Grammar Bootcamp

1. Grammar Bootcamp Commas

2. Rule Number 1 • Use commas to set off a direct address • Soldier, drop and give me 20! • No crying for your mama, Marine! Practice #1 • Place the comma in the correct place. • We love BootcampDrill Sergeant Wilder! • Recruits no grammar pain, no grammar gain.

3. Rule Number 2 • Use commas to separate items in a list or series • You recruits must focus on training, practicing, and applying these rules. • Bring your pencils, paper, and binders. Practice #2 • Place a comma in the correct place. • Recruits be prepared to write edit and revise.

4. Rule Number 3 • Used to set off a non-essential appositive. • What is an appositive? • RENAMES a noun or pronoun (therefore it is another noun) • Drill Sergeant Wilder, a former college athlete, believes in the importance of discipline. • A taskmaster, D.S. Wilder makes the recruits practice, practice, practice!

5. Practice #3 • Place the commas in the correct place. • The recruit a young writer loves comma rules. • The officer praised the young soldier a corn-fed boy from Iowa. • A 23-year veteran Bill always got emotional when he heard “The Star Spangled Banner.”

6. Rule Number 4 • Use commas to set off introductory phrases and clauses • Verbal phrases, prepositional phrases, dependent clauses • After the 10-mile run, the soldiers needed water. (prep) • While the drill sergeant yelled, the recruits held back tears. (dep. clause) • Stunned into silence, the recruits stared. (verbal phrase)

7. Practice #4 • Place the comma in the correct place. • Because grammar is so fun we want to do it every day. • Running in place the recruits warmed up. • In the morning your nightmare will begin.

8. Rule Number 5 • Use commas with a divided quotation • The quotation is divided by referencing the speaker • “Eat your spinach,” shouted the major. “You need those vitamins!” • “Run up that hill,” yelled the captain, “and then back down again.” Period at the end, after the reference, when what is before is a complete sentence. “Shouted the major” interrupts the quotation; what is before the reference is a complete thought. Use a comma on both sides of the reference when it occurs in the middle of the sentence.

9. And with a direct quotation • “Bootcamp,” writes Major Brock Webster in his memoir, “was hard, but it was worth it.” • General Colin Powell once wrote, “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”

10. Practice #5 • Place a comma in the correct place. • The recruit said “Mrs. Wilder has taken this whole Bootcamp thing way too seriously.” • “Many recruits” said Mrs. Wilder “would rather run in the heat of an Alabama summer than talk about grammar.” • “Get over it” said Mrs. Wilder. “Grammar is here to stay!”

11. Let’s Take a Break—Name that Comma Rule! • Electric Company- Comma Rule #?? • That’ right! Comma Rule # 2 • Electric Company-- Comma Rule #?? • That’s right! Comma Rule # 5

12. Rule Number 6 • Use a comma with a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS, anyone?) to join to sentences together • You recruits must focus on training, and you must get plenty of rest. • Learning grammar can be difficult, but I know you can do it!

13. BUT…. • DO NOT use with a compound verb • The recruits ate dinner, and went to bed. • Notice that the recruits are completing both of these actions. The second part of the sentence is not a complete thought; the verbs share a subject. • It is one sentence with two verbs. • CORRECT! The recruits ate dinner and went to bed.

14. Practice #6 • It is grammar time and we need to get started. • The soldier wrote to his parents and called home when he could. • We are running late so you need to hurry.