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Grammar Tip of the Week!

Grammar Tip of the Week!. Week Two Serial (or Oxford) Comma and Parenthetic Expressions (from Strunk and White’s Elements of Style ). Serial Comma. In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last.

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Grammar Tip of the Week!

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  1. Grammar Tip of the Week! Week Two Serial (or Oxford) Comma and Parenthetic Expressions (from Strunk and White’s Elements of Style)

  2. Serial Comma • In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last. • This comma is referred to as a “serial comma.” (It is also known as an “Oxford comma.”) • For example… • red, white, and blue • gold, silver, and copper • He opened the letter, read it,and made a note of its content.

  3. This is why you need it…

  4. Parenthetic Expressions • Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas! • For example: • The best way to see a country,unless you are pressed for time, is to travel on foot. • This rule is hard to apply. If the interruption to the sentence is slight, you may omit the comma. You may NEVER omit one comma and leave another. • WRONG: Marjorie’s husband, Colonel Nelson paid us a visit yesterday. • WRONG: My brother you will be pleased to hear, is now in perfect health.

  5. Parenthetic Expressions • Nonrestrictive relative clauses are parenthetic and require commas. • A nonrestrictive clause is one that does not serve to identify or define the preceding noun. They do not limit or define; they merely add something. • For example: • The audience, which had at first been indifferent, became more and more interested. • Nether Stowey, where Coleridge wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, is a few miles from Bridgewater.

  6. Names and Titles • A name or a title in direct address is parenthetic. • For example: • If, Sir, you refuse, I cannot predict what will happen. • Well, Susan, this is a fine mess you are in. • No comma, however, should separate a noun from a restrictive term of identification. • For example: • Billy the Kid • The novelist John Fowles • William the Conqueror

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