Comma Pairs
photo credit: Lincolnian
To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it’s about, but the inner music that words make. — Truman Capote
Before we wrap up our series on comma usage, let’s review what we’ve already covered. First we tackled the role of the comma in lists… then we wrangled with commas and clauses… and last week we covered the loose ends of commas… This week we will close by clarifying commas in pairs.
First, comma pairs are used to indicate (or bracket) additional, but unnecessary information in a sentence. This information can be removed from the sentence without damaging it:
When we drive to the cabin, which is in Wisconsin Rapids, we love to listen to baseball games.
Our dog, Juno, always joins us.
Now, if the additional information is crucial to the meaning of the sentence, then you do not need to bracket it with commas and, to be correct, really shouldn’t. However, most people wouldn’t notice the error:
Our dog, chasing the deer, was very happy.
The cabin, after the windstorm, was not damaged.
Neither of these sentences would retain the same meaning without the bracketed information, so simply remove the commas.
And that’s it for this week! Unless, of course, you have any questions… If so, simply drop me a comment. Next week we will check out my very favorite mark of punctuation — the semicolon!
Wondering what Tuesday Tips you’ve missed?
- Why Punctuation Matters
- Apostrophes: Contractions
- Apostrophes: Possessives
- Apostrophes: Plurals
- Commas: Lists
- Commas: Clauses
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KC,
I read this post and it reminded me that after most of us have been out of school for a long time, we may need a refresher in writing.
I’m glad to know that you are here. I’ll be back.
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