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Punctuation Rules
Usingcorrectpunctuationisimportantbecausepunctuationconveysmeaningjust
aswordsdo.Considerthesetwosentences:
Eatchildren.Eat,children.Bothsentencesarecommands,butthefirstsentencewouldbecorrectonlyin
asocietyofcannibalsl!Learnandpracticetherulesofpunctuationuntilyouare
confidentaboutusingthemcorrectly.CommasaresometimestroublesometolearnersofEnglishbecausetheyareused
differentlyinotherlanguages.TherearemanycommarulesinEnglish,butyoumay
rememberthemmoreeasilyifyourealizethattheycanbeorganizedintojustfour
maingroups:introducers,coordinators,inserters,andtags.Eachgroupofcom-
masrelatestoindependentclausesina particularway,exceptthecoordinatorgroup.
Coordinatorcommaslinknotjustindependentclausesbutanycoordinate(equal)
elementsina sentence.
Studytheexamplesforeachcommagroup,andnoticethekindsofelementsthat
canbeintroducers,coordinators,inserters,andtags.lntroducerCommas
Anintroducercommafollowsanyelementthatcomesinfrontofthefirstindepen-
dentclauseina sentence.
Therefore,I plantoquitsmoking.
Nervously,I threwawaymycigarettes.Asa result,I feelterriblerightnow.
After 16 yearsofsmoking,itisnoteasytoquit.
Havingsmokedfor 16 years,I findit difficulttoquit.
BecauseI havea chroniccough,mydoctorrecommendedthatI quitimmediately."Stopsmokingtoday,"sheadvised.lcannibals:peoplewhoeathumanflesh
2ThankstoAnneKatzofARCAssociates,Oakland,California,forpermissiontoadaptherpresentationof
commarules.