By Zac Kieser and Donna Reish

Welcome to another Punctuation Puzzle!  Yep… a puzzle that you solve by putting int he correct punctuation and words/usage fixes– along with explanations and answers about each error!  Perfect for students and teachers alike!

Today’s Puzzle is about Compound Sentences… and it uses an interesting sentence from one of our Write-for-a-Month/Write On books.

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The post Punctuation Puzzle: George Washington Carver—Compound Sentences! appeared first on Character Ink.

“Conjunction Junction—what’s your function?”

Did you start to sing along? Can you picture the images?

How old are you????? lol

Most kids today are not raised on “School House Rock,” which is such a shame! Because you really can’t forget the songs, jingles, rhymes—and dare I say—rules learned from those little ditties. (You can still find them on Youtube!)

And those little ditties are really needed when it comes to commas! Commas are a mystery to many people–and rightly so! They are extremely subjective at times across the board. And then, different handbooks and authorities stress different rules for them, making them even more elusive.

I hope to demystify them at least a little bit in this series–and give you the confidence you need to write using commas correctly.*

Note: If you are in test taking situations or contest writing situations, it is more important than ever for you to master comma, semicolon, colon, and quotation use. As a matter of fact, we have an entire unit in our Meaningful Composition 11 I: Timed Essays book just focusing on these skills because when they are done correctly, it is impressive. When they are done incorrectly, it is obvious to graders. Work hard to learn these skills, students! Smile…that was my mom/teacher voice!

Comma Clue #1: Creating a Compound Sentence With a Comma-Coordinating Conjunction (,cc)+

CS ,cc CS+

1. The spider’s victims seldom escape, for they are caught in a sticky web.

2. The victims are stuck, and they become “dinner.”

3. They can not free themselves, nor can they be freed.

4. They sit in the web and wait, but they do not wait for long.

5. The spider lets the victim sit in the sticky mess for a while, or it carries the victim away to eat it right away.

6. The spider is ruthless, yet it is also known for its special “web designs.”

7. The spider has special skills, so it puts these skills to good use.

Why/How:

-Coordinating conjunctions (cc’s) include the following with the acronym FANBOYS: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So
-A comma must be used with the cc when combining two complete sentences into one.
-With a comma only (no cc), you would be creating a comma splice, also known as a run-on sentence–two sentences joined together incorrectly.
-Each side of the compound sentence must be able to stand alone in order to be combined with a comma-cc.
-Complete sentence on the left: The spider’s prey seldom escapes & a complete sentence on the right: it is caught in a sticky web.
-If a CS is not on one side or the other of the cc, no comma is used: The spider’s prey seldom escapes and oftentimes gets eaten (no CS after and, so no comma.

+This series, as well as upcoming series’ will use the following abbreviations to teach:

a. CS–complete sentence
b. cc–coordinating conjunction (think FANBOYS–For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So)
c. CA–conjunctive adverb
d. Sub–subordinator
e. Prep–preposition
f. PP–prepositional phrase
g. sub clause–subordinate clause (or dependent clause–group of words with a subject and a verb/verb phrase that cannot stand alone)
h. phr–phrase (group of words that does not contain both a subject and a verb that cannot stand along

The post Comma Clues #1: Creating a Compound Sentence With a Comma-Coordinating Conjunction (,cc) appeared first on Character Ink.

Image from languagearts.ppst.com

We talked about PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES when we did the letter P a while ago. Now we are going to move into S–SUBORDINATE CLAUSES.

We have talked at length about what a sentence contains:

C apital

A ll makes sense

V erb

E nd mark

S ubject

CAVES!

Again, most people have trouble witht the A one–All makes sense. When a “sentence” doesn’t make sense, it is often because it is not a sentence at all, but it is a phrase or a clause.

We are going to talk in detail about phrases and clauses in the upcoming weeks because we are going to talk a lot about sentence structure–openers, simple sentences, compound sentences, etc.

So…a little “phrase and clause” lesson is in order first:

1. Phrase–

a. Group of words

b. Group of words that is not a sentence

c. Group of words that is not a sentence and does not usually contain a subject and a verb (though may seem to have one or the other)

d. There are various types of phrases–the one that people are most familiar with is the prepositional phrase–begins with a preposition and ends with the object of the preposition:
      i. over the clouds
     ii. into the clouds
    iii. around the clouds
   iv. within the clouds
    v. under the clouds

2. Clause

a. Group of words

b. Group of words that might or might not be a sentence

c. Group of words that contains a subject and a verb

d. Two kinds of clauses

     i. Independent clause–also called a sentence

     ii. Dependent clause–also called a subordinate clause

Don’t despair! These are not as complicated as they sound! You write with them all the time–but I hope to help you recognize them and punctuate them correctly in sentences–over the next few weeks!

Happy writing!

The post S is for SUBORDINATE CLAUSE—Phrases and Clauses appeared first on Character Ink.

PUNCTUATION PUZZLE: How would you punctuate this sentence? (See comments for my suggestions.)

They did not object and thus the area was named the Bermuda Triangle.

The first thing that stands out to me is the CS (complete sentence) on the left of the coordinating conjunction (cc) and the complete sentence on the right of the coordinating conjunction. 

So place a comma before the coordinating conjunction to create a compound sentence: They did not object, and thus the area was named the Bermuda Triangle.

Secondly, there is a word that is called by many different names in grammar terms: thus. We call it a conjunctive adverb (an adverb that joins). 

Conjunctive adverbs within sentences are always surrounded by punctuation marks. In this case, the conjunctive adverb is dropped into the sentence (and can be plucked out and the sentence will still remain a sentence), so there should be a comma on each side of it. You can also HEAR this comma: They did not object, and, thus, the area was named the Bermuda Triangle. 

I would punctuate it like this–They did not object, and, thus, the area was named the Bermuda Triangle. 

However, when my older children were little, I read aloud to them three to five hours a day. Commas show voice inflection and fall, so they are especially near and dear to my heart when reading orally to my kids through the years. Are you comma crazy? 

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Think of subordinate clauses by either of their two names:

1. Subordinate clause–subordinate to the rest of the sentence
2. Dependent clause–dependent on something else to go with it (a real sentence/independent clause) in order to be used

Click here if you need to brush up on subordinators via our Subordinator-Check Sentence or subordinate rhyme.

Subordinate Clause Opener: Now for the opener part.

If you have been reading Language Lady for long, you have learned that a sentence opener has the following characteristics:

1.      It gives a sentence more information.

2.      It comes at the beginning of a sentence, which gives a paragraph a
different rhythm than if it included all subject-verb patterned sentences.

3.      It is often set off with a comma-again, adding to the rhythm of your
sentences.

4.      It si usually non-essential, meaning that the senence is still a
sentence without the addition of an opener.

5.      It shows advanced writing skills because a writer who has a handle
on the many varieties of sentence openers has a large toolbox of sentence structure at his disposal.

So…if a subordinate clause is a group of words that contains a subordinator+subject+verb, then a subordinate clause opener is a subordinator+subject+subordinate clause that is used as a sentence opener.

Simple enough, huh?

The tricky parts of subordinate clause openers are

(1)   Be sure that you never use a subordinate clause opener by itself,
thinking it is a sentence. (It will sound like something is missing-because it is-the real sentence!)

(2)   Be sure that you put a comma following a subordinate clause opener.

When you start a sentence with a subordinate clause, 
Put the comma in when you hear the pause!

Here are some complex sentences created with subordinate clause openers attached to “real” sentence. In grammar lingo, each one is a complex sentence because it has a dependent clause (subordinate clause) at the beginning attached to an independent clause (real sentence).

If you learn subordinators well, you may write sentences with subordinate clauses.

If you put a dependent clause at the beginning of a sentence, put a comma in before writing the real sentence part.

As you learn more and more about sentence structure, your writing will improve.

Since people are impressed by good grammar and strong writing, you will become an impressive person as you learn grammar usage.

When you start a sentence with a subordinate clause, put the comma in where you hear the pause.

Although many people do not remember much about dependent and independent clauses, this does not make these clauses unimportant.

Because I want to write well, I am working on my usage skills.

Though some consider analyzing sentences as outdated, I know that it helps me write better.

If you lasted to the end of this lesson, you will be able to write well with subordinate clause openers!

The post Comma Clue #4: Commas With Subordinate Clause Openers Part III of III appeared first on Character Ink.

Once you memorize subordinators, you are ready to write with subordinate clauses. Specific to this lesson, you will be ready to write subordinate clause openers (subordinate clauses that are added to the beginnings of sentences).

As far as a subordinate clause is concerned, it contains a subordinator and a subject and a verb.

Subordinator + Subject + Verb

When she drove,

As he said,

After she left,

When they arrived,

Because he smiled,

Did you notice anything about those subordinate clauses? If you noticed that each one would be a sentence if the subordinator were removed, you are correct!

A subordinate clause is a sentence (subject + verb) that has a subordinator at the beginning of it!

Sentence: She drove.
Subordinate clause:  When she drove,

Sentence: He said.
Subordinate clause: As he said,

Sentence: She left.
Subordinate clause: After she left,

Sentence: They arrived.
Subordinate clause: When they arrived,

Sentence: He smiled.
Subordinate clause: Because he smiled,

So….a subordinate clause is a sentence (independent clause-can stand
alone) that has a subordinator added to the beginning of it (which makes it a dependent clause-is dependent upon something else in order to be used {has to have a real sentence put with it in order to be used}).

Think of subordinate clauses by either of their two names:

1. Subordinate clause–subordinate to the rest of the sentence
2. Dependent clause–dependent on something else to go with it (a real sentence/independent clause) in order to be used

So….that is enough of subordinate clauses for today. In the next and final installment of this Comma Clue #4, we will attack the subordinate clause used as a sentence opener–the subordinate clause opener.

The post COMMA CLUE #4: Comma Following a Subordinate Clause Opener Part II of III appeared first on Character Ink.