The dreaded comma
One of the most inconsistent grammatical decisions I see in fanfiction is comma usage. Some of that is due to innocent lack of know-how by the author, but I get the impression that quite a few people genuinely believe that there is more than one "right way" to go about using a comma. Maybe that's true. I'm not a language expert, and language does "
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and I also learned that when using an apostrophe with a person's name that happens to end with an 's', you do "James'" instead of "James's" but I guess that's not correct now? idk.
I tend to go comma crazy. commas are the one thing I'm horrible at, especially speaker tags. i feel like i was absent when we covered that in elementary school lol. i'll also admit that I've been guilty of putting a comma in front of because at times.
A teacher once said that a good way to make sure you use commas correctly is to put one where you would naturally pause or take a breath if saying the sentence out loud. i'm not sure if this is correct 100% of the time, but it's seems pretty foolproof.
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My brother's name is Curtis. We've always written the possessive form of his name as "Curtis's." The only time there should just be an apostrophe hanging on the end by itself is if its a plural form of a word (i.e. someone spilled the horses' water bins). But that's just how I learned it. I wonder if there are regional differences in how that's taught? IDK.
A teacher once said that a good way to make sure you use commas correctly is to put one where you would naturally pause or take a breath if saying the sentence out loud.
That can work, but it also has the potential to go very wrong, especially with young writers or even mature writers when they're writing dialogue. Sometimes you want a character to pause somewhere there shouldn't be a comma. I prefer it a little bit more black and white. ;)
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me too, I still do that and I was told it was optional too but I really don't see how :/
I wonder if there are regional differences in how that's taught? IDK.
hmmm...idk. then again, I was taught in Polk County (in FL) and the majority don't know how to talk right, tbh :P
That can work, but it also has the potential to go very wrong, especially wit young writer or when you're writing dialogue.
yeah, I figured it's not always right. it never failed when I was younger, but I've noticed that since I've started writing outside of the academic setting it's caused me to have quite a few errors. :P
I was told that really early on, and it's probably good advice when you're like 10, just not when you're 20 ;) lol
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A teacher once said that a good way to make sure you use commas correctly is to put one where you would naturally pause or take a breath
I also remember this being taught to me. Does it still hold true?
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i went from one extreme to the other. I can't seem to find middle ground.
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Too many commas, or not enough?
No, you don't need a comma there. xD
I also remember this being taught to me. Does it still hold true?
Gonna copy and past above reply: That can work, but it also has the potential to go very wrong, especially with young writers or even mature writers when they're writing dialogue. Sometimes you want a character to pause somewhere there shouldn't be a comma. I prefer it a little bit more black and white. ;)
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Just kidding!
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And I've always thought it'd be "James'" instead of "James's", because that is how I've been taught. Anything ending with s shouldn't be s's. But then again I've been taught by non-English speaking teachers, lol. That might also be the reason many people misuse commas, and is the cause for many gramatical errors. It's a very international fandom.
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If we're going to have a SPAG convo, I should share This site as well. It's also helped me a lot with my writing ( ... )
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