The Century Handbook of Writing Part 53

Confusing: For breakfast we had oatmeal, bacon, eggs and honey.

[Omission of the comma after _eggs_ suggests a mixture.]

Right: For breakfast we had oatmeal, bacon, eggs, and honey.

=h. A comma should follow an expression like _he said_ which introduces a short quotation.= (For longer or more formal quotations use a colon.)

Right: He shouted, "Come on! I dare you!"

Right: Our captain replied, "We're ready."

But for indirect quotations, a caution is necessary. Do not place a comma between a verb and a _that_ or _how_ clause which the verb introduces.

Wrong: He explained, how the accident occurred.

Right: He explained how the accident occurred.

Wrong: The chauffeur told us, that the gasoline tank was empty.

Right: The chauffeur told us that the gasoline tank was empty.

=i. A comma is used to separate parts of a sentence which might erroneously be read together.=

Confusing: Long before she had received a letter.

Better: Long before, she had received a letter.

Confusing: We turned the corner and the horse stopped throwing us off.

Better: We turned the corner and the horse stopped, throwing us off.

Confusing: Through the alumni gathered there went a thrill of dismay.

Better: Through the alumni gathered there, went a thrill of dismay.

Wrong: For a dime you can buy two pieces of pie or cake and ice cream.

Right: For a dime you can buy two pieces of pie, or cake and ice cream.

Right: The man whom everybody had for years regarded as a crank and a weakling, is now praised for his sagacity and his strength.

Right: In a situation so critical as to require the utmost coolness of mind, he lost his wits completely. [Here the confusion might not be serious if the comma were omitted, but separation of the long introduction from the main clause is desirable.]

=j. Do not use superfluous commas:=

=1.= To mark a trivial pause:

Needless use of comma: In the road, stood a wagon.

Needless use of commas: The taking of notes, is a guarantee, against inattention, in cla.s.s.

Slight pauses in a sentence are taken care of by the good sense of the reader. Do not sprinkle commas when the sentence is moving along freely with no complication in the thought.

Right: In the road stood a wagon.

Right: The taking of notes is a guarantee against inattention in cla.s.s.

=2.= To separate an adjective from its noun:

Wrong: A tall, solemn, antique, clock stood in the hallway.

[The first two commas separate the adjectives from each other.

There is no reason why _antique_ should be separated from the noun.]

Right: A tall, solemn, antique clock stood in the hallway.

=3.= Before the first word or phrase in a series unless the comma would be employed if the word or phrase stood alone:

Wrong: He made a study of, gymnastics, medicine, and surgery.

Right: He made a study of gymnastics, medicine, and surgery.

Wrong: He had learned, to be prompt, to think clearly, and to write correctly.

Right: He had learned to be prompt, to think clearly, and to write correctly.

Exercise:

1. Before the workmen finished eating the tunnel caved in.

Three Italian laborers were crushed, the others with the foreman escaped.

2. Sneed the new chairman proposed that the convention should meet at Cheyenne Wyoming. The suggestion however was according to reports not adopted.

3. He had a pen and an ink bottle was in the cupboard. By washing poor widows can earn but scant living.

4. Saunders asked, how I liked the Overland car as compared with the Chalmers, the Hudson and the Buick. I started to reply but at that moment we were interrupted.

5. People, who steal watermelons, say the stolen melons are sweetest. Farragut who was born in Tennessee was the North's ablest naval commander. The developer is a chemical, which reduces the silver salt.

=The Semicolon=

The semicolon represents a division in thought somewhat greater than that represented by a comma, and somewhat smaller than that represented by a period. It may represent grammatical separation and logical connection at the same time; that is, it may indicate that two statements are separate units in grammar, and are yet to be taken together to form a larger unit of logic or thought.

=92a. The semicolon is used between coordinate clauses which are not joined by a conjunction.= (For a possible exception see 91b.).

Wrong: He was alarmed in fact he was terrified.

Right: He was alarmed; in fact he was terrified.

Right: He drew up at the curb; he leaped from the car.