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.NOT We saw them, and were surprised.He picked up his hat and books.NOT He picked up his hat, and books.The men were tired and discouraged.NOT The men were tired, and discouraged.However, commas may be between the membersof such coordinated pairs when the first is long or when thewriter wants a pause for emphasis.Thus in the following sen-tence the comma helps the reader to distinguish the two longpredicates that follow the subject ("the twentieth century"):The twentieth century finds this explanation too vapidlyplace, and demands something more mystic.George BernardPUNCTUATIONIn the next examples the comma separating two coordi-nated verbs (while not necessary because of their length) givesthe idea more emphasis:We turned to them, and paused.At night we were stained by dew, and shamed into pettiness by theinnumerable silences of stars.T.E.LawrenceThe Comma with Lists and SeriesA list or series consists of three or more grammatically parallelwords or constructions such as three of four subjects of thesame verb, say, or three verbs of the same subject, or four orfive adjectives modifying the same noun.The items in a list, or series, may be joined by coordinatingconjunctions ("She bought bread and eggs and cheese") orby parataxis ("She bought bread, eggs, cheese").The mostcommon method is to combine parataxis and coordination,linking the last two items with and, or, or but not, and joiningthe others paratactically: "She bought bread, eggs, andcheese."When a list or series is completely paratactic, commas areused between the items:Oriental luxury goods, jade, silk, gold, spices, vermilion, jewels,had formerly come overland by way of the Caspian Sea.Robert CravesWhen it is completely coordinated, the commas are usuallyomitted:She was crying now because she remembered that her life had beena long succession of humiliations and mistakes and pains and ri-diculous efforts.RhysIn the combined method (the most frequent practice), acomma goes between each pair of paratactic elements and isSTOPS 399optional between the final coordinated pair, the choice de-pending on the preference of the writer or the policy of aneditor.The first of these examples uses the comma; the seconddoes not:Fifty years ago, when all type was set by hand, the labor of severalmen was required to print, fold, and arrange in piles the signaturesof a book.Carl BeckerHis plan was to clinch his teeth, shut his eyes, whirl the club roundhis head and bring it down with sickening violence in the generaldirection of the sphere.p.G.But whether you choose to place a comma between thefinal coordinated items or to leave it out, you should followthe same practice consistently in any piece of writing.Finally about lists and series, remember that semicolons areconventionally used between all items when any item containsa comma within itself.PUNCTUATING A SERIESCombined parataxis and coordination: commas and optionalcommabread, eggs, and cheeseII.Completely paratactic: commasbread, eggs, cheeseCompletely coordinatedA.Conventional punctuation: no stopsbread and eggs and cheeseB.Optional punctuation: commas for emphasis or rhythmbread, and eggs, and cheesesIV.Series with a comma in one or more items: semicolonsbread, which she found too moldy; eggs; and cheeseThe Comma with AdjectivalsAn adjectival is a word, phrase, or clause functioning as anadjective.PUNCTUATIONSingle-Word AdjectivesMost single-word adjectives are is, essentialto the meaning of the nouns they modify.A restrictive adjec-tive is placed after the noun marker, if there is one (a, an the,some, this, any, and so on), and is not punctuated (italicsadded in the following examples):The angry man sat down abruptly.However, adjectives are often used in a rather differentsense, being either placed before the noun marker (when oneis present) and followed by a comma, or after the noun andset off by commas:Angry, the man sat down.The man, angry, sat down.They may even be pushed to the end of the clause and pre-ceded by a comma:The man sat down, angry.In such patterns (especially common with participles actingas adjectives), the word really functions more like an adverb.It tells us something about the action (in this case, how orwhy the man sat down) rather than about the noun (the manhimself).Such "adjectives" are punctuated.Finally about single-word adjectives: when two or more areused together they are not usually punctuated if they areordinated.However, should emphasis require it, the secondof a pair of coordinated adjectives may be set off by commas:It [England] always had a peculiar, and a fond, relationship withthe papacy.Paul JohnsonSTOPSWhen two or more adjectives are run together without con-junctions, they must be punctuated for clarity:A novel is in its broadest definition a personal, a direct impressionof life.Henry JamesParticipial Adjectival PhrasesUsed restrictively, participial phrases follow the noun and arenot preceded by a comma:A man leading a horse was walking inland from the sea.W.S.Often, however, participial phrases function nonrestric-tively.They supply pertinent information about the nounthey modify, but not information essential to understandingits meaning in the sentence.Nonrestrictive participles are al-ways punctuated.They may precede their noun; follow it,introduced between it and the verb or remainder of the clause;or be postponed to the end of the clause.In any case theymust be followed, set off, or preceded by commas:Born to lowly circumstances, he came up the easy way.Samuel Hopkins AdamsWords, being but symbols by which a man expresses his ideas, arean accurate measure of the range of his thought at any given time.Albert C.BaughFor years he had been blackmailing the rector, threatening to pub-lish the facts about a certain youthful escapade of his dead wife.Robin G.CollingwoodAdjectival ClausesAdjectival clauses are less flexible in their positioning than theparticipial phrase: they must follow their noun [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]