Grammar rules

Grammar rules

Use commas to set apart a noun or phrase that explains or identifies something. 

•  Isabella Smith an eight-grade student won the essay contest

•  Venus Williams a famous tennis champion often competes with her sister

Use commas to set apart INTERRUPTERS, words or expressions that break the flow of thought in a sentence. 

The winners of course must be present 

Many students if you ask me did a good job on their research projects

• 
  

• 
  

Use a comma to separate TRANSITIONS from the sentence (such as first, next, finally, also, later in the story, in addition, etc.).

 Finally I’ll be old enough to get my driver’s permit 

Therefore I believe young people should not smoke

Use a comma after YES, NO, or WELL, if it begins the sentence. 

 

Yes I agree with your answer

Well would anyone like to go see a movie

semicolons are not interchangeable with commas or periods. Instead, they are somewhere in between: stronger than a comma but not quite as divisive as a period.

The most common use of the semicolon is to join two independent clauses without using a conjunction like and.

• I ordered a cheeseburger for lunch life’s too short for counting calories

  
  

• We can go to the museum to do some research Mondays are pretty quiet there

  
  

Link Ideas with a Conjunction

• For

• And

• Nor

• But

• Or

• Yet

• So

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hires you as a consultant to determine how best to use $20 billion to save the world.

What’s your plan?