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Though there are some nuances I am omitting here, picking out a dependent clause is about finding the subject and verb and then checking for a word out in the front that goes with that subject and ...

We see this same pattern often: We have finished a sentence; then we throw in something that renames the subject of that sentence. ...We decided to spend the weekend away -- my husband and I....Th...

...The key that was hidden on the premises -- is it the one you used to get in that night? "The key that was hidden on the premises" is the start of a sentence that never gets finished. Then the ...

The word “that” is a problem in a clause in that it doesn’t always have something that it is doing in the clause it starts and can therefore be left out. It is equally correct to say. ...I know th...

This construction has the grammar elements turned around and out of order. The word "that" is the direct object, which has been pulled out to the front of the sentence. If the direct object were...

When an adverb clause comes in the middle of what it modifies, it takes commas around it. When the element it modifies is inside another dependent clause, the adverb clause still takes commas aroun...

Do not cap a word after a dash unless it always has to be capped. ...He was on his way to -- to visit her in the hospital. ...She helped him to -- helped her to the couch after she fell. When the...

When the word "Inc." is possessive, it does not take the second comma after it. ...It was Joe Doe Company, Inc.'s employee. Happy punctuating! Margie

A participle that immediately follows the word it modifies is punctuated according to essential/nonessential....It was my friend sitting on the end of the row that won the prize....It was John Jon...