART #18

THE COMMON COMMA

 

The comma is (to my mind at least) an under-used punctuation mark. To a certain extent, when and where you use one can be a bit subjective. As a very rough rule of thumb, if you read a sentence out loud, a comma should be inserted whenever there is a slight pause (denoting a slight change of direction).

 

One company I worked for insisted that commas should NEVER be used before ‘and’ or ‘but’. Rubbish! Lynne Truss’s book, ‘Eats, shoots & leaves’ shows the nonsense of that. Commas (and other punctuation marks) should be used whenever they help the reader to understand the sentence more easily.

 

Are you going in the right direction?

For instance, compare these three sets of directions:

 

1. Turn left and right across the street from the church is the entrance to the hotel
2. Turn left, and right across the street from the church is the entrance to the hotel
3. Turn left and right; across the street from the church is the entrance to the hotel

 

The first set, without any punctuation, is ambiguous. Sets B and C use punctuation to show two possible interpretations. So, to reiterate what I said in my previous blog, grammar is important!

 

Phil

 

Freelance copywriter

 

Web: http://www.phila

Email: info@phila.co.uk

WRITING IS AN ART #17

PUNCTUATE YOUR REMARKS!

 

If grammar is the cement of good writing, holding it all together properly, then punctuation is the water within that cement. It infiltrates every aspect of it but mustn’t be under-used or over-used.

 

Punctuation can make a huge difference to the meaning of a sentence. One rather amusing article (currently doing the rounds on the Internet) focuses on its potential power in changing the meaning of words:

 

An English professor wrote the words, ‘A woman without her man is nothing’ on the blackboard and asked his students to punctuate it correctly.

 

All of the men wrote: ‘A woman, without her man, is nothing.’

 

All of the women wrote: ‘A woman: without her, man is nothing!’

 

(Now, I wonder whether that example was dreamt up by a man or a woman?!) Here’s another Internet example of the difference punctuation can make:

 

“I hate compulsive liars – like you, I find them detestable.”

 

“I hate compulsive liars like you – I find them detestable!”

 

Remember these little examples next time that you’re tempted to think that punctuation is relatively unimportant.

 

In my next blog, I’ll look more closely at one item of punctuation that I think is often sadly overlooked – the humble comma.

 

 

Phil

 

Freelance copywriter

 

Web: http://www.phila

Email: info@phila.co.uk