21st Century Grammar Handbook (10 page)

However, it is also true that violations of virtually every rule of English
grammar
in some way in speech and writing have been, quite rightly, rewarded with the loftiest recognition and prizes. Similarly, grammatically correct but stuffy, stilted, boring language has been, again quite rightly, mercilessly mocked in satire, comedy, and other forums. The demand to speak the common language, to make oneself understood to as many people as possible is profoundly democratic and pervasive in our society. It allows the colloquial to penetrate the high, formal style at will.

That means the choices available to writers and speakers today are immense, but guidance in deciding what is the
right choice in the right circumstance is harder to come by. Perhaps that is a price of democratization of language. See also
dialect
and
language.

Colon.
The colon
punctuation
mark (:) sets off two more or less equal but quite distinct parts of a
sentence.
It can introduce
lists,
stand before full sentences that exemplify what previous
clauses
have delineated, or simply indicate that what follows illustrates what has gone before. Unlike a
semicolon,
which makes an abrupt break between segments of a sentence, the colon suggests that what follows is somehow equivalent to or illustrative of what has come before it. Here are some examples: “We saw the following: a car, a bridge, a horse.” “Your order consists of two parts: the main shipment and the packaging.” “The president made the following statement: ‘Dear friends…’”.

Note that anything following a colon is not capitalized unless it begins a full sentence (as when a colon is used to introduce a
quotation)
or is a word that in itself requires
capitalization
(such as a
name).
Generally, a colon is not necessary if no punctuation or simpler marking is possible. Thus a listing of items need not be introduced by a colon (“We saw a car, a bridge, and a horse.” “He said, ‘Dear friends…’ ”). Use a colon mainly when it is necessary to draw some attention to a separate but equivalent part of a sentence.

Come, came, come.
An
irregular verb
in its main,
past tense,
and past
participle
forms.

Comma.
The comma
punctuation
mark (,) has many uses, most of which are changing rapidly in modern
usage.
Where commas used to be necessary, they are no longer needed; where they never appeared, they now sometimes pop up. Some specific kinds of texts have firmer
rules
about commas than others; take into account the
audience
for which you are writing and its expectations.

The basic function of a comma is to separate two or more elements of a
sentence.
The elements might be
clauses
or
nouns
in a
list:
“The poet talked, and the painter listened.” “The student wrote novels, poems, and plays.” Note that newspaper and some other writing avoid the second comma in lists of three (or the last comma in longer lists that end with “something and something”). Most
standard English
accepts as correct lists that include the “serial comma” (as in the example). The decision about whether to use the last comma in a series will depend on the usage in the group you are addressing plus your own preferences. Whatever choice you make or is dictated to you, it is most important to be consistent: All lists should either contain or not contain the last comma in a
series.

The first example above of two independent clauses joined by a comma and
“and”
seems less ambiguous but isn’t. In today’s writing, particularly in fiction or any other slightly less formal, more conversational prose, the comma between independent clauses is often omitted, especially if they are short, simple clauses. Just what constitutes “short and simple” is debatable and subject to individual interpretation, which means that it is not uncommon to find much longer clauses joined by “and” or
“but”
and without a
comma. This probably will earn bad grades in a school paper and might cause grumbling or raised eyebrows in a business letter. But such omissions are found more and more commonly in academic publications and quite formal business writing as well. If you are unsure of your audience or the perception of such usages, err on caution’s side and include the comma between independent clauses or in a series.

Commas are also used to separate many other sentence elements, which are listed below more or less in order of frequency of occurrence.

Longer
prepositional phrases, infinitive phrases,
or participial
phrases
that begin sentences or dependent clauses in introductory positions in sentences are often set off by commas: “In the best of times and in the worst of times, people look for help.” “When it snows, the child skis.” Just what constitutes “longer” phrases is a matter of judgment, and some writers feel safer setting off all introductory phrases with a comma: “In January, it often snows.” Whatever judgments you make about which phrases to set off, it is most important to appear consistent in your decisions. See also
participle.

Phrases that show who said something that is quoted are commonly set off with commas as well as
quotation marks:
“‘Yes,’ the teacher said.” “The child whispered, ‘What
time is it?’ ” “‘Indeed,’ Smith opined, ‘there is reason for that.’ ” Such commas always appear within the quotes if the speaker follows the quotation marks (unlike British usage). Longer
block quotations
can be introduced by a comma even though no quotation marks appear around the quoted speech: “Kennedy delivered these remarks,

He then went on to say other things.”

The comma before the word “remarks” in the last example could also be a
colon
or could even be omitted altogether. See also
quotation.

Names of people directly addressed in a
sentence
are set off with commas: “Chris, please apologize.” “It is clear, Sandy, that Chris will not apologize.”

Addresses and other place
names
separate the elements of a location with commas: “Casper, Wyoming” “Rosewell,
NM”
“Adelaide, Queensland, Australia.”

While incidental or interjected words inserted into a
sentence
are best placed in
parentheses,
certain short
phrases
or stock phrases are commonly separated by commas. These phrases can be seen as kinds of
appositives:
“It is true, in my opinion, that prisoner is guilty.” “This comes, no doubt, as a surprise to you.” See also
interjection.

Words that are equivalent and stand together without connecting words or
phrases
are said to be in apposition. Such words or phrases are set off by commas: “The lawyer, a district attorney, spoke briefly.” See also
appositive.

Commas divide parts of
dates
when dates are written in month, day, year style: “November 23, 1963.” When dates are
written
in other
styles,
the comma is usually omitted: “23 November 1963.”

American standard
usage
puts commas in
numbers
that are greater than 999: “1,000” or “$5,276,489.00.” European usage differs, preferring
periods
where Americans put commas and commas where Americans put periods. Neither system puts commas into
dates:
“1963,” but “1,963 years ago.” In some tabular and scientific or business materials, commas do not appear in larger numbers.

Titles
that follow names are usually set off by commas: “Samantha Smith, Ph.D.,” “Eliot Ness, Jr.” Numerals following a
name
and titles before names do not need commas: “Dr. Jane Hart,” “King George III.”

It is sometimes helpful to add a comma where it is not required by any
rule
in order to make a sentence clearer. But take care not to put commas in just in case—they will confuse more than they clarify. RIGHT: “Coming in, in droves, they shouted greetings.” Although no rule requires that the two “in’s” in the example be separated by a comma, some readers will find the comma helps clarify the meaning. The sentence would probably be adequate without the first comma; the second is necessary. It is better to rewrite such sentences altogether. WRONG: “The guests, and the host came inside.” “Jones gave it to one, and the other.” “Smith said, that it was so.” “‘Why not?’ Kim asked.” In all these examples there is no need for a comma, which if present is confusing. See also
clarity
and
revision.

Common noun.
Common
nouns
refer to objects or people in general rather than specific
names
by which individuals are known. A dog might have a name; the name is a
proper noun
(usually capitalized), while the word “dog” is the general, common term applied to the class of animals—a common noun. The distinction between proper and common
nouns depends on their
usage
at any moment: something can be named “Dog,” just as a word we most commonly think of as a name or proper noun (Baker) can function as a common noun (“The baker made bread.”). See also
capitalization.

Compare to, with.
The distinction between these constructions is fading in all but the most formal writing. In very precise writing, one compares something to something else in order to suggest a similarity between the things: “The clerk compares the customer to a dragon.” One compares something with something else to suggest that similarities between them might be found: “The clerk compared the customer with a dragon but found the customer was far less terrible than was thought.”

Comparison.
Expression of degrees of some quality is comparison. Grammatically, it involves the use of
auxiliary
words like
“more”
or “most” or the comparative or
superlative
forms of words (“faster, fastest”). Words that indicate qualities of things or actions are
adjectives
or
adverbs.

Generally, words of one
syllable
form comparatives and superlatives by adding
“-er”
or
“-est,”
while longer words form comparatives and superlatives by adding the auxiliaries “more” and “most”: “longer, longest” “more pleasurable, most pleasurable.” Words of one syllable that end in “e” are made into comparatives by adding “-r” and “-st”: “simpler, simplest.”

Some irregular comparatives follow different patterns:
“good, better, best.”
It is important to learn these patterns
and not to add comparative elements to such words. WRONG: “more better.” Note also
bad,
badly,
ill (worse,
worst); well
(better, best); many, much, some
(more, most);
little
(less, least—quantity; little, littler, littlest—size).

Note that two things or people are compared, but more than two (even implicitly) require superlatives: “The second runner is slower than the first one is.” “The first runner is the fastest in the heat.” WRONG: “The first runner is the fastest of the two.”

Also be sure that all comparisons are complete: “The first runner is faster than the second runner is.” WRONG: “The first runner is faster.” Obviously, in the right context of preceding statements, the last wrong example could be acceptable—the point is to make sure that your reader knows what you are comparing to what even if the words aren’t all there in the
phrase, clause,
or
sentence
that contains the comparative or superlative word. Comparative and superlative forms do not take a
hyphen.

Complement, compliment.
The first word denotes something that completes or adds to something else, while the second refers to words of praise: “The poem’s dedication complemented the ode, which complimented the writer’s achievements.”

Compliment.
See
complement.

Compose, comprise.
Things that compose something are the parts or elements that go into it. The entity or whole that is created by the things that compose it then comprises or
embraces (contains) its parts. “Comprise” is used too often when “make up” or a similar simple construction would do better than this Latinism, which is also often confused with “compose.” WRONG: “The car was comprised of many parts.” This
usage
violates the strict meaning of the word “comprise.” RIGHT: “The car was composed of many parts.” Still stiff but technically correct. BETTER: “The car was made up of (had, contained) many parts.” RIGHT: “Grammar comprises punctuation, spelling, and many other rules and opinions.” See
Latin.

Compound predicate.
When two or more
verbs
are used in one
sentence
to describe the action a single
subject
takes, the verbs constitute a compound
predicate.
Compound predicates with two verbs joined by a
conjunction (“and” “but”
or the like) do not need to have a
comma
separating the verbs. WRONG: “In the spring bears emerge from hibernation, and search for mates.” No comma is needed anywhere in this sentence, though it is a common error to insert one.

Compound sentence.
Two or more independent
clauses,
however joined, constitute a compound sentence. Bear in mind that similar compound sentences should be joined in similar ways: with a
comma
and
“and”
or another
conjunction
or without such a comma—but consistently. Similarly, writers should take care with such sentences to be sure that
pronouns
are given clear
antecedents
across the joined clauses and that pronouns and
verbs
agree across the clauses (see
agreement).
UNCLEAR: “The teacher gave the student
the book, and they were correct.” BETTER: “The teacher gave the student books, and they were the correct ones.”