Thread by @Ngwoke_Ifeanyi

A SHORT-TWITTER WRITING COURSE
Cc: @pencathedral
Tutor: @Ngwoke_Ifeanyi

TITLE: PUNCTUATION IN ENGLISH WRITING
DURATION: 15 Minutes Read/Day for 5 days.
COST: Just RT with the hashtag #PunctuationMatters
#PunctuationMatters
#English
#amwriting
DAY 3
📎 THE COMMA MARK

Let's get down to business!

THE COMMA.

Yesterday, we talked about end marks: full stop, question mark and exclamation mark. While these punctuation marks end sentences, the COMMA mark indicates a small break or soft pause.

You can pause anywhere in speeches; not in writings.

Use a comma,

1. After an Introductory Phrase: Always separate an introductory word or phrase with a comma before the the main sentence.

Examples:
"Personally, I hate red shoes."

"After watching tennis, the man slumped and died."

Note: Don't use...

...introductory phrases to start sentences except in cases where you intend to show emphasis. Introductory phrases make you write in passive voice.

Example 2. could be written as "The man slumped and died after watching tennis," if watching tennis didn't cause his death.

2. When making a list:

"I bought a pen, wallet, notepad and chalk board."

"Togo, Nigeria, Ghana, and Benin Republic are in West Africa."

Note: Notice that there's a comma before and in the second example. This is called an Oxford comma (serial comma) and it is not compulsory.

3. When using Interrupters or Parenthetical Elements:
Interrupters are little words or phrases that are used to show tone, emphasis and emotions in a sentence. Parenthetical elements serve the same purpose but they only add a little,not-too-neccessary information to the sentence.

Look at these:
"My communication skills, especially my writing skills, make me a good addition to any organization."

That's a parenthetical element: "especially my writing skills."

"The man, I've ever wanted to see, just arrived."

"I've ever wanted to see" is an interrupter.

4. When writing an Attributive and Question Tag: An attributive tag is a quote that is linked to it source. For example, Mr. Bones only said, "Good luck." A question tag is a short question that is used after a sentence to seek the opinion or attention of the reader or audience.

For example, "Red is a primary color, Isn't it?"

Always use a comma before or after an attribute quote.
"We paid for the vaccines," the BUA Group Manager said.

Use a comma before a question tag.
"We'll all pass the test, do you agree?"
Be careful. A full stop may help here too.

5. When using a Non-essential Appositive: Appositive are words or phrases that refers to the same noun in the same sentence. If they are not necessary, they're called non-essential appositives, and they should be included with a comma. If they are necessary, they're essential.

See this:
"My dog, Liberty, is pregnant.

"Liberty" is not necessary in this statement. It's still your dog.

"Tyler Perry new movie The Theatre is a box office classic."

Here, he has many movies. You need to specify. Notice that we don't use commas with essential appositives.

6. When writing dates including the year and specific days of the week.

DD-MM-YY: You don't need a comma.
12th March 1996.
MM-DD-YY: Use a comma to set off the year.
October 20th, 2020

Use the comma when you include specific days of the week.

"Tuesday, March 12th, 1996.

7. When writing a sentence with many coordinating adjectives: Coordinating adjectives are multiple adjectives that can describe a noun in the same way. Like, if you switch the position of these adjectives in a sentence, you won't change the meaning of that sentence.

See this:

"Aisha is a saucy, proud, and arrogant nurse."

Aisha is is a proud, saucy and arrogant nurse."

Even when you change the positions of the adjective, you'll preserve the meaning of the sentence.

Always use comma to separate coordinating adjectives if they're more than two.

If they're just two, you can use the conjunction "and" between the adjectives without including a comma.

8. After a parenthesis: We'll talk about parenthesis later in this course.
See this example:

"Manchester United (which is located in England), plays Spanish Getafe today."

9. Before a conjunction that joins two independent clauses: Independent clauses are clauses that make complete meaning and can stand alone as a complete sentence.

You can use a conjunction to join them though. However, place a comma before the conjunction.

Example:

"I bought a new bicycle, so I could exercise on my way to work every morning."

"Bisola sang her favorite song in last night show, although the audience the other track on her album."

Did you notice the conjunctions "so" and "although?"

There's a comma before them.

10. When writing with a direct address. A direct address sentence starts with the person you're addressing.

For example,

"David, I can't find my protest placard. Umar, where's my shoes."

"All of you here, won't you retweet this thread and follow me on Twitter?" 😂 😂 😂

Comma misuse is a very popular and frequent typo and grammar error in everyday writing.

See this:

I love eating my family and our neighbors.
"I love eating, my family and our neighbors."

Take your time to learn these 10 Comma rules.

Tell me something today, how was it?

There are other situations, about 10 of them also, where you shouldn't use a comma.

For example, never use a comma after the word "before."

I rushed home before, the fire outbreak. ❌Wrong!

Let's get the first tweet in this thread to 100 Retweets, and I'll drop it here.

@hadizel @ToyosiGodwin @BolanleCole @Ausbones @greaterbayo @SadeeqKurbe @Oludeewon @thesanasi @akeula_trendy @Sports_Doctor2 @Okpala_IU @OgbeniDipo @henryshield @MrOdanz @Odunadekolade

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