Category_MWW Blog>The Comma

Commas and the Year and the Adjective

Are there commas around the year when, with the date, it is a direct adjective? ...the May 15, 2012, letter... ...the August 9, 1939, birth date... The year following the date is always surrounde...
Category_MWW Blog>The Semicolon

The Adverb Being Used as a Conjunction

This one is from an answer on Facebook to the question of what punctuation these sentences need: ...He worked late on Friday; so he couldn't attend the party. ...She approached the intersection ca...
Category_MWW Blog>The Comma

The Word "Or"

The word or works just like the word and. In a series when the conjunction, the word or, appears between each member of the series, use no commas. ...tan or blue or silver... ...25 or 28 or 31......
Category_MWW Blog>The Comma

The Answer "No"

When an attorney has asked a compound question ...Do you remember whether Ray was there?... and the response he gets is "No," there is another question to be asked. ..."No," you don't remember? ...
Category_MWW Blog>The Comma

Commas with Adverbs

An interesting question was asked over on FB this mornng. I am stealing a bit from Jim Barker's forum. ..."Are you dating someone?" asked Scott casually. ..."Ashley was absolutely not involved," s...
Category_MWW Blog>The Quotation Mark

Comma Before a Predicate Nominative

A "predicate nominative" is a noun or pronoun that follows a condition verb and renames the subject. ...My mom is an engineer... ...Her name is the same as mine... ...She became a lawyer... Somet...
capital letter

Participles

A participle, the -ing or -ed form of the verb that is being used as an adjective, that comes right after the word it modifies is punctuated based on "essential/nonessential." If the participle is ...
Category_MWW Blog>The Hyphen

Just Musing...

As I was listening to the news a couple of days ago, the newscaster said, "The several million dollar homes in that area are...." It is clear that it has to be "...the several-million-dollar homes...
Category_MWW Blog>The Comma

The Word "So" -- Again

We continue to struggle with this word "so" -- so little and so much trouble!! When "so" means "in order that" and implies the reason for doing something, it is a subordinate conjunction that begi...