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Category_MWW Blog>General
More on the Word "So" -- Even If We Don't Even Want to Go There Again
Facebook had a couple of interesting questions/examples on "so." SO I thought it would be good to take a look at them. This is my answer to the questions about the word "so" in the FB sentence belo...
Category_MWW Blog>The Period
A Different Meaning for the Period or Semicolon Before "Is That Correct?"
Deciding to use a period versus a semicolon before "Is that correct?" and expecting your reader to distinguish that they mean something different is an exercise in extreme subtlety. This distinctio...
Category_MWW Blog>The Comma
Tag Clauses
A recent FB answer to why the first kind of tag clauses take a comma and why there cannot be a comma before the word "right" by itself.
"Didn't you' and "has he" echo the words of the question. Th...
Category_MWW Blog>The Comma
Dependent Clauses
This is an email question from yesterday.
...…Okay. Now, you told us, Ms. Ryan -- right? -- at one point you got up you left the room and you went to the bathroom. Is that right?
Amid all the o...
Category_MWW Blog>The Comma
The Word "So"
When the word so means "therefore," it starts a new sentence and takes a semicolon or period in front of it and no single comma after it because it is only one syllable.
...We left early; so I miss...
Category_MWW Blog>General
The Adverb That Gets Bumped up to Conjunction
Sometimes an adverb gets pulled out to the beginning of a sentence to form a "bridge" to the sentence before it. It becomes a linking word for the two sentences and shows a relationship between the...
Category_MWW Blog>The Colon
"i.e." and Its Friends
These eight expressions are often used when something is being renamed or reiterated:
i.e., that is, e.g., for example, to wit, namely, for instance, in other words
The punctuation depends upon w...
Category_MWW Blog>The Semicolon
Parallel Construction and the Semicolon
...I arrived on Saturday; he arrived on Sunday.
...He resigned in 2010; she resigned in 2011.
...The first train leaves at 5:00 A.M.; the last train leaves at 10:00 P.M.
The Rule: When two sentenc...
Category_MWW Blog>The Comma
The Word "So" -- Third Time Is a Charm?
So we had a discussion over on FB about "so" -- again!
As you all know, I want us to punctuate according to the grammar that is going on in the sentence. I believe with my heart and soul that punc...