CONTACTS
SUBJECTS
Comma Grammar Usage for Lists And Education
Writing Training, Research
Comma Grammar Usage for Lists And Education
0605 -
0605 - ..
0606 - Summary/Objective
0607 -
060701 - Follow up ref SDS 5 RH7J, ref SDS 4 JP6M.
060702 -
060703 - POIMS explains alphabet technology augments intelligence with a
060704 - process of thinking through writing to discover knowledge by
060705 - struggling with the formal structure of literacy. ref OF 1 21G6
060707 - ..
060708 - On 940609 the concept of thinking through writing was reviewed in
060709 - relation to culture driven by pictures and dialog. ref SDS 2 0001
060711 - ..
060712 - The "locality principal" develops the power of knowledge measured by
060713 - energy released from connecting cause and effect that controls the
060714 - future, cited in NWO. ref OF 2 I38N
060716 - ..
060717 - About 5,000 years ago, humans began the long struggle to harness the
060718 - power of knowledge through the magic of alphabet technology, cited on
060719 - 940609, reviewing Henry Kissinger's book "The Power of Diplomacy."
060720 - ref SDS 2 8854 The practice of "analysis" through "stories,"
060721 - ref SDS 2 QX7O, connected across time into "history," was previously
060722 - cited on 890523 The flexible structure of writing applies the
060723 - predictive power of "knowledge" for understanding causation,
060724 - ref SDS 2 50FV, and further drives the design of SDS support for
060725 - intelligence, as set out in POIMS. ref OF 1 2160 SDS provides a new
060726 - way working with the flexible structure of alphabet technology by
060727 - adding linear nodes, time, and context to traditional punctuation for
060728 - granular control of history. ref SDS 1 TP8O
060730 - ..
060731 - The struggle with formal structures to write illuminates complexity by
060732 - carefully crafting meaning to understand nuance using, for example, 11
060733 - rules on commas. There are many more rules of grammar for using
060734 - semicolons, colons and periods to indentity many types of dependent
060735 - and independent clauses. ref SDS 0 HF86
060736 -
060737 - Guide To Grammar and Punctuation (With 20 Resources To
060738 - Help You Hone Your Skill)
060740 - ..
060741 - Open Colleges Internet resource provides excellent support to advance
060742 - basic writing skills...
060743 -
060744 - http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/teacher-resources/guide-to-grammar-and-punctuation/
060746 - ..
060747 - Received ref DRT 1 0001 from Gary submitting authority today on using
060748 - commas to construct lists in sentences, which he has helped correct
060749 - in foundational documents the past few months.
060751 - ..
060752 - This research provides more examples of writing clear, concise
060753 - sentences that supplement research on writing and grammar reported on
060754 - 001108. ref SDS 3 0001
060756 - ..
060757 - The general site offers...
060758 -
060759 - Guide to Grammar & Writing
060760 -
060761 - http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
060763 - ..
060764 - Research at...
060765 -
060766 - http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm
060767 -
060768 - ...supplements research on 001108, ref SDS 3 WS6K, and says in
060769 - part....
060770 - ..
060771 - 1. Use a comma to separate the elements in a series (three or
060772 - more things), including the last two. "He hit the ball,
060773 - dropped the bat, and ran to first base." You may have learned
060774 - that the comma before the "and" is unnecessary, which is fine
060775 - if you're in control of things. However, there are situations
060776 - when, if you don't use this comma (especially when the list is
060777 - complex or lengthy), these last two items in the list will try
060778 - to glom together (like macaroni and cheese). Using a comma
060779 - between all the items in a series, including the last two,
060780 - avoids this problem. This last comma-the one between the word
060781 - "and" and the preceding word-is often called the serial comma
060782 - or the Oxford comma. In newspaper writing, incidentally, you
060783 - will seldom find a serial comma, but that is not necessarily a
060784 - sign that it should be omitted in academic prose.
060786 - ..
060787 - 2. Use a comma + a little conjunction (and, but, for, nor, yet,
060788 - or, so) to connect two independent clauses, as in "He hit the
060789 - ball well, but he ran toward third base."
060791 - ..
060792 - Clauses are further explained below. ref SDS 0 HF86
060794 - ..
060795 - Contending that the coordinating conjunction is adequate separation,
060796 - some writers will leave out the comma in a sentence with short,
060797 - balanced independent clauses (such as we see in the example just
060798 - given). If there is ever any doubt, however, use the comma, as it is
060799 - always correct in this situation.
060801 - ..
060802 - One of the most frequent errors in comma usage is the placement of a
060803 - comma after a coordinating conjunction. We cannot say that the comma
060804 - will always come before the conjunction and never after, but it would
060805 - be a rare event, indeed, that we need to follow a coordinating
060806 - conjunction with a comma. When speaking, we do sometimes pause after
060807 - the little conjunction, but there is seldom a good reason to put a
060808 - comma there
060810 - ..
060811 - 3. Use a comma to set off introductory elements, as in "Running
060812 - toward third base, he suddenly realized how stupid he looked."
060814 - ..
060815 - It is permissible to omit the comma after a brief introductory
060816 - element if the omission does not result in confusion or
060817 - hesitancy in reading. If there is ever any doubt, use the
060818 - comma, as it is always correct. If you would like some
060819 - additional guidelines on using a comma after introductory
060820 - elements, click HERE.
060822 - ..
060823 - 4. Use a comma to set off parenthetical elements, as in "The
060824 - Founders Bridge, which spans the Connecticut River, is falling
060825 - down." By "parenthetical element," we mean a part of a sentence
060826 - that can be removed without changing the essential meaning of
060827 - that sentence. The parenthetical element is sometimes called
060828 - "added information." This is the most difficult rule in
060829 - punctuation because it is sometimes unclear what is "added" or
060830 - "parenthetical" and what is essential to the meaning of a
060831 - sentence
060833 - ..
060834 - Appositives are almost always treated as parenthetical elements.
060835 -
060836 - Calhoun's ambition, to become a goalie in professional soccer, is
060837 - within his reach.
060839 - ..
060840 - Eleanor, his wife of thirty years, suddenly decided to open
060841 - her own business.
060842 -
060844 - ..
060845 - Sometimes the appositive and the word it identifies are so closely
060846 - related that the comma can be omitted, as in "His wife Eleanor
060847 - suddenly decided to open her own business." We could argue that the
060848 - name "Eleanor" is not essential to the meaning of the sentence
060849 - (assuming he has only one wife), and that would suggest that we can
060850 - put commas both before and after the name (and that would, indeed, be
060851 - correct). But "his wife" and "Eleanor" are so close that we can regard
060852 - the entire phrase as one unit and leave out the commas. With the
060853 - phrase turned around, however, we have a more definite parenthetical
060854 - element and the commas are necessary: "Eleanor, his wife, suddenly
060855 - decided to open her own business." Consider, also, the difference
060856 - between "College President Ira Rubenzahl voted to rescind the
060857 - withdrawal policy" (in which we need the name "Ira Rubenzahl" or the
060858 - sentence doesn't make sense) and "Ira Rubenzahl, the college
060859 - president, voted to rescind the withdrawal policy" (in which the
060860 - sentence makes sense without his title, the appositive, and we treat
060861 - the appositive as a parenthetical element, with a pair of commas).
060863 - ..
060864 - As pointed out above (Rule #3), ref SDS 0 IL5G, an adverbial clause
060865 - that begins a sentence is set off with a comma:
060866 -
060867 - Although Queasybreath had spent several years in Antarctica, he
060868 - still bundled up warmly in the brisk autumns of Ohio.
060870 - ..
060871 - Because Tashonda had learned to study by herself, she was able to
060872 - pass the entrance exam.
060874 - ..
060875 - When an adverbial clause comes later on in the sentence, however, the
060876 - writer must determine if the clause is essential to the meaning of the
060877 - sentence or not. A "because clause" can be particularly troublesome in
060878 - this regard. In most sentences, a "because clause" is essential to the
060879 - meaning of the sentence, and it will not be set off with a comma:
060880 -
060881 - The Okies had to leave their farms in the midwest because the
060882 - drought conditions had ruined their farms.
060884 - ..
060885 - Sometimes, though, the "because clause" must be set off with a comma
060886 - to avoid misreading:
060887 -
060888 - I knew that President Nixon would resign that morning, because my
060889 - sister-in-law worked in the White House and she called me with the
060890 - news.
060892 - ..
060893 - Without that comma, the sentence says that Nixon's resignation was the
060894 - fault of my sister-in-law. Nixon did not resign because my
060895 - sister-in-law worked in the White House, so we set off that clause to
060896 - make the meaning clearly parenthetical.
060898 - ..
060899 - When a parenthetical element - an interjection, adverbial modifier, or
060900 - even an adverbial clause - follows a coordinating conjunction used to
060901 - connect two independent clauses, we do not put a comma in front of the
060902 - parenthetical element.
060903 -
060904 - The Red Sox were leading the league at the end of May, but of
060905 - course, they always do well in the spring. [no comma after "but"]
060907 - ..
060908 - The Yankees didn't do so well in the early going, but frankly,
060909 - everyone expects them to win the season. [no comma after "but"]
060911 - ..
060912 - The Tigers spent much of the season at the bottom of the league,
060913 - and even though they picked up several promising rookies, they
060914 - expect to be there again next year. [no comma after "and"]
060915 -
060917 - ..
060918 - (This last piece of advice relies on the authority of William Strunk's
060919 - Elements of Style. Examples our own.)
060921 - ..
060922 - When both a city's name and that city's state or country's name are
060923 - mentioned together, the state or country's name is treated as a
060924 - parenthetical element.
060925 -
060926 - We visited Hartford, Connecticut, last summer. Paris, France, is
060927 - sometimes called "The City of Lights."
060929 - ..
060930 - When the state becomes a possessive form, this rule is no longer
060931 - followed:
060932 -
060933 - Hartford, Connecticut's investment in the insurance industry is
060934 - well known.
060936 - ..
060937 - Also, when the state or country's name becomes part of a compound
060938 - structure, the second comma is dropped:
060939 -
060940 - Heublein, a Hartford, Connecticut-based company, is moving to
060941 - another state.
060942 -
060944 - ..
060945 - 5. Use a comma to separate coordinate adjectives. You could think
060946 - of this as "That tall, distinguished, good looking fellow" rule
060947 - (as opposed to "the little old lady"). If you can put an and or
060948 - a but between the adjectives, a comma will probably belong
060949 - there. For instance, you could say, "He is a tall and
060950 - distinguished fellow" or "I live in a very old and run-down
060951 - house." So you would write, "He is a tall, distinguished man"
060952 - and "I live in a very old, run-down house." But you would
060953 - probably not say, "She is a little and old lady," or "I live in
060954 - a little and purple house," so commas would not appear between
060955 - little and old or between little and purple.
060957 - ..
060958 - 6. Use a comma to set off quoted elements. Because we don't use
060959 - quoted material all the time, even when writing, this is
060960 - probably the most difficult rule to remember in comma usage.
060961 - It is a good idea to find a page from an article that uses
060962 - several quotations, photocopy that page, and keep it in front
060963 - of you as a model when you're writing. Generally, use a comma
060964 - to separate quoted material from the rest of the sentence that
060965 - explains or introduces the quotation:
060966 -
060967 - Summing up this argument, Peter Coveney writes, "The
060968 - purpose and strength of the romantic image of the child had
060969 - been above all to establish a relation between childhood
060970 - and adult consciousness."
060972 - ..
060973 - If an attribution of a quoted element comes in the middle of
060974 - the quotation, two commas will be required. But be careful not
060975 - to create a comma splice in so doing.
060976 -
060977 - "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words
060978 - mean so many things."
060980 - ..
060981 - "I should like to buy an egg, please," she said timidly.
060982 - "How do you sell them?"
060984 - ..
060985 - Be careful not to use commas to set off quoted elements
060986 - introduced by the word that or quoted elements that are
060987 - embedded in a larger structure:
060988 -
060989 - Peter Coveney writes that "[t]he purpose and strength of
060990 - ..."
060992 - ..
060993 - We often say "Sorry" when we don't really mean it.
060995 - ..
060996 - And, instead of a comma, use a colon to set off explanatory or
060997 - introductory language from a quoted element that is either
060998 - very formal or long (especially if it's longer than one
060999 - sentence):
061000 -
061001 - Peter Coveney had this to say about the
061002 - nineteenth-century's use of children in fiction: "The
061003 - purpose and strength of . . . . "
061004 -
061006 - ..
061007 - 7. Use commas to set off phrases that express contrast.
061008 -
061009 - Some say the world will end in ice, not fire.
061010 -
061011 - It was her money, not her charm or personality, that first
061012 - attracted him.
061014 - ..
061015 - The puppies were cute, but very messy.
061016 -
061017 - (Some writers will leave out the comma that sets off a contrasting
061018 - phrase beginning with but.)
061020 - ..
061021 - 8. Use a comma to avoid confusion. This is often a matter of
061022 - consistently applying rule #3.
061023 -
061024 - For most the year is already finished.
061026 - ..
061027 - For most, the year is already finished.
061029 - ..
061030 - Outside the lawn was cluttered with hundreds of broken
061031 - branches.
061033 - ..
061034 - Outside, the lawn was cluttered with hundreds of broken
061035 - branches.
061037 - ..
061038 - Have spent most of the day putting in a comma and the rest of
061039 - the day taking it out. - Oscar Wilde
061041 - ..
061042 - 9. Grammar English's Famous Rule of Punctuation: Never use only
061043 - one comma between a subject and its verb. "Believing completely
061044 - and positively in oneself is essential for success." [Although
061045 - readers might pause after the word "oneself," there is no
061046 - reason to put a comma there.]
061048 - ..
061049 - 10. Typographical Reasons: Between a city and a state [Hartford,
061050 - Connecticut], a date and the year [June 15, 1997], a name and
061051 - a title when the title comes after the name [Bob Downey,
061052 - Professor of English], in long numbers [5,456,783 and
061053 - $14,682], etc. Although you will often see a comma between a
061054 - name and suffix - Bob Downey, Jr., Richard Harrison, III -
061055 - this comma is no longer regarded as necessary by most copy
061056 - editors, and some individuals - such as Martin Luther King Jr.
061057 - - never used a comma there at all.
061059 - ..
061060 - Note that we use a comma or a set of commas to make the year
061061 - parenthetical when the date of the month is included:
061062 -
061063 - July 4, 1776, is regarded as the birth date of American
061064 - liberty.
061066 - ..
061067 - Without the date itself, however, the comma disappears:
061068 -
061069 - July 1776 was one of the most eventful months in our
061070 - history.
061072 - ..
061073 - In international or military format, no commas are used:
061074 -
061075 - The Declaration of Independence was signed on 4 July 1776.
061077 - ..
061078 - 11. As you can see, there are many reasons for using commas, and
061079 - we haven't listed them all. Yet the biggest problem that most
061080 - students have with commas is their overuse. Some essays look
061081 - as though the student loaded a shotgun with commas and blasted
061082 - away. Remember, too, that a pause in reading is not always a
061083 - reliable reason to use a comma. Try not to use a comma unless
061084 - you can apply a specific rule from this page to do so.
061085 -
061086 -
061088 - ..
061089 - Clauses occur in many varieties separated by commas, explained at...
061090 -
061091 - http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/clauses.htm
061093 - ..
061094 - Independent Clause is explained...
061095 -
061096 - A clause is a group of related words containing a subject and a
061097 - verb. A clause can be usefully distinguished from a phrase, which
061098 - is a group of related words that does not contain a subject-verb
061099 - relationship, such as "in the morning" or "running down the
061100 - street" or "having grown used to this harassment." A review of the
061101 - different kinds of phrases might be helpful.
061103 - ..
061104 - Words We Use to Talk about Clauses
061105 -
061106 - Learning the various terms used to define and classify clauses can
061107 - be a vocabulary lesson in itself. This digital handout categorizes
061108 - clauses into independent and dependent clauses. This simply means
061109 - that some clauses can stand by themselves, as separate sentences,
061110 - and some can't. Another term for dependent clause is subordinate
061111 - clause: this means that the clause is subordinate to another
061112 - element (the independent clause) and depends on that other element
061113 - for its meaning. The subordinate clause is created by a
061114 - subordinating conjunction or dependent word.
061116 - ..
061117 - An independent clause, "She is older than her brother" (which could
061118 - be its own sentence), can be turned into a dependent or subordinate
061119 - clause when the same group of words begins with a dependent word
061120 - (or a subordinating conjunction in this case): "Because she is
061121 - older than her brother, she tells him what to do."
061123 - ..
061124 - Clauses are also classified as restrictive and nonrestrictive
061125 - clauses. (The words essential and nonessential are sometimes used
061126 - and mean the same thing as restrictive and nonrestrictive,
061127 - respectively. British grammarians will make this same distinction
061128 - by referring to clauses with the terms defining and non-defining.)
061129 - A nonrestrictive clause is not essential to the meaning of the
061130 - sentence; it can be removed from the sentence without changing its
061131 - basic meaning. Nonrestrictive clauses are often set apart from the
061132 - rest of the sentence by a comma or a pair of commas (if it's in
061133 - the middle of a sentence).
061134 -
061135 - Professor Villa, who used to be a secretary for the President,
061136 - can type 132 words a minute.
061138 - ..
061139 - Review the Notorious Confusables section on the difference between
061140 - That and Which for additional clarification on the distinction
061141 - between restrictive and nonrestrictive.
061143 - ..
061144 - Relative clauses are dependent clauses introduced by a Relative
061145 - Pronoun (that, which, whichever, who, whoever, whom, whomever,
061146 - whose, and of which). Relative clauses can be either restrictive
061147 - or nonrestrictive. Review the section on Comma Usage for
061148 - additional help in determining whether relative clauses are
061149 - restrictive or nonrestrictive (parenthetical or not) and whether
061150 - commas should be used to set them off from the rest of the
061151 - sentence. In a relative clause, the relative pronoun is the
061152 - subject of the verb (remember that all clauses contain a
061153 - subject-verb relationship) and refers to (relates to) something
061154 - preceding the clause.
061155 -
061156 - Giuseppe said that the plantar wart, which had been bothering
061157 - him for years, had to be removed.
061158 -
061159 - (In this sentence, the clause in this color is a restrictive
061160 - [essential] clause [a noun clause - see below] and will not be set
061161 - off by a comma; the underlined relative clause [modifying "wart"]
061162 - is nonrestrictive [nonessential - it can be removed from the
061163 - sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence] and is set
061164 - off by commas.)
061166 - ..
061167 - Some relative clauses will refer to more than a single word in the
061168 - preceding text; they can modify an entire clause or even a series
061169 - of clauses.
061170 -
061171 - Charlie didn't get the job in administration, which really
061172 - surprised his friends.
061174 - ..
061175 - Charlie didn't get the job in administration, and he didn't
061176 - even apply for the Dean's position, which really surprised his
061177 - friends.
061179 - ..
061180 - A relative clause that refers to or modifies entire clauses in
061181 - this manner is called a sentential clause. Sometimes the "which"
061182 - of a sentential clause will get tucked into the clause as the
061183 - determiner of a noun:
061184 -
061185 - Charlie might very well take a job as headmaster, in which case
061186 - the school might as well close down.
061188 - ..
061189 - Elliptical Clauses: see below.
061191 - ..
061192 - Finally, everybody's favorite clause is the Santa Clause, which
061193 - needs no further definition
061194 -
061196 - ..
061197 - Independent Clauses
061198 -
061199 - Independent Clauses could stand by themselves as discrete
061200 - sentences, except that when they do stand by themselves, separated
061201 - from other clauses, they're normally referred to simply as
061202 - sentences, not clauses. The ability to recognize a clause and to
061203 - know when a clause is capable of acting as an independent unit is
061204 - essential to correct writing and is especially helpful in avoiding
061205 - sentence fragments and run-on sentences..
061207 - ..
061208 - Needless to say, it is important to learn how to combine
061209 - independent clauses into larger units of thought. In the following
061210 - sentence, for example,
061211 -
061212 - Bob didn't mean to do it, but he did it anyway.
061213 -
061214 - ...we have two independent clauses - "Bob didn't mean to do it" and
061215 - "he did it anyway" - connected by a comma and a coordinating
061216 - conjunction ("but"). If the word "but" is missing from this
061217 - sentence, the sentence would be called a comma splice: two
061218 - independent clauses would be incorrectly connected, smooshed
061219 - together, with only a comma between them. Furthermore, a long
061220 - series of clauses of similar structure and length begins to feel
061221 - monotonous, leading to what is called "Dick and Jane" or primer
061222 - language (after the kind of prose that we find in first grade
061223 - textbooks or "primers"). (See the section on Avoiding Primer
061224 - Language for advice and exercises on combining sentences.) It would
061225 - also be helpful at this time to review the section on Punctuation
061226 - Between Two Independent Clauses.
061228 - ..
061229 - Clauses are combined in three different ways: coordination,
061230 - subordination, and by means of a semicolon. Coordination involves
061231 - joining independent clauses with one of the coordinating
061232 - conjunctions: and, but, or, nor, for, yet, and sometimes* so.
061233 - Clauses thus connected are usually nicely balanced in length and
061234 - import.
061235 -
061236 - Ramonita thought about joining the church choir, but she never
061237 - talked to her friends about it.
061239 - ..
061240 - Subordination
061241 -
061242 - Subordination involves turning one of the clauses into a
061243 - subordinate element (one that cannot stand on its own) through the
061244 - use of a Subordinating Conjunction (sometimes called a dependent
061245 - word) or a Relative Pronoun. When the clause begins with a
061246 - subordinating word, it is no longer an independent clause; it is
061247 - called a dependent or subordinate clause because it depends on
061248 - something else (the independent clause) for its meaning. There are
061249 - other ways of combining ideas - by turning independent clauses into
061250 - various kinds of modifying phrases. Again, see the section on
061251 - Avoiding Primer Language.
061252 -
061253 - Although Ramonita often thought about joining the choir, she
061254 - never talked to her friends about it.
061256 - ..
061257 - Ramonita never talked to her friends about joining the choir,
061258 - because she was afraid they would make fun of her.
061260 - ..
061261 - Yasmin is Ramonita's sister. Yasmin told Ramonita to join the
061262 - choir no matter what her friends said.
061264 - ..
061265 - Joining these with the use of a relative clause:
061267 - ..
061268 - Yasmin, [who is] Ramonita's sister, told Ramonita to join the
061269 - choir. . . .
061271 - ..
061272 - Semicolons...
061273 -
061274 - Semicolons can connect two independent clauses with or without the
061275 - help of a conjunctive adverb (transitional expression). Semicolons
061276 - should be used sparingly and only when the two independent clauses
061277 - involved are closely related and nicely balanced in terms of length
061278 - and import.
061279 -
061280 - Ramonita has such a beautiful voice; many couples have asked
061281 - her to sing at their wedding.
061283 - ..
061284 - Ramonita's voice has a clear, angelic quality; furthermore, she
061285 - clearly enjoys using it.
061287 - ..
061288 - (Click on the words semicolons and conjunctive adverb above for
061289 - further help with their use.)
061291 - ..
061292 - Dependent Cluase
061293 -
061294 - Dependent Clauses cannot stand by themselves and make good sense.
061295 - They must be combined with an independent clause so that they
061296 - become part of a sentence that can stand by itself. (Review the
061297 - section on Commas Usage for advice and plenty of exercises on the
061298 - punctuation requirements when dependent and independent clauses are
061299 - combined.) Unlike independent clauses, which simply are what they
061300 - are, dependent clauses are said to perform various functions within
061301 - a sentence. They act either in the capacity of some kind of noun or
061302 - as some kind of modifier. There are three basic kinds of dependent
061303 - clauses, categorized according to their function in the sentence.
061304 - Remember that a dependent clause always contains a subject and a
061305 - verb, but it cannot stand by itself.
061306 -
061307 - Adverb clauses provide information about what is going on in
061308 - the main (independent) clause: where, when, or why. "When the
061309 - movie is over, we'll go downtown." or "John wanted to write a
061310 - book because he had so much to say about the subject."
061312 - ..
061313 - Adjective clauses work like multi-word adjectives.
061314 -
061315 - "My brother, who is an engineer, figured it out for me." or
061316 -
061317 - "The bridge that collapsed in the winter storm will cost
061318 - millions to replace."
061319 -
061321 - ..
061322 - A special kind of adjective clause begins with a relative
061323 - adverb (where, when, and why) but nonetheless functions as
061324 - adjectivally.
061326 - ..
061327 - Noun clauses can do anything that nouns can do.
061328 -
061329 - "What he knows [subject] is no concern of mine." or
061331 - ..
061332 - "Do you know what he knows [object]?" or
061334 - ..
061335 - "What can you tell me about what he has done this year
061336 - [object of the preposition "about"]?"
061338 - ..
061339 - What they did with the treasure remains a mystery.
061341 - ..
061342 - Whatever you want for dessert is fine with me.
061344 - ..
061345 - That you should feel this way about her came as a great
061346 - suprise to me.
061348 - ..
061349 - Juan finally revealed what he had done with the money.
061351 - ..
061352 - Her husband spent whatever she had saved over the years.
061354 - ..
061355 - I don't know what I should do next.
061357 - ..
061358 - In fact, he wrote a book about what he had done over the
061359 - years.
061361 - ..
061362 - We are interested in what he does for a living.
061364 - ..
061365 - The trouble was that they had never been there before.
061367 - ..
061368 - The biggest disappointment of last season was that the
061369 - women's team didn't make it to the final four.
061371 - ..
061372 - My brother, who now teaches math in a small college, never
061373 - liked math in high school.
061375 - ..
061376 - The dealership that sold more cars ended up actually losing
061377 - money.
061379 - ..
061380 - The Federated Bank, which was founded nearly two centuries
061381 - ago, folded during the state's economic crisis.
061383 - ..
061384 - The team had fallen behind by ten points before they were
061385 - able to figure out the opponent's defense.
061387 - ..
061388 - Since he started working nights, he doesn't see much of
061389 - his kids.
061391 - ..
061392 - While Josie sat inside watching television, Gladys shoveled
061393 - the driveway
061395 - ..
061396 - Combinations of Clauses
061397 -
061398 - Review the section on Sentence Variety for help in understanding
061399 - the variety of sentence patterns. It is difficult to know if you're
061400 - using different patterns unless you keep in mind the way that
061401 - clauses are combined in larger sentence-units of thought. Pay
061402 - special attention to the variety of sentence types: simple,
061403 - compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences. These are
061404 - defined by their essential ingredients, the clauses that make them
061405 - up. There is also a quiz at the end of that section that will test
061406 - your ability to distinguish among the kinds of clauses that make up
061407 - a sentence.
061409 - ..
061410 - Elliptical Clauses
061411 -
061412 - Elliptical Clauses are grammatically incomplete in the sense that
061413 - they are missing either the relative pronoun (dependent word) that
061414 - normally introduces such a clause or something from the predicate
061415 - in the second part of a comparison. The missing parts of the
061416 - elliptical clause can be guessed from the context and most readers
061417 - are not aware that anything is missing. In fact, elliptical clauses
061418 - are regarded as both useful and correct, even in formal prose,
061419 - because they are often elegant, efficient means of expression. (The
061420 - omitted words are noted in brackets below).
061421 -
061422 - Coach Espinoza knew [that] this team would be the best [that]
061423 - she had coached in recent years.
061425 - ..
061426 - Though [they were] sometimes nervous on the court, her recruits
061427 - proved to be hard workers.
061429 - ..
061430 - Sometimes the veterans knew the recruits could play better than
061431 - they [could play].
061432 -
061433 -
061434 -
061435 -
061436 -
061437 -
061438 -
061439 -
0615 -