The Power of Punctuation
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
The Power of Punctuation
If you question the necessity of punctuation, here is a story that should illustrate its power.
A professor wrote on the chalkboard: A woman without her man is nothing.
He asked students to correct any punctuation errors. While most of the male students saw nothing wrong with the sentence, most of the females rewrote the sentence as follows: “A woman: without her, man is nothing.” As you can see, meaning is often derived from punctuation.
The use of the comma can be tricky with lists, particularly when appositives are used. (Appositives are words that clarify a word or words that came before.)
Example: Her book dedication read: To my parents, Sophie and Andrew
If Sophie and Andrew are her parents, then no comma is used after Sophie. If the dedication were meant for her parents, for Sophie, and for Andrew (three sets of people), then another comma after Sophie would be needed to avoid ambiguity.
Example: They took in Maddie, a student, and a puppy.
Do we mean two beings: a student named Maddie and a puppy? If so, we should rewrite the sentence for clarity.
Example: They took in a student named Maddie and a puppy. OR They took in Maddie, a student, as well as a puppy.
If we mean three beings, then we should also rewrite the sentence for clarification.
Example: They took in Maddie plus a student and a puppy. OR They took in Maddie as well as a student and a puppy.
If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
I remember seeing the sentence “A woman without her man is nothing” in an English class when I was an undergraduate. I had forgotten about it. I think I will use it with my students this fall. Thank you!
The purpose of this sentence is to show how punctuation can determine meaning. If you write, “A woman without her man is nothing,” you are likely to upset a lot of women (understandably). However, if you add a pair of commas to the sentence, you have a sentence about which many women would cheer: A woman, without her, man is nothing.
I saw a commercial advertising a specific brand of television, but the television is not what interests me the most. It is the way the slogan is punctuated: “You have to see it, to see it.” What is the comma’s function?
There is no function of that comma. The ad should have read: You have to see it to see it.
Should a comma be placed before the word “too” (“too” meaning “as well”) when it ends a sentence? (Example: I am going on vacation, too.)
Should a pair of commas surround the word “too” (“too” meaning “as well”) when it is in the middle of a sentence? (Example: I, too, purchased a new car from that dealer.)
Yes to both questions:
I am going on vacation, too.
I, too, purchased a new car from that dealer.
Please tell me if the following is a legitimate function of the comma and, if so, if it is necessary: Brad went to his soccer game; Randy, the mall; and Mark, his friend’s house.
Yes, a comma can be used in this way to indicate the omission of a word or words readily understood from context (elision).
I edit court reporter transcripts and often wonder about placing commas after states and dates as in years. In the question, “Were you in Texas when you got out of the military?” should there be a comma after “Texas”? Also, in the statement, “I have an October 15, 1993 letter that explains….,” should there be a comma after the year? What about if the sentence says, “I have a 1993 letter that explains….”?
You would not need a comma after the state in the example you gave. You would need the comma if the city and state both appeared: “Were you in Dallas, Texas, when you got out of the military?”
You would use a comma to separate the day of the month from the year and after the year.
I have an October 15, 1993, letter that explains…
If any part of the date is omitted, leave out the comma.
I have a 1993 letter that explains…
I have the same question as Christa and need to understand why a comma has to separate the date and the noun that it is specifically referring to? All the secretaries here at my work drops that comma when describing a specific article or meeting, except one secretary that is currently taking English. Did the rule change in recent years, as she has explained? News reporters seem to drop that comma as well.
Commas are needed to offset the year whenever the full date is expressed in American format. Both the Chicago Manual of Style and AP Stylebook recommend offsetting the date in this case. Chicago Manual of Style’s rule states, “Whenever a comma is used to set off an element (such as “1928” in the example below), a second comma is required if the phrase or sentence continues beyond the element being set off.
June 5, 1928, lives on in the memories of only a handful of us.
AP Stylebook says, “When a phrase refers to a month, day and year, set off the year with a comma: Feb. 14, 1987, is the target date.”
Seems that the secretary who is taking English learned the correct rule.
Good post. Keep going!