More Comma Love

I used to think commas were a gift from the Netherworld. After all, the inconsistency of the little bugs more than annoyed. They gave nightmares to trusting youngsters, offered weapons of belittlement to the all-knowing instructors who acted upon them with the smack of a ruler, and twisted the insides of every college student with a paper due.

Which is all of them and a lot of Pepto-Bismol.

All this writing I've been doing has succeeded in

giving me more comma clarity. I started blogging about commas last week and you can find that article HERE.

Here's what else I learned:

• With more than one adjectives in front of a noun, use a comma between them only if you would use the word and to separate them. Like if you said: The arrogant, stubborn captain of the Enterprise never listened to advice. In this case, an and can go correctly between arrogant and stubborn. On the other hand, I wouldn't need a comma in: The arrogant Enterprise captain never listened to advice.

• Of course, everyone knows to separate a city and state or a city and country with a comma. Just like when writing an address, this would be correct. Picard grew up near Paris, France. When the sentence continues after the country, another comma is needed, so that the country or state is set aside as extra information. Picard grew up near Paris, France, but didn't stay near home. The only time this wouldn't be the case is if the country is in a possessive form. Picard's boyhood home was near Paris, France's famous wine country.

So come on in!
(The sign actually begs for a semi-colon or period.)

• While you must always set off quotations with commas, be careful not to make them comma-spliced sentences. "Whatever you do," Han Solo said, "don't touch that button."
"I see the button," Luke responded. "Why do you have to be so bossy?" In the first sentence, the identifier breaks one sentence into two parts. In the second, It separates two different sentences. If a comma was used in place of the period, it would create a run-on sentence.

• Negatives, or contrast words, need a comma. Han, not Luke, had the recklessness to come through in a pinch. He became dependable, if not honorable. 

• Finally, use a comma to avoid confusion in your sentence. OR Finally use a comma to avoid confusion in your sentence. 

Hope this continued list has been helpful and informative. I found information at several sources, including my Precious Redhead's English book, Grammar and Writing by Bob Jones University Press, this website (http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas_big.htm#4), and that one (http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp).

What grammar rule gives you the most grief when you're writing?