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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Comma Usage
Hi!
I am an aspiring writer and majored in English in college. However, as I've gotten older, I have started questioning more and more comma usage in my own writing and that of others. I used to write quite fluently, and now I feel that my second-guessing is slightly dimming my skills.
One example (among many) that I have found is the following from an article about GPS:
Just as GPS was coming online, digital mapping applications were coming into widespread use. The first widely popular Web-based mapping application was MapQuest, launched in 1996; it also automatically generated driving directions. The most notable competitor to MapQuest has been Google Maps, which upon its 2005 premiere provided dramatic innovations in ease of use — as well as satellite and aerial images of the entire world, of sufficiently high resolution in many populated areas to see people walking down the street.
The bolded sentence is the clause in which the suspect comma lies. Shouldn't the writer have omitted the comma following "world"?
These and others often seem like comma splices or just plain poor use of randomly placed commas.
I am excited to see a response!
I am an aspiring writer and majored in English in college. However, as I've gotten older, I have started questioning more and more comma usage in my own writing and that of others. I used to write quite fluently, and now I feel that my second-guessing is slightly dimming my skills.
One example (among many) that I have found is the following from an article about GPS:
Just as GPS was coming online, digital mapping applications were coming into widespread use. The first widely popular Web-based mapping application was MapQuest, launched in 1996; it also automatically generated driving directions. The most notable competitor to MapQuest has been Google Maps, which upon its 2005 premiere provided dramatic innovations in ease of use — as well as satellite and aerial images of the entire world, of sufficiently high resolution in many populated areas to see people walking down the street.
The bolded sentence is the clause in which the suspect comma lies. Shouldn't the writer have omitted the comma following "world"?
These and others often seem like comma splices or just plain poor use of randomly placed commas.
I am excited to see a response!
Top answer
To me it seems optional (as many commas do). Much depends on the writer's flow of thought, the length of sentence segments that need to be or can reasonably comprehended as a unit, the complexity of the structure, etc. If the comma after 'world' is omitted, there is a chance that the reader may think (even momentarily) that it is the world that is highly resolved.
- To me it seems optional (as many commas do).
- Much depends on the writer's flow of thought, the length of sentence segments that need to be or can reasonably comprehended as a unit, the complexity of the structure, etc.
- If the comma after 'world' is omitted, there is a chance that the reader may think (even momentarily) that it is the world that is highly resolved.
- Commas placed for clarity may override stricter punctuation guidelines.
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1 Answers
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To me it seems optional (as many commas do). Much depends on the writer's flow of thought, the length of sentence segments that need to be or can reasonably comprehended as a unit, the complexity of the structure, etc.
If the comma after 'world' is omitted, there is a chance that the reader may think (even momentarily) that it is the world that is highly resolved. Commas placed for clari
If the comma after 'world' is omitted, there is a chance that the reader may think (even momentarily) that it is the world that is highly resolved. Commas placed for clari
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