Commas and Apostophes

Commas and Apostrophes

The English language is difficult to master, but fun to play with. Strange word combinations, unusual syntax, and various grammar marks make writing fun, and better reading. Some of the punctuation gets used entirely too much.

The comma and the apostrophe both fit into that category. Their overuse is so common that writing full of grammatical errors now appears correct.

Commas are so easy to insert into a piece of writing that people often wonder, when reading a document that has been properly punctuated, where all the commas are. They think This person’s writing is missing ALL THESE COMMAS. But, it’s not.

In my college grammar class, we learned that you only need a comma after a dependant clause or in a list. Aha! But what’s a dependent clause? you ask.

A dependent clause is a phrase that has to have another, usually longer and explanatory phrase after it: Phrases beginning with Although, Regardless, Because, Besides are examples of dependent clauses.

Another mark of punctuation that gets used entirely too much is the apostrophe. Apostrophes show possession but are used in many ways for many purposes. The correctness of the job an apostrophe is doing is, many times, a figment of the writer’s imagination.

For example, you don’t need one when writing years using numbers. “It happened in the 1970s,” is an example. In the 50s is correct, not in the 50’s. Thus the decade is not in possession of anything.

It is very difficult to write the grammar marks correctly after years of doing it wrong. Popular novels have editors who usually don’t know what is correct, they are just used to seeing the marks, especially the comma, used incorrectly and are simply doing what they have done for years. I am guilty of it as well.

And the public reads their mistaken punctuation and it is an endless cycle. However, don’t give up on us!