That clauses following a verb expressing mental action are always essential. My niece , wearing a yellow jumpsuit, is playing in the living room. The Green party candidate , who had the least money, lost the election. Apples , which are my favorite fruit, are the main ingredient in this recipe. Professor Benson , grinning from ear to ear, announced that the exam would be tomorrow. Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses written in a series.
The Constitution establishes the legislative , executive , and judicial branches of government. The candidate promised to lower taxes , protect the environment , reduce crime , and end unemployment. The prosecutor argued that the defendant, who was at the scene of the crime , who had a strong revenge motive , and who had access to the murder weapon , was guilty of homicide. Use commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun.
Be sure never to add an extra comma between the final adjective and the noun itself or to use commas with non-coordinate adjectives. Coordinate adjectives are adjectives with equal "co"-ordinate status in describing the noun; neither adjective is subordinate to the other.
You can decide if two adjectives in a row are coordinate by asking the following questions:. If you answer yes to these questions, then the adjectives are coordinate and should be separated by a comma.
Here are some examples of coordinate and non-coordinate adjectives:. The 1 relentless , 2 powerful 3 summer sun beat down on them. The 1 relentless , 2 powerful , 3 oppressive sun beat down on them. Both and are coordinate. Use a comma near the end of a sentence to separate contrasted coordinate elements or to indicate a distinct pause or shift. Use commas to set off phrases at the end of the sentence that refer to the beginning or middle of the sentence. Such phrases are free modifiers that can be placed anywhere in the sentence without causing confusion.
If the placement of the modifier causes confusion, then it is not "free" and must remain "bound" to the word it modifies. Use commas to set off all geographical names, items in dates except the month and day , addresses except the street number and name , and titles in names. When you use just the month and the year, no comma is necessary after the month or year: "The average temperatures for July are the highest on record for that month.
In , Marx wrote , "Workers of the world, unite! Commas in the wrong places can break a sentence into illogical segments or confuse readers with unnecessary and unexpected pauses. Don't put a comma between the two verbs or verb phrases in a compound predicate. Don't put a comma between the two nouns, noun phrases, or noun clauses in a compound subject or compound object.
Don't put a comma after the main clause when a dependent subordinate clause follows it except for cases of extreme contrast. General Writing Punctuation Commas. The game was over , but the crowd refused to leave. I asked Sam which bus I should take. Real-time suggestions, wherever you write. Comma Before Which Brittney Ross.
Use a comma before which when it introduces a nonrestrictive phrase. Grammar What Are Modal Verbs? Writing, grammar, and communication tips for your inbox.
Write with confidence. Get real-time suggestions wherever you write. Transitional expressions are not required in a sentence but help the reader relate the previous thought or idea with the one presented. Used in an example sentence, it would look like this:. There are a few direct synonyms to the phrase that you can use interchangeably without changing the sentence.
A wonderful resource for synonyms and definitions is The Oxford New Essential Dictionary that you can also purchase on Amazon. It is another helpful resource when you are struggling to find that right word or phrase.
These phrases are very similar but have subtle differences. Take a look at this sentence:. This sentence shows the cause and effect relationship between a dog barking and the subject developing a headache.
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