Punctuation rules

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maj

#3436 Mon, 04 Aug 03 06:39 PM

Could somebody post the most basic punctuation rules, the ones that we should all respect?

maj

Joined on Mon, Mar 31 2003

Senior Member (4,756)

Punctuation

hitchhiker

#3498 Tue, 05 Aug 03 02:41 AM

I was always told to "keep punctuation to a minimum!". Apparently native English speakers use too much in their writing.

hitchhiker

Joined on Mon, Nov 18 2002

Malta, Europe

Senior Member (3,390)

OK, so ten out of ten for style, but minus several million for good thinking, yeah?

Punctuation

kitkattail

#4053 Tue, 12 Aug 03 09:37 AM

As far as I'm concerned, the most important punctuation rule is that the comma splice should be avoided. It is an evil, evil, evil, evil thing. It is the bane of my existence.

kitkattail

Joined on Tue, Aug 12 2003

Toronto

Full Member (400)

Commas, Punctuation

maj

#4066 Tue, 12 Aug 03 10:37 AM

"You have to be cruel to be kind"

maj

hitchhiker

#4087 Tue, 12 Aug 03 04:02 PM

Also see our frequently asked questions

hitchhiker

Jacko

#4112 Tue, 12 Aug 03 07:55 PM

"It is an evil, evil, evil, evil thing."

This is not a comma splice. I don't know what it's called, but I certainly don't see two independent clauses here. Also, in writing, this (evil, evil, evil, evil) can easily be avoided because writing this way makes writing carry a conversational tone. However, I guess this is acceptable if you can (try hard to) weave it to create a good stylistic effect on paper.

Jacko

Joined on Fri, Jun 20 2003

Full Member (215)

Clauses, Commas

kitkattail

#4127 Wed, 13 Aug 03 12:07 AM

Oh, yes yes, I know. I wasn't trying to be witty by committing my own error; I was merely expressing my hatred of the comma splice. (Note the semicolon in the previous sentence... you see? Wink [;)]

)
The evil, evil, etc. thing is not technically wrong, merely redundant and kind of stupid. As you said, it's a conversational thing, and that's how I was using it. I find it sort of quaint.

kitkattail

Colons, Commas, Semicolons

Jacko

#4191 Wed, 13 Aug 03 10:15 AM

Do you know what it's called though? I would really like to know because learning new stuff is fun (haha, the geeky side in me is kicking again lol)! I used some stupid techniques when I write my essay, such as purposely making two sentences redundant side by side. I guess it's nice to break those stupid grammar rules every once in a while.

BTW, I hope you didn't take my post in a negative way because it's really hard to convey emotions by reading ASCII characters.

Jacko