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 …
“i.e.” and Its Friends
These eight expressions are often used when something is being renamed or reiterated: i.e., that is, e.g., for example, to wit, namely, for instance, in other words The punctuation depends upon where they are in the sentence and/or what follows them. There are six rules; so we will do a few at a time. WHEN THESE WORDS AND WHAT FOLLOWS …
Parallel Construction and the Semicolon
…I arrived on Saturday; he arrived on Sunday. …He resigned in 2010; she resigned in 2011. …The first train leaves at 5:00 A.M.; the last train leaves at 10:00 P.M. The Rule: When two sentences have NO conjunction between them and have parallel grammatical construction, use a semicolon between them. This question always arises: Could I use a period? My …
The Word “So” — Third Time Is a Charm?
So we had a discussion over on FB about “so” — again! As you all know, I want us to punctuate according to the grammar that is going on in the sentence. I believe with my heart and soul that punctuation is an outgrowth of grammar most of the time. The word “and” and the word “so” simply do not …