Here are two sentences identical in every way except for a millimeter-size black mark (otherwise called a comma) after the word email. Do these sentences mean the same thing, or something entirely different: The manager’s report included a detailed email, claiming other employees were involved as well. The manager’s report included a detailed email claiming …
Tag Archives: Commas
Comma Yes? Comma No?
No topic in the craft of English composition raises more questions than the comma. The difficulty lies in the fact that there are so many reasons we may need, or not need, to place a comma somewhere in a sentence: sometimes the comma will help us be clear about what we’re saying, and sometimes it …
Cutting Commas to Define
Just where to put commas—or whether we should put any at all—seems to be the eternal question for many writers. There are times when we have a choice, but there are also times when the meaning of what we’re saying will falter with or without them. The rule to follow our ear, in other words, …
Commas or Parentheses?
What is the difference between a comma and a parenthesis? Or better, when do we set off information with a pair of commas and when do we use parentheses instead? The answer will show us why we speak more often of the art, and not the science, of writing. The comma, of course, is one …
More About Commas
You would think that a few small marks between words every now and then wouldn’t cause so much trouble, but they do, for a lot of people. We looked last time (Some Common Commas) at several standard uses of the comma, including how to use them in a construction called apposition. That use is not …