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off a direct address with commas.
Examples Gentlemen, keep your seats.
Car fifty-four, where are you?
Not now, Eleanor, I’m busy.
8. Use commas to set off items in addresses and dates.
Examples The sheriff followed me from Austin, Texas, to question me about my
uncle.
He found me on February 2, 1978, when I stopped in Fairbanks,
Alaska, to buy sunscreen.
9. Use commas to set off a degree or title following a name.
Examples John Dough, M.D., was audited when he reported only $5.68 in taxable income last year.
The Neanderthal Award went to Samuel Lyle, Ph.D.
10. Use commas to set off dialogue from the speaker.
Examples Alexander announced, “I don’t think I want a second helping of
possum.”
“Eat hearty,” said Marie, “because this is the last of the food.”
Note that you do not use a comma before an indirect quotation or before titles in
quotation marks following the verbs “read,” “sang,” or “wrote.”
Incorrect Bruce said, that cockroaches have portions of their brains scattered
throughout their bodies.
Correct Bruce said that cockroaches have portions of their brains scattered
throughout their bodies.
Incorrect One panel member read, “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers,” and the other
sang, “Song for My Father.”
Correct One panel member read “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers,” and the other sang
“Song for My Father.”
11. Use commas to set off “yes,” “no,” “well,” and other weak exclamations.
Examples Yes, I am in the cat condo business.
No, all the units with decks are sold.
Well, perhaps one with a pool will do.
12. Set off interrupters or parenthetical elements appearing in the middle of a sentence. A parenthetical element is additional information placed as explanation
or comment within an already complete sentence. This element may be a word
(such as “certainly” or “fortunately”), a phrase (“for example” or “in fact”), or a
clause (“I believe” or “you know”). The word, phrase, or clause is parenthetical if
the sentence parts before and after it fit together and make sense.
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