Grammar Friday

Posted on the 02 November 2012 by Pjfaur @peterfaur

Today’s two grammar tips:

  • Use commas before and after appositives, which explain who or what the noun is. So: “John Smith, our company president, gave an insightful presentation.” But no commas here: “Company President John Smith gave an insightful presentation.” (In this case, John Smith is part of the subject. If you leave out his name, the sentence doesn’t make sense.)
  • Use commas to indicate words that are implied but omitted. So: “Today I’ll eat chicken; tomorrow, beef.” (This actually means, “Today I’ll eat chicken; tomorrow I’ll eat beef.”)

Thanks for visiting. While you’re here, please look around the site. You can subscribe via e-mail or RSS feed. The tools to do so are at the top of the right-hand column. To share or retweet the entry, use the buttons below. You can follow me on Twitter: @peterfaur