The good news is that questions testing this rule dont show up very often. Use commas to separate words and word groups in a simple series of three or more items. Common starter words for introductory clauses that should be followed by a comma include after, although, as, because, if, since, when, while. However, you might try to find some other way to say it, for example, by incorporating the title into the previous or the following sentence. Use commas to set off the name, nickname, term of endearment, or title of a person directly.
In the following example, commas are used to set off the by phrase because the phrase is not integral to the meaning of the sentence life after life, by kate atkinson, won several book awards if you remove the phrase, the meaning is the same. Ive recently received a handful of questions asking for clarification about rule governing the use of commas with names and titles. How do i write out the list so as to be clear about which commas are part of the titles and which are separating items in a list. Philip roth, author of portnoys complaint and many other books is a. Commas punctuation rules the blue book of grammar and. The correct way to use commas with names and titles. Fiction and nonfiction books generally prefer the oxford comma. Of all the comma rules tested on the sat and act, this is probably the subtlest. As a general rule, dont put quotation marks around the titles of books, newspapers, films, or magazines. Should commas be used around by and an authors name after a title. Is a comma necessary after the word titled, as in the. Punctuation is the collection of squiggles, dots, and lines that we use to separate sentences and their parts. Rules about when to use and not to use commas are legion. For example, i want to list four book titles in a single sentence, but two of the books have commas in the titles.
Do you use a comma after a book title in a sentence answers. Some that come to mind are life, the universe and everything. My estate goes to my husband, son, daughterinlaw, and nephew. Using quotation marks in titles punctuation khan academy. Perhaps we shouldnt give up on paper books just yet.
And if you just want to know the rule for everyday use, the shortcut is effective in the real world as well. Commas with names and titles, simplified the critical reader. We use commas while combining multiple phrases in one sentence or writing about different items in a list. Do you use a comma before a title of a book in a sentence. There are more usages of a comma, for example, how adding or removing comma before and after a name changes the meaning of the sentence. Note that by unnecessary, i dont mean that the noun set off with commas is irrelevant to the work the sentence. Normally there might be a slight pause at the commas when reading the sentence, but a slight pause when reading is not a reason to introduce a comma when the grammar does not require it the book title, book, is not parenthetical content in your sentence. Scorsese on scorsese by david thompson, the era of franklin d. We use commas while combining multiple phrases in one sentence or writing. A thousand splendid suns, authored by khaled hosseini, is a fantastic novel. Is this sentence correct or should i use a comma after realizes.
Full grammar curriculum classroom accounts available at songs, books, games, quizzes, and individual student tracking. Most newspapers and magazines drop the oxford comma in a simple series, apparently. Lets start with the fact that unless a name or title is the last words in a sentence, it can either be used with no commas at all, or with a comma both before and after. Use a pair of single quotation marks to enclose a title, direct quotation, or piece of dialogue that appears within another quotation. Comma song from grammaropolis cut the drama, and use a. Use commas after introductory a clauses, b phrases, or c words that come before the main clause. But in the example below, no commas are used around the by phrases because the authors names. Do you use a comma after a book title in a sentence. Commas should sometimes be placed before and after names and titles. When the last comma in a series comes before and or or after daughterinlaw in the above example, it is known as the oxford comma. While a comma after the title may be correct on rare occasions. When starting a sentence with a dependent clause, use a comma after it. Should commas be used around by and an authors name after.
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