Blog

When certain adverbs are pulled out to the front of a sentence and are used to form a bridge -- that is, show a relationship -- between two sentences, they become conjunctions which we call conjunc...

Remember that but needs an independent subject and verb after it in order to have a comma in front of it. ...didn't really see him, but she tried to get him on the phone. ...didn't really see him ...

Remember that a number or word that denotes an item in a list must be surrounded by punctuation. Sometimes that punctuation is something other than commas. ...in Indiana; two, in California; three...

The word although is like since and if, not like therefore and however. The word although is a subordinate conjunction, not a conjunctive adverb. The word although does not take a semicolon befor...

When a word represents one of the parties to the lawsuit, it should be capped. ...People will prove that... ...showing that the Union witness said... ...insist that the Government state that... H...

The use of ellipses to show trailing off has gained favor in many segments of the court reporting community. Many reporters express a desire to distinguish between a speaker who trails off and a s...

Just a brief pause to express my gratitude for the blessings of my life. Thank you to each one of you who have supported me and my career. I appreciate you. Wishing for each of you a day filled wi...

I was recently asked about surrounding "for one" in the sentence "I for one want to...." If the reason for commas is that "for one" is a parenthetical, then the answer is no commas. Remember that...

When someone says "quote/unquote," use a slash mark in between the words. Surround them with appropriate punctuation. Use the quote marks also. When the attorney says "okay" before he starts a que...