Writing Academic English 4th Edition

(^3) Manywritersdonotusea commabeforetoo,
Step 1 Addcommaswherevertheyarenecessary.(Notallsentencesneed
them,andsomesentencesneedmorethanone.)
Step 2 Namethefunctionofeachcomma(introducer,coordinator,inserter,or
.tag)ontheline.
TagCommas
Atagcommais usedwhenaddingcertainelementstotheendofa sentence.
Myunclebelievesindrinkinga dailyglassofwine,too.^3
Heappearstobeingoodhealth,however.
Heswimsforanhoureveryday,forexample.
Healsoplaystennis,beatingmemostofthetime.
Itisnotlogical,isit?
Helaughsashesays,"Iwilloutliveallofyou."
J\ppendixB IPunctuationRules 281
Shehasagoodjob,yetsheisalwaysbroke.
Theyweretired,sotheywenthomeearly.
Hedoesnotenjoyskiing,ice-skating,orsledding.
CecillespeaksEnglish,Spanish,French,andCreole.
(Nocommawithonlytwoitems:ChenspeaksMandarinandTaiwanese.)
A nursehastoworkatnight,onweekends,andonholidays.
Weranintotheairport,checkedourluggage,racedtotheboardinggate,
gavetheattendantourboardingpasses,andcollapsedinourseats.
lnserterCommas
Aninsertercommaisusedbeforeandafteranyelementthatisinsertedintothe
middleofanindependentclause.
Myuncle,however,refusestoquitsmoking.
Myfather,ontheotherhand,hasneversmoked.
Thereis nopointinliving,accordingtomyuncle,if youdonotdowhat
youenjoy.
Myaunt,hiswife,diedoflungcancer.
Mycousins,grievingovertheirmother'sdeath,resolvednevertosmoke.
Mymother,whojustcelebratedherfiftiethbirthday,enjoysanoccasional
cigarette.
"Ihavetriedtoquitdozensoftimes,"shesays,"butI can't."
CoordinatorCommas
Togetherwitha coordinatingconjunction,a commalinkscoordinate(equal)ele-
mentsina sentence.
--------------------------------------":::,.:
DIRECTQUOTATIONS
TAGQUESTIONS
WORDS
PHRASES
WORDS
PHRASES
REPORTINGVERBSIN
DIRECTQUOTATIONS:
SERIESOF 3 ORMORE
PHRASES
SERIESOF 3 ORMORE
WORDS
NONRESTRICTIVEPHRASES
ANDCLAUSES
UsingCommas
COMPOUNDSENTENCEWITH
2 INDEPENDENTCLAUSES: