Punctuation

 

Punctuation tells us to slow down, notice this, take a detour, and stop.

29..1 – The Comma

• The comma divides items into lists, but is not required before the and on the end:

The four refreshing fruit flavours of Opal Fruits are orange, lemon, strawberry and lime.

The rule here is that the comma is correct if it can be replaced by the word and or.

• The Oxford comma – also known as the serial comma:

The flag is red, white, and blue.

Use the Oxford comma to prevent confusion, for stylistic reasons.

• Use the comma in a list of adjectives, where an ‘and‘ would be appropriate.

It was a dark, stormy night.

• Commas are used when two complete sentences are joined together, using such conjunctions as and, or, but, while and yet.

The boys wanted to stay up until midnight, but they grew tired and fell asleep.

• However and nevertheless. If these two words join a sentence, either make a new sentence or join them with a semicolon:

It was the Queen’s birthday on Saturday; nevertheless, she had no post whatever.

• Commas filling gaps

Missing words are marked by a comma.

Annie had dark hair; Sally, fair.

• Comma before direct speech.

The Queen said, “Doesn’t anyone know it’s my birthday?”

• Commas setting off interjections.

Stop, or I’ll scream.

• Commas that come in pairs.

You use them to mark both ends of a “weak interruption” to a sentence – of a piece of “additional information.”

The Queen, who has double the number of birthdays of most people, celebrated yet another one.

In this case, the bits between the commas can be removed, leaving the sentence grammatically entire.

From: Truss, Lynne, Eats Shoots and Leaves, London, 2003, pp. 68-102. (ISBN: 1 86197 6127)

29..2 – In English, the comma is sometimes used the same way as it is in German, sometimes differently.

29..2.1 – Similarities

In English, as in German, the comma is used:

To separate items on a list: He bought apples, pears and bananas.

He bought apples, pears, and bananas. (Oxford comma)

To separate adjectives (where ‘and’ could be used to connect them): It was a cold, wet, windy day.

Before a concessive clause introduced by ‘but’, ‘although’, ‘except’ etc.:

Fiona was asked to write the minutes, but she refused.

29..2.2 – Differences

In English, unlike German, a sentence expressing one basic thought is not divided by commas, even if it extends over two or more clauses. Consider the following:

Everybody knew that he would pass the exam

Could you please tell me where I can find her?

It is still unclear why the plane crashed.

The police have no idea how he did it.

I will pay for the wine if you pay for the food.

She decided to go for a long walk in the park.

The bullet that killed him ricocheted off the wall.

That is the doctor who performed my operation.

He left because he was not feeling too well.

Jane said she had no idea why he had not come.

I know that you know that I know.

Here, in each case, the thought expressed is logically indivisible; no part of it could be bracketed off without losing essential information. So in English, unlike German, there is no comma.

Exceptions to this rule occur:

1. When the dependent clause precedes the main clause:

If you pay for the food, I will pay for the wine.

1. b. When there is an introductory phrase:

On Monday morning, John decided to hitch-hike to London.

1. c. Before, during or after direct speech:

John said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you”.

“If you try hard enough”, Mary said, “you will succeed”.

“I’ve had enough”, said Sean.

1. Before, around or after connectors like ‘however’, ‘nevertheless’, ‘though’, therefore’, ‘consequently’, etc.:

Therefore, uncontrolled chain reactions are dangerous.

There is, nevertheless, reason to believe that he cheated.

The problem can easily be solved, however.

1. When there is a special need for clarity:

To Margaret, John bequeathed his flat in Spain.

However, even here- in the exceptions to the rule -English punctuation differs from German in most cases.

 

When a sentence contains additional (i.e. non-essential) information, this information should be separated by a comma. Compare:

The man who lives next door used to play cricket for Yorkshire.

My boss, whose office is next to mine, is always dropping in on me when I least expect it.

Compare also:

I couldn’t eat it because it was too hot.

I prefer Japanese cuisine to Indian or Chinese because I find it is easier on the stomach.

Note

Please note that the English comma is weaker than the German comma. It cannot be used to separate clauses that could easily stand as individual sentences. In such cases, English uses a semi-colon:

Janet finally passed; it was high time.(German might write: Janet hat endlich bestanden, es war auch höchste Zeit.).

Be careful with abbreviations. In British English, they write the day first but in American English, they write the month first. If you write: 12.11.23 or 12/11/23 the British will think you mean the twelfth of November, Americans the eleventh of December. To avoid confusion write like this: 12 February  2024 Note: no full stop after the date and capitalize the month.