Just a reminder: Sentence Structure, a study of clauses and phrases, begins this Saturday, August 10, at 8:30 A.M. PDT. Go to margieholdsclass.com for details and registration. And, yes, I had a MAJOR grammar mistake in my last post!!! …I give this class ONLY once a year. The placement of “only” matters!!!! Happy punctuating! Margie
Those Pesky Conjunctive Adverbs
The rule is that, when an adverb is pulled out to the front of a COMPLETE sentence, it becomes a “conjunctive” adverb, begins a brand-new sentence, and needs a period or a semicolon in front of it and a comma after it if it has more than one syllable. It is common to do this with certain adverbs such as …
“Margie Rules” — The Subscription
I have an excellent example this morning of what we do in Margie Rules. This is my $10-a-month subscription program. We offer a 10 percent discount on all my books and seminars; a live monthly session online for questions and discussion of English topics; and a dedicated FB page, where I answer questions and explain the grammar/punctuation that applies to …
“That Is…” and Others
This is an abbreviated version of what is in my book on these eight parentheticals. PARENTHETICAL TO INTRODUCE AN APPOSITIVE Sometimes, when a person wants to explain, reiterate, rename, or restate something — that is, he wants to use an appositive — he uses a parenthetical before the appositive. These are the expressions most commonly used as parentheticals before an …
More on the Word “So” — Even If We Don’t Even Want to Go There Again
Facebook had a couple of interesting questions/examples on “so.” SO I thought it would be good to take a look at them. This is my answer to the questions about the word “so” in the FB sentence below. …If, after a question has been posed to you, you have any question relating to what is being inquired about, please tell …
A Different Meaning for the Period or Semicolon Before “Is That Correct?”
Deciding to use a period versus a semicolon before “Is that correct?” and expecting your reader to distinguish that they mean something different is an exercise in extreme subtlety. This distinction has been pushed around out there for a long time. …You testified that he arrived at 9:00; is that correct? — meaning is it correct that you testified to this? …You testified that he …
Tag Clauses
A recent FB answer to why the first kind of tag clauses take a comma and why there cannot be a comma before the word “right” by itself. “Didn’t you’ and “has he” echo the words of the question. They are a shortened form of the question. …He was there early, wasn’t he [there early]? …She was not the …
Dependent Clauses
This is an email question from yesterday. ……Okay. Now, you told us, Ms. Ryan — right? — at one point you got up [, or ;] you left the room [, or ;] and you went to the bathroom. Is that right? Amid all the other punctuation issues, the question is do we need semicolons or commas between the three …
The Word “So”
When the word so means “therefore,” it starts a new sentence and takes a semicolon or period in front of it and no single comma after it because it is only one syllable. …We left early; so I missed his phone call. …The company had already fired him; so there was nothing I could do to help. …The blue car …
The Adverb That Gets Bumped up to Conjunction
Sometimes an adverb gets pulled out to the beginning of a sentence to form a “bridge” to the sentence before it. It becomes a linking word for the two sentences and shows a relationship between the two sentences. This is called a conjunctive adverb. Some examples are however, moreover, nevertheless, therefore, still, thus, yet, then Generally there is a comma …