Grammar Flashcards
Oxford comma
The final comma in a list of things.
For example: Please bring me a pencil, eraser, and notebook.
fewer vs. less
Fewer is only to be used when discussing countable things, while less is used for singular mass nouns. For example, you can have fewer ingredients, dollars, people, or puppies, but less salt, money, honesty, or love. If you can count it, go for fewer.
hone vs. home
The verb “hone” means “to sharpen or make more acute,” as in honing a talent. … In verb form, “home” (as in “to home in on”) means “to move or be aimed toward a destination or target with great accuracy.” Missiles home in on targets. The leftfielder homed in on the fly ball.
If you write the sentence and need the phrase “in on” after the verb, it’s most likely “home.” If not, you probably need to use “hone.”
Use a comma in your dates to separate date and year. Or to separate days of the week and the date.
Example: Monday, January 2nd
Additional Example: June 22, 1993
Put a comma between a city and a state or country.
Example: Santander, Spain
Additional Example: Port Angeles, WA
Putting a comma after an introductory element.
Example: Hi, how are you today?
Overworked and underpaid, how are you?
Put a comma to separate quotes. Don’t be lazy.
Example: “I told you to rinse the dishes in the sink because you tend to let milk dry,” she yelled from the kitchen to his office.
Additional Example: “Oops,” he breathed heavily walking into the kitchen, “I’ll remember next time I promise.”
Any bit of information unnecessary to the conversation is separated in commas.
Example: The bearded man, Ron Swanson, stores bacon in various parts of his office.
Commas after dependent clauses are incomplete (or incomplete thoughts) that cannot function on their own. Dependent clauses might be missing a verb or a subject. They can be prepositional phrases.
Example: When I was younger, I had a cat named Whiskers the Magical Cat. He went by DC for Danger Cat though.
Commas with conjunctions connect two independent clauses. There are six of them.
and, but, for, or so, yet
Use a comma to separate three or more items. You can use two commas for three items, or the Oxford Comma.
Example: Growing up I had goats, chickens, turkeys, and geese.
coordinating conjunction
a conjunction placed between words, phrases, clauses, or sentences of equal rank, e.g. and, but, or.
The 7 coordinating conjunctions
And, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet—these are the seven coordinating conjunctions.
Acronym: FANBOYS,
Put a comma before but only when but is connecting two independent clauses.
Correct: I would go for a walk, but it’s raining outside.
Correct: I would go for a walk but for the rain.
Comma in a compound sentence
A comma separates two or more independent clauses in a compound sentence separated by a conjunction. The comma goes after the first clause and before the coordinating conjunction that separates the clauses.
