Commas with Items in a Series and Coordinate Modifiers

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C OMMAS WITH I TEMS IN A S ERIES AND C OORDINATE M ODIFIERS From the UWF Writing Lab’s 101 Grammar Mini-Lessons Series Mini-Lesson #38.
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Comma Rules.
Writing Lab Semicolons.
Plurals: Letters, Numbers, Symbols, Time Periods, etc.
Pronoun Case and Comparisons
Writing Lab Commas with Sentence Tags, Conjunctive Adverbs, Parenthetical Elements, and Interrupters.
Writing Lab Slash or Virgule.
Diction: Amount and number, Fewer and Less, Between and Among
Punctuating Quotations
Diction: A Lot & All Right
Agreement-Simple Problems
Writing Lab Idioms.
Compass Directions vs. Geographical Areas
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Commas with Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Elements
Writing Lab Colons.
Vague Pronoun Reference
Commas with Degrees and Titles
Intervening Word Groups
Writing Lab Hyphens.
Capitalization-Religion
Writing Lab Diction: Then vs. Than.
Capitalization—Political Groups, Departments, and Organizations
Writing Lab Dangling Modifiers.
Diction- Kind of and Sort of; Could of, Should of, and Would of
Writing Lab You - Irregular Use.
Adjectives and Adverbs – Linking Verbs
Writing Lab Capitalization of Titles – Professional, Military, Literary Works, Newspapers, and Magazines.
Capitalization – Academic Classifications
Subjects Preceded by Each, Every, and Many
Adjective and Adverbs – Common Errors
Writing Lab Misplaced Modifiers.
Possessive Pronouns vs. Contractions
Agreement-Indefinite Pronouns
Capitalization-Races, Nationalities, and Species
Verb Forms: Lie/Lay, Sit/Set, Rise/Raise
Agreement-Singular Subjects
Writing Lab Sentence Fragments.
Verb Forms: -ed endings
Quotation Marks with Other Marks
Objective Case Pronouns
Pronoun Reference - Who, Whose, Which, Where, and That
Commas with Quotations
Agreement- “A/The Number of” And “A/The Percentage of”
Possessives with Plural Nouns
Writing Lab Diction: A and An.
Pronoun Reference – Relative Pronouns
Diction: Affect and Effect
Capitalization—Names
Diction: Their, There, They’re; To, Too, Two; and Your and You’re
Commas with Compound Sentences and Compound Elements
Agreement- Compound Subjects
Writing Lab Ellipses.
Diction - Principal and Principle
Possessives with Gerunds
Comparisons: Comparative and Superlative Degrees
Commas in Dates and Geographic Units
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Diction: Used to and Supposed to
Pronouns and Nominative Case
Parallelism with Mixed Series
Commas with Introductory Elements
Pronoun Case with Who and Whom
Comparisons: Illogical, Ambiguous, and Incomplete
Writing Lab Agreement-Gerunds.
Parallelism: Correlative Pairs
Capitalization: Days of the Week, Months, and Holidays
Subjects and Complements
Pronoun Reference – Broad References Using Which and That
Writing Lab Here and There.
Presentation transcript:

Commas with Items in a Series and Coordinate Modifiers Writing Lab Commas with Items in a Series and Coordinate Modifiers

Items in a Series Use a comma to set off items (words, phrases, or short clauses) in a series. Words The plot has mystery, murder, and mayhem. Phrases We have a social responsibility to keep abreast of current issues, to work for reform, to communicate effectively, and to serve as role models. Clauses Marcy ordered the food, Hattie paid the cashier, and Marvin gassed up the car.

Items in a Series cont. In journalistic writing, the comma that separates the last two items is usually omitted. To avoid ambiguity, always use a comma before the coordinating conjunction. AMBIGUOUS: The party was made special by the company, the light from the hundreds of twinkling candles and the excellent hors d’oeuvres. CLEAR: The party was made special by the company, the light from the hundreds of twinkling candles, and the excellent hors d’oeuvres.

Items in a Series cont. 2 Do not use a comma to introduce or to close a series. INCORRECT: Three important criteria are, fat content, salt content, and taste. CORRECT: Three important criteria are fat content, salt content, and taste.

Coordinating Conjunctions or Compound Elements Do not use commas that separate items connected by coordinating conjunctions or compound elements consisting of only two items. INCORRECT: Kenya, and Sierra Leone are former British colonies. CORRECT: Kenya and Sierra Leone are former British colonies. CORRECT: We are working to change the image and myths about old age. CORRECT: To lose weight, Felipe ran and swam and cycled everyday for a month.

Coordinate Adjectives Use a comma between two or more coordinate adjectives. If the coordinate adjectives can be reversed and if you can insert and between the adjectives without changing the meaning of the sentence, use a comma. The fruit was crisp, tart, mellow – in short, good enough to eat. The adjectives “crisp,” “tart,” and “mellow” can be interchanged, and “and” falls naturally between the words. The fruit was tart, crisp, and mellow… The fruits was crisp and tart and mellow…

Coordinate Adjectives cont. Ten red balloons fell from the ceiling. “Ten” and “red” can’t be reversed, and “and” does not fall naturally between these two adjectives. INCORRECT: Red ten balloons fell from the ceiling. INCORRECT: Ten and red balloons fell from the ceiling. The word “ten” modifies the word group red balloons.

Coordinate Adjectives cont. 2 Never use a comma to separate the last adjective from the noun.

That’s all, folks! This lesson is part of the UWF Writing Lab Grammar Mini-Lesson Series Lessons adapted from Real Good Grammar, Too by Mamie Webb Hixon To find out more, visit the Writing Lab’s website where you can take a self-scoring quiz corresponding to this lesson