commas & advanced punctuation

Question 1

What do ellipses usually represent when not in quotations?

Answer 1

Long pause or hesitation, or that something is broken off/incomplete.

Question 2

Is there such a thing as too many ellipses?

Answer 2

Yes, too many ellipses, dashes, or even commas can interfere with smoothing writing & should be used sparingly.

Question 3

What is the difference between ellipses & dashes to show a sentence is incomplete?

Answer 3

𝓭𝓪𝓼𝓱: shows someone is interrupted or suddenly breaks off.

𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓹𝓼𝓮𝓼: implies person trails off or gets lost in thought.

Question 4

What do ellipses stand in for when filling in for pause?

Answer 4

Silence.

Question 5

What do ellipses stand in for when filling in for a break?

Answer 5

Missing parts of a sentence/list.

Question 6

What do ellipses in quotations show?

Answer 6

You’re leaving out part of the quote.

Question 7

Are ellipses needed when quoting something if you shorten the quote? (IE: Cutting off beginning/end of sentence/quote)

Answer 7

No, only when you remove a middle part of sentence/quote.

Question 8

When shortening a quote, are you able to change a word?

Answer 8

Yes, only to clarify meaning. Cannot change the meaning of full quote. New word(s) go in [𝓫𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓮𝓽𝓼]

Question 9

Do ellipses at the end of sentences act as a period, or is a period/other punctuation still needed?

Answer 9

There are different styles, but typically the way to go is end sentence with period/question mark as usual, followed by a space, then ellipsis.

Question 10

What are commas typically used to set off?

Answer 10

Non-essential phrases/information, lets the reader know it’s just extra information.

Question 11

Do names at the beginning of a sentence always need a comma?

Answer 11

No. If name isn’t separate no comma is needed. (IE: “John, can you get me a water?” vs “John brought me some water.”

Question 12

Are commas needed when sentence begins with subordinate clause or prepositional phrase?

Answer 12

Yes. (IE: When you go to the store, don’t forget to buy milk)

Question 13

How can you check if a word/phrase is non-essential?

Answer 13

Inessential if sentence still makes sense without the word/phrase, or it still makes sense when you move the word/phrase to a different part of sentence.
*𝒸𝓁𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 “𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉” 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓪𝓵𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝒶𝓁.

Question 14

Are commas needed for descriptions following a noun?

Answer 14

Yes.

Question 15

Do ending phrases need a comma?

Answer 15

Yes. If you’re able to recognize introductory & inessential phrases, you’ll recognize most ending phrases.

Question 16

Does a subordinate clause in a sentence always need a comma?

Answer 16

No, only when it comes at the 𝓫𝓮𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 of sentence to show when 𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓬𝓵𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 begins.

Question 17

What are ways to check for unneeded commas?

Answer 17

• The subject & verb always go together.

- Don’t split up prepositional phrases.

Question 18

Are commas needed with 𝓕𝓐𝓝𝓑𝓞𝓨𝓢 words?

Answer 18

Only if it’s joining 2 independent clauses.

Question 19

Should commas go around restrictive clauses?

{Restrictive clause - Clause explaining/defining what you’re talking about}

Answer 19

No!

Question 20

When are commas unneeded for adjectives?

Answer 20

When order of adjectives can’t be changed.

Question 21

What are dashes used for?

Answer 21

Dashes show that something’s important. May look like a hyphen, but really work more like a comma, just bigger & more important.
Super comma!
They’re used to set off extra information, just give more emphasis than a comma. Can be used around an inessential phrase in a longer/more complicated sentence to make it easier to read.

Question 22

What is the use of a hyphen?

Answer 22

Joining words together, when you have 2+ words coming 𝓫𝓮𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮 a noun & work like an adjective.
Not used unless it’s in front of a noun.

Question 23

What is the rule for hyphens and adverbs?

Answer 23

Unneeded with adverb like “very” or words ending in “-ly.” {IE: “She wrote a strongly-worded letter” would be incorrect.}

Question 24

Are hyphens used for spelling out numbers?

Answer 24

Only for numbers twenty-one to ninety-nine, or spelled out fractions.

Question 25

Are hyphens needed for prefixes?

Answer 25

Sometimes.
If prefix is in front of a proper noun. (IE: anti-American, or mid-August.)
When prefix changes meaning of word. (IE: “recover” word meaning get better. If you want to put a new cover on chair, you’d “re-cover” it.
& Always used for the prefixes “ex-“, “self-“, & “all-“. (IE: ex-marine, self-critical, all-knowing)