english Flashcards
lists: commas
“I bought apples, oranges, and bananas.”
separate items in a list
double commas
, “My brother, who lives in New York, is visiting.”
information that doesn’t need to be there.
A comma in a sentence
“While I was studying, my friend called.”
Links dependent and independent clauses.
The independent “my friend called” makes the dependent “while i was studying” a full sentence. commas separate dependent and independent clauses because it is a half break. A semicolon cannot work in this instance because the dependent comes before the independent, so, it is not a complete thought.
Conjunctions
subordinating conjunction like “because,” “although,” “if,” “when,” “while,” etc. For example, “Although it was raining” is a dependent clause.
conjunctions work as a transition from independent to dependent.
comma splices
Don’t use a comma to join two independent clauses without a conjunction.
for example: the thoughts “I wanted to go for a walk” and “it is raining” are both complete, but if you wanted to join the two thoughts to give background to why or why not the person is going for a walk a conjunction is needed.
Incorrect: “I wanted to go for a walk, it is raining”.
correct: “I wanted to go for a walk, but it is raining”. The but in the sentence transforms it into a dependent clause.
semicolons for complete thoughts
Link closely related independent clauses: e.g., “I have a big test tomorrow; I can’t go out tonight.”
the two independents can exist by themselves, usually the second part of the sentence will add more meaning/background to the first.
for semicolons conjunctions are not used.
incorrect: “I wanted to go for a walk; but it started raining”.
correct: “I wanted to go for a walk; it started raining”.
there doesn’t need to be a transition word with semicolons when the meanings are similar.
lists semicolons
Separate items in a complex list: e.g., “The conference has attendees from Paris, France; Tokyo, Japan; and Sydney, Australia.
Different from commas because each place listed is also descriptive on the bigger region it’s a part of.
colons for lists
Introduce a list or explanation: e.g., “You need to bring the following items: a pen, a notebook, and a calculator.”
A colon is only necessary (and correct) when the list follows a complete independent clause.
colons, middle of sentence
Emphasize a point: e.g., “There’s one thing you must remember: practice makes perfect.”
A colon can also separate a sentence into two independent clauses when the two clauses are directly related, and you mean to emphasize the second clause. “The roads are icy: It’s dangerous to drive today.”
colons are more direct they will add more emphasis in a sentence. Semicolons are much more controversial.
dashes
Add emphasis or additional information: e.g., “The results were surprising—better than we expected.”
dashes for information
Set off nonessential elements: e.g., “My friend—who is a fantastic cook—made dinner.” the sentence can exist without the information within the dashes.
Less is more:
If multiple choices seem correct, choose the one with the least punctuation.
