Punctuation

The Simple Sentence

Comma

Exercise 1. Comment on the use of commas in the following sentences.

1. The natives eat beans, onions, rice, and honey. 2. My friends, we have no alternatives. 3. Our failures, not our successes, will be remembered. 4. Their son was born on Friday, June 18, 1954, at Baptist Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee. 5. To tell the truth, we anticipated bad luck. 6. We believe, however, that you should go. 7. Well, let him try if he insists. 8. Everything being ready, we departed promptly. 9. He ran swiftly, the dog in front of him, and plunged into the forest. 10. On the contrary, I welcome it. 11. Accuracy is the twin brother of honesty; inaccuracy, of dishonesty. 12. Trade comes with peace, not with war. 13. Magazines, paperback novels, and textbooks crowded the shelves. 14. More and more people entered the crowded, noisy stadium. 15. Mumbling under her breath, the woman picked over the tomatoes. 16. The car, cleaned and repaired, is ready to be sold. 17. Martha, our new neighbour, used to work at a kindergarten. 18. Just to annoy Tony, she let the bug crawl along her arm. 19. Pettiness and grandeur, malice and charity, hatred and love, can find place side by side in the same human heart.

Exercise 2. Place commas where needed.

1. Sally I think you should go to bed. 2. Lola’s sister lives at Greenway Village 342 Red Oak Drive Los Angeles California. 3. She asked her son “Are you going to church with me tomorrow?” 4. Books like friends should be few and well chosen. 5. Swimming quickly, he won the race. 6. To cook vegetables well you must steam them. 7. Neither the principle nor the teachers are here. 8. For my family of seven on the other hand eating out is too expensive. 9. They slept under a warm fluffy quilt. 10. Day after day week after week month after month I was coldly rejected. 11. Hard-luck Sam needs a loan a good paying job and a close friend. 12. Taking long walks especially after dark helps me sort out my thoughts. 13. Either Roberto or Michael is calling. 14. Pat sat in the doctor’s office checked her watch and chewed gum nervously. 15. Well I shall go home for a bit and think things over. 16. They slept on a cold cement floor. 17. Steady old boy steady. 18. Upon my word I don’t know anything about him. 19. This case is as simple as black and white. 20. For several hours the Prince walked alone in unfrequented streets. 21. In the bed Albert grasped greedily at the new air. 22. By following a few simple rules you can have nice clothes without spending a fortune. 23. I love you more than anybody in the world. 24. She lay on her back with the quilt up to her chin. 25. Despite warnings about the presence of icebergs the captain allowed the Titanic to continue at high speed. 26. Gray hair is a sign of age but not of wisdom. 27. Cheryl learned two computer languages in high school and then began writing her own programs. 28. Sameness is the mother of disgust variety the cure. (Petrarch). 29. He is such a bore isn’t he? 30. Three days later Roger went up to Scotland.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-10