Instant Quiz

Can you correct the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.    

Avoid using foreign abbreviations in your writing, (such as id est instead of “that is,” and e.g. instead of “that is”).

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If you ask writers which punctuation mark causes the most problems, most of them would say “commas.” One reason is that the explanations we’re given are too complicated.

Today I’m going to teach you a simple way to avoid many comma mistakes. Take a look at this sentence:

While I was working on the proposal with Jane Martin stopped by to ask a question.

You need a comma after Jane:

While I was working on the proposal with Jane, Martin stopped by to ask a question.

It’s easy to see what’s wrong with the original sentence: you probably had to read it twice. The first time, you mistakenly thought it was about Jane Martin, rather than two people – Jane and Martin.

But sometimes the mistake isn’t so obvious. A grammarian would say that the sentence about Jane needs a comma because it begins with an introductory element. I think there’s an easier way to get these commas right.

Most commas fall into three categories: Comma Rule 1, Comma Rule 2, and Comma Rule 3. You can read a free article about all three rules by clicking this link.

Most comma questions involve Comma Rule 1. Learn that rule (it’s easy!), and you’ll solve most comma issues.

Here’s Comma Rule 1: look at the beginning of the sentence to see if it starts with a person, place, or thing. Do this with every sentence. If the answer is yes, you’ll need a comma. Compare these two examples:

Because Robert was late for the meeting
Robert was late for the meeting

“Because” obviously isn’t a person, place, or thing. Comma coming up!

Notice the punctuation in these two sentences.

Because Robert was late for the meeting, we wasted a lot of time.  CORRECT  (begins with because – not a person, place or thing)
Robert was late for the meeting because he had a flat tire that morning.  CORRECT  (No comma is needed: the sentence begins with a person – but you can insert one if you want to)

I used to tell my students to use a highlighter to streak the first few words in every sentence. It’s a fast, easy way to solve many comma headaches! Just ask if the sentence starts with a person, place, or thing.

It’s just a rule of thumb,  of course. But it’s much simpler than searching for introductory clauses!__________________________________________________________________________________

This is an obscure rule! Don’t put a comma in front of parentheses. Here’s the correct version of today’s sentence:

Avoid using foreign abbreviations in your writing (such as id est instead of “that is,” and e.g. instead of “that is”).

Incidentally, that’s useful advice! English is usually the best choice.
But it’s okay to use common foreign abbreviations like “etc.” when you’re writing informally.