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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Comma Usage
Are the comma usages in the following sentences correct? If not, why not?
"I danced in the road, and sang on the bed"
"I danced in the road, and I sang on the bed"
"I can dance in the road and sing on the bed"
"I can dance in the road and I can sing on the bed"
I guess my question boils down to: are the verbs in the last two sentences "can," and thus everything that follows is just a two part list? How is that resolved with the last sentence where the subject and verb are repeated? If I am lacking some fundamental knowledge on a specific topic please clarify them for me. Thank you.
"I danced in the road, and sang on the bed"
"I danced in the road, and I sang on the bed"
"I can dance in the road and sing on the bed"
"I can dance in the road and I can sing on the bed"
I guess my question boils down to: are the verbs in the last two sentences "can," and thus everything that follows is just a two part list? How is that resolved with the last sentence where the subject and verb are repeated? If I am lacking some fundamental knowledge on a specific topic please clarify them for me. Thank you.
Top answer
According to the strict rules, if you have two complete sentences joined by the "and" you use the comma. So, your should NOT have the comma, the second should, the third should not, and the fourth should. In practice, if the two independent clauses are very short, that comma is often omitted, and if you want the speaker to pause -- to draw attention to the contrast, for example -- you can put in the comma even if you don't repeat the subject.
- According to the strict rules, if you have two complete sentences joined by the "and" you use the comma.
- So, your should NOT have the comma, the second should, the third should not, and the fourth should.
- In practice, if the two independent clauses are very short, that comma is often omitted, and if you want the speaker to pause -- to draw attention to the contrast, for example -- you can put in the comma even if you don't repeat the subject.
- I would NOT use the comma that way in your first and third.
- Why do you want to sing on the bed?
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1 Answers
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According to the strict rules, if you have two complete sentences joined by the "and" you use the comma. So, your should NOT have the comma, the second should, the third should not, and the fourth should.
In practice, if the two independent clauses are very short, that comma is often omitted, and if you want the speaker to pause -- to draw attention to the contrast, for example -- you c
In practice, if the two independent clauses are very short, that comma is often omitted, and if you want the speaker to pause -- to draw attention to the contrast, for example -- you c
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