Lemme prove it to you.
Here's the most complicated sentence I could think of on the fly:
After eating supper with my husband, I decided to go to the movies, but he didn't want to go; we stayed inside and watched TV instead, and it may not be as exciting, but I enjoyed spending extra time with him because it is something we so rarely get to do.
- After eating supper = prep phrase. It should be followed by a comma, but it's not because there's another prep phrase behind it.
- with my husband = prep phrase. It's the last prep phrase, so it's followed by punctuation (a comma).
- I decided to go to the movies= independent clause, not followed by punctuation...
- ...except that the next word is "but" followed by an independent clause--"but he didn't want to go"-- so, you follow this rule: IC, cc IC.
- we stayed inside and watched TV instead = independent clause following an independent clause; therefore, the rule is: IC; IC, so you separate it with a semicolon.
- and it may not be as exciting = IC (so it's joined with conjunction + comma)
- but I enjoyed spending extra time with him = IC (see above)
- because it is something we so rarely get to do = dependent clause, so it must be followed with punctuation--and it is: the period.
PP PP, IC, cc IC; IC, cc IC, cc IC DC.
It's a thing of beauty, isn't it?
The rules work whichever way you do them. Let's say I make up this series of ridiculously long phrases and clauses:
DC, IC; IC PP, IC DC, IC PP.If I make a sentence made of those parts, the commas and semicolons would be the same. See:
When I make pizza, my husband is happy; he loves pizza after a long day of work, it's his favorite food because when I cook it, it reminds him of home in the summertime.
Told ya so. That's the exact same components, just with the words filled in. The commas and semicolons still stay the same. Don't believe me? I'll do it again, just using different words.
Exact same set-up as the other sentence--DC, IC; IC PP, IC DC, IC PP--just with different words. But the words don't matter--the commas and semicolons are still in the same place.
After I graduated college, I wanted to move to England; it wasn't in the cards for me, I fell in love with a man who loved me back, and we got married within a year.
And that's it. With the IC/DC rules, along with the PP and rule exceptions, you know all you need to know about those tricky commas and semicolons.
Final word. Now that you know the rules, feel free to break them. Good writers do. But good writers KNOW THE RULES FIRST.
Questions? As far as I'm concerned, this is it for the grammar post. But if you've got other pressing grammar questions--or if my IC/DC rules don't make sense to you--feel free to yell at me in the comments below.
22 comments:
Wow! So helpful but my head is spinning!
My brain is on fire! Lol, I really hate grammar, but this is awesome. :)
hahah I love that you do these but i have nasty habit of my eyes glazing over when it comes to grammar. but you explain it well and we all need a refresher.
Another great post!
You have some blog awards:
http://anotherbookblogwhore.blogspot.com/2009/05/blog-awards-yay.html
While I can see the rules work, the sentence example you give is what I'd call an example of really bad writing. It's not technically a run-on, but it feels that way to me. Thanks though for this entire series of posts on grammar. I'm one of the masses who need these reminders and explanations all the time.
STOP! I think my head just exploded.
Okay, my head didn't explode, but grammar and math send me to the therapist. Thanks for the post.
S
I would have thought that you need a period after "he loves pizza after a long day of work" and in the corresponding sentence in the next example.
Thanky, thanky, thanky! Uh, now I need to show you in my MS that I learned all this. And I did learn, it's just that old habits.... But break them I shall!
Did you get the storm yesterday? :)Still praying!
Thanks.. I always struggle with commas.. And grammar.. :)
Hey guys! Sorry to make heads explode, etc.
Re: the example sentences. I know they're not that good--I just wanted to show you that no matter how long and confusing they are, they can still be technically correct with the right punctuation. In real life, I'd never write a sentence like that (and I'd label a student paper a run-on if it was like that). I just wanted to show that no matter what kind of sentence you're dealing with, it still has the same rules applying to it.
Snarfle. Love it.
I was going to ask about this very thing. Thanks so much, Beth.
(You owe me a new head) :p
You are officially a grammar nut!
But you could also use a period between England and it and me and I.
After I graduated college, I wanted to move to England. It wasn't in the cards for me. I fell in love with a man who loved me back, and we got married within a year.
Sheri: Absolutely--and it would be a better sentence that way. I just wanted to show that if you did need to join independent clauses, you could with semicolons.
Maybe next time I should put more effort into thinking of better example sentences!
*swoon* My, manuscript. Thanks, you!
Thank you for your grammar rules; I am ecstatic to have found them! I am one of the was comma impaired. My husband thinks I'm nuts (NO COMMA) because I am giddy. I had a professor in college who told me I "suffered a plague of commas." I never understood the comment nor how to resolve the problem. Thank you for this invaluable information. Now before I embarrass myself, I'm off to edit everything I've ever written.
Great explanations! This is pretty much how we teach grammar to our freshmen. However, I'm such a punctuation nerd that I must point out a grammatical error:
"If you wanted to break down this sentence into it's parts..."
It's = it is
Its = possession
Thank you, Beth. I have a question on this sentence:
"This book has 40 chapters, written for young children, and filled with beautiful images."
Are "written for..." and "filled with" PP? What rule should I use here? I saw some people written it without commas, some with the first comma but not the second.
Thanks.
First of all, what a great post, Beth! It's so helpful! :)
Johnny, you've probably got it figured out by now, but just in case you didn't...
I believe your sentence should be something more like: This book has 40 chapters written for young children, and they are filled with beautiful images.
"This book has 40 chapters" would be an IC, and since "written for young children" is a DC, you don't need a comma separating the two. "Filled with beautiful images" is a DC, and unless you want to make the sentence a run-on, I'd suggest adding in a subject and using the IC cc IC rule or the IC; IC rule instead, as pointed out by Beth. :)
Thanks again, Beth! You rock!
Excellent blog! I truly love how it’s easy on my eyes as well as the info are well written. Great job!!
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