Writing Lab Commas with Sentence Tags, Conjunctive Adverbs, Parenthetical Elements, and Interrupters

Commas: Stoplights in the Traffic of your Writing Punctuation marks such as commas are signposts used to construct and support the meaning of your writing. Commas serve as interrupters or signals to the reader to pause. If those signposts are missing, your meaning is obstructed, and misunderstandings may lead to collisions of thought in the mind of your reader.

The Dramatic Pause Theory Do not place commas according to where you, the writer, would pause. Instead, place commas according to the following guidelines, which signal the reader to pause.

Sentence Tags Use commas to separate sentence tags from the rest of the sentence. He’s going to Rome in August, isn’t he? It doesn’t have four legs, does it? You skipped class today, didn’t you? I had a car accident, that’s why.

Parenthetical Elements and Interrupters Use a comma to separate parenthetical words, phrases, or clauses from the rest of the sentence. A parenthetical element—an interrupter—is a word or word group that often interrupts your sentence and may be omitted without affecting the meaning of the sentence.

Parenthetical Elements and Interrupters cont. Don’t forget to place commas before and after the interrupter! Traffic signal management, on the whole, has been a problem on campus. The Sabaru Justy, it seems, is very much like the Ford Festiva. The cafeteria menu, in fact, has a variety of items. Barbara Jordan is, in my opinion, a prolific and eloquent orator. We will, of course, honor Dr. Brown posthumously and present the award to his widow after the service.

Conjunctive Adverbs Common conjunctive adverbs include “however,” “therefore,” “thus,” “for example,” “moreover,” “nevertheless,” and “furthermore;” moreover, their purpose is to mark a shift or contrast in the sentence. Use commas to separate them from the rest of the sentence: You are, moreover, entirely correct in your statement. Today, we cross the country in a few hours by plane; however, our ancestors spent months making the trip in covered wagons. Thus, the Gothic novel has supernatural, ghostly, and mysterious themes.

Let’s Practice! We will therefore, have to operate. The meeting on the whole went well. He has, in fact been missing for three days. The dog however lost its bone in the fight. You missed your doctor’s appointment didn’t you? As time passed furthermore Mike made many enemies. I will of course complete the graduation requirements this spring semester.

Practice Answers We will, therefore, have to operate. The meeting, on the whole, went well. He has, in fact, been missing for three days. The dog, however, lost its bone in the fight. You missed your doctor’s appointment, didn’t you? As time passed, furthermore, Mike made many enemies. I will, of course, complete the graduation requirements this spring semester.

That’s all, folks! This lesson is part of the UWF Writing Lab Grammar Mini-Lesson Series Lessons adapted from Real Good Grammar, Too by Mamie Webb Hixon To find out more, visit the Writing Lab’s website where you can take a self-scoring quiz corresponding to this lesson