Ending a grammar argument

Question

0I have been arguing with my boyfriend about his overuse of commas.  He thinks he uses them appropriately: hopefully this will end our argument.  Are the following sentences gramatically correct?  Why or why not?02br00Have you ever tried to just get along with some one with no01b01font00,02font00 02b00common interests, just a desire to talk and coexist? 02br02br00  One day, while going about your01b01font00,02font02b00 normal routine and minding your own  business, one of your friends says, "Hey dude, look in that building  over there."02br00Thanks for any help. 0-

Clive · Accepted Answer

0Hi,02br
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01font00I have been arguing with my boyfriend about his overuse of commas. He thinks he uses them appropriately01b01font00. H02font02b00opefully this will end our argument. Are the following sentences gramatically correct? Why or why not? 02font02br
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01font00Have you ever tried to just get along with some one with no01b00, 02b00common interests, just a desire to talk and coexist? 02font00Don't use a comma after 'no', because 'no common' foms a single adjectival phrase. 02br
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01font00 One day, while going about your01b00,02b00 normal routine and minding your own business, one of your friends says, "Hey dude, look in that building over there." 02font00Don't use a comma after a possessive adjective like 'your'.02br
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00Best wishes, Clive0-

MrPedantic · Answer

0Hello Branwen319, welcome to English Forums! (Are there really 318 other Branwens here?)02br
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00No comma is needed; "your" is a possessive pronoun, and "no" is an indefinite determiner (i.e. they're not adjectives). 02br
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00Two or more qualitative adjectives may be separated by a comma, e.g. "a long, thin piece of wood"; but if we use "my" instead of "a", it does not need to be followed by a comma, any more than "a" does (thus "my long, thin piece of wood", if for some reason we need to specify such a thing).02br
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00The trick is to treat the comma as a pause. Does your boyfriend pause after "your", when he says "your normal routine"? I doubt it. Better to save all those commas and cut down on toner.02br
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00Good luck!02br
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00MrP0-

Anonymous · Answer

0Hi branwen319 - There are no need for using comma for the first sentence. About the second sentence, i don't quite understand. However, i think there are many unnecessary commas used in the sentence. You should refer to the English grammer book. 02br
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00Hope this will helps.02br
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05000 Amber010id5

Ending a grammar argument

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