Waking to the buzz of the alarm clock, Freddie cursed the arrival of another Monday. If the sentence fails to include a target, the modifier is dangling. I decided to go home; I was tired of the zoo. Rider broke his scapula, broke a rib, and also punctured a lung. The comma often reflects the place where an oral reader would take a breath. For more information about what constitutes a clause, see our article: If you need more insights into phrases, check out our guide to.
Clogged with dog hair modifies the noun pipe. Until the morning, fishing is out of the question. Since commas are the problem in this type of sentence structure, adding or removing them won't help. For the love of all things holy, please do not use them in fiction writing! Her assistant arranges what guys wear and what they talk about. The introductory phrase needs a comma if it will be placed at the beginning of the main thought, but may not if it is placed at the end.
This is because it can function as either introductory language or an essential statement see below. Adding a period makes two completeAdding a period makes two complete sentences. Common introductory words include yes, no, well, oh, and okay. Making exceptions to rules makes our writing more difficult for international readers to process. It modifies the whole sentence, not just a noun. You also have some verbals leaving, smashing , but in no case is the noun functioning as a subject doing a predicate verb. More sentences containing adverb clauses: 1 When you get home, call me.
Gerund Verbal phrase that functions as a noun Partying hearty requires great endurance. Don't misplace or dangle your participle phrases. The modifier must come closer to the word it is meant to describe: For the interview, William borrowed Grandpa's old suit, which was draped neatly on a hanger. If it comes later in the sentence, the conjunction will suggest whether to use a comma or not. Clauses and Phrases To understand punctuation, it is helpful to understand the difference between a phrase and a clause. As introductory phrases, they usually modify the subject of the sentence.
We need a target for the participle phrase straightening his tie and smoothing his hair. Verb Phrases A consists of a verb and all its modifiers. Because it still makes the point and clarifies the main sentence in this new position, we can determine that it is an introductory phrase and thus that it ought to be concluded with a comma if it is placed at the beginning of the main sentence, or preceded by a comma when it is placed at the end. Eaten by mosquitoes, we wished that we had made hotel, not campsite, reservations. Put the hammer down because you might hurt someone. Use them as introductory phrases to give more information about the circumstances in the main clause.
Correct: Under the kitchen table the dog cowered. Out of all the things that can be done online, Math homework should not be one of them As soon as I got home from school, I passed out on the couch. This is precisely the type of error the Oxford comma is designed to fix, but it means that special attention must be paid to places where the Oxford looks like it should be used but isn't. If you omit the first word, the sentence means exactly the same thing. A comma is recommended after any introductory prepositional phrase of more than four words. The Chicago Manual of Style also indicates that the comma after an introductory adverb phrase may be left out: An introductory adverbial phrase is often set off by a comma but need not be unless misreading is likely. Below the cars covered the lawn.
They contain supporting or descriptive information about the rest of the sentence's subject, main idea or main action. When a participle phrase introduces a , separate the two sentence components with a comma. Words like 'however,' 'indeed,' 'therefore;' phrases like 'on the one hand,' 'in particular,' 'for example,' and 'in the meantime' are examples of introductory language that ought to be concluded with a comma when they begin a sentence. Examples of Introductory Phrases An introductory word is a single word that sits on its own at the beginning of the sentence. An introductory paragraph, as the opening of a conventional , , or , is designed to grab people's attention.
An introductory interjection is one that comes at the beginning of a sentence. Neither you, nor the coeditors you shared it with will be able to recover it again. He had a gun on his walker. A clause is a collection of words that has a subject that is actively doing a verb. For example, only one in twenty. And our own Precise Edit: Use commas even after short introductory descriptions for consistency.