Whether or not you put a comma before and depends on how youre using and. Commas comma rules and usage the blue book of grammar and. Its almost always optional to put a comma before and in a list comma before and in lists. Exactly why this particular quirk of comma usage stirs such passions is hard to say. As a general rule, you should use a comma to introduce quoted material or dialogue. Use of the comma is consistent with the conventional practice of the region. You need bracketing commas before and after the part i have coloured blue. Nov 08, 2015 answer yes, the comma goes inside the quotation marks and after the question mark because the question mark is part of the periodicals title. You need commas here because this information is nonessential or parenthetical information. Use a comma after an introductory prepositional phrase. Singapores bilingual journey, is also available in chinese. The chicago manual of style online is the venerable, timetested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format. Any time you use and to connect two independent clauses parts of a sentence that stand alone as a complete unit, you must use a comma before it.
In grammatical terms, its syntactically independent. Most authorities, including the associated press stylebook and the chicago manual of style, recommend a comma after the first digit of a fourdigit. Do not place a comma after the last item in the list see fourth example bel. You usually put a comma before and when its connecting two independent clauses. Should commas be used around by and an authors name after. When the last comma in a series comes before and or or after daughterinlaw in the above example, it is known as the oxford comma.
At the mla, we never insert a period after a title ending in a question mark or exclamation point, but we insert a comma if doing so makes a sentence easier to read for example, when such a title is one item in a series or when the title is contained in a nonrestrictive clause. See the quotation in the accepted answer for a brief discussion of various titles, including book titles. They help make each sentence sound in the readers head the way it sounds in yours. Quoting or referencing experts can make your persuasive writing more convincing. In nearly any other use of and, you dont need to add a comma, and in fact its often ungrammatical to do so. Apr 07, 2011 this week we address the serial comma, seventh in the list of the top 10 most common apa style errors as identified by onwuegbuzie, combs, slate, and frels 2010. Aug 18, 2015 the first thing to know is that there are generally only two correct options. Vice president for student affairs cindy frost scott cooper, vice president for academic affairs, chaired the meeting. A comma is used before the word and when it is used to connect two independent clauses phrases that can stand alone as sentences. In endnotes, citation sentences begin one space after a textual proposition.
Commas may be placed after the closing parenthesis but not before. An easy guide to using a comma before and ink blog. Commas with names and titles, simplified the critical reader. If both, show edition first and volume second, separated by a comma. I am reading life after life by jill mccorkle, not life after life by kate atkinson. The last poem that poe ever wrote, annabel lee, was completed in 1849.
No space before or after a comma used to separate triads in numbers see note 2 in 5. That person or thing is said to be in the vocative case. My estate goes to my husband, son, daughterinlaw, and nephew. The comma is still necessary in this case because the question mark is not replacing it. Its often used to indicate a pause in a sentence or to separate items in a list. Sep 03, 2020 the word can be used as part of a nonrestrictive phrase, restrictive phrase, or prepositional phrase, and it can be used as an interrogative word. If you are referencing a title, the book title punctuation rules above are fine, and it would be rare that you could go wrong. You could remove the title from this sentence and readers would still understand it. If a title is long, place it after the persons name, or set it off with commas before the persons name. But if you are referencing parts of a book, such as book chapters, or only part of the title, use quotation marks. A lot of people have strong feelings about putting a comma before and in a list. May 21, 2012 the basic idea is that if the name in the above example, jessie is the only thing in the world described by the identifier my oldest friend, use a comma before the name and after it as.
Many people learn that a comma should be placed before a name or title, but that is not entirely true. Nov 20, 2020 if the book title is used as an appositive, it will need commas around it if it falls in the middle of the sentence, or one before it if it is at the end of the sentence. If the book title is used as an appositive, it will need commas around it if it falls in the middle of the sentence, or one before it if it is at the end of. According to the little, brown handbook fowler and aaron, 12th ed, the rule is.
A faculty members full title is used on first reference only. Possible duplicate of comma before quote marks around article title. Abbreviate and capitalize most titles when they are used directly before a name spell out titles with names used in. This is because the sentence is talking about a particular person john. Mar 29, 2021 use a comma before and when youre joining two independent clauses.
If someone or something is being addressed in a sentence, then a comma or pair of commas is necessary. You do not need commas here because the book title is essential information. Use a comma to offset the name of a person or thing that is being addressed directly. Use one comma before to indicate the beginning of the pause and one at the end to indicate the end of the pause. Commas before and in a series the blue book of grammar and. Mar 02, 2017 if the title doesnt limit the meaning of the sentence that is, if its used as a nonrestrictive phrase place a comma before it as well as after it. The book title is of course in italicsbut then how does one treat that comma after lear, and then the quote mark after the comma. But in the example below, no commas are used around the by phrases because the authors names. Commas may be placed after the closing parenthesis but not before either the opening or the closing parenthesis.
This page has examples of commas with direct address and an interactive exercise. Is a comma necessary after the word titled, as in the book. The oxford comma when you have a series ending with a conjunction. Author bella li won the prize for poetry with her book argosy. But in the example below, no commas are used around the by phrases because the authors names are needed to distinguish works with the same title. Use commas to separate words and word groups in a simple series of three or more items. To present a quotation after a complete sentence e. Apa style reference guide for journal articles, books, and. The rule is either have the commas both before and after a name, or dont add it at all. This week we address the serial comma, seventh in the list of the top 10 most common apa style errors as identified by onwuegbuzie, combs, slate, and frels 2010.
Do you use a comma before a title of a book in a sentence. Philip roth, author of portnoys complaint and many other books is a. According to the little, brown handbook fowler and. If you remove the by phrases, the sentence is nonsensical. Should there be a comma before the title, as in the book titled how i. Some writers struggle with the question of when to put a comma before the word and. Lets start with the fact that unless a name or title is the last words in a sentence, it can either be used with no commas at all, or with a comma both before and after.
Do not put a period between the title and the parenthetical information. Use a comma before and after certain introductory words or terms, such as namely, that is, i. Abbreviate and capitalize most titles when they are used directly before a name spell out titles with names used in direct quotes with the exception of dr. Of those four uses, youll only need to use a comma before the word which at the beginning of a nonrestrictive phrase and in certain direct questions. Our rule 16a of commas says, use a comma before and after certain. President is capitalized before the name, lowercase and set off by commas after the name. Remember to use commas on both sides of peoples titles in your writing. While a comma after the title may be correct on rare occasions which dont concern us here, a comma only before a name or title is wrong. Both these sentences are correct and convey the same thing. Should the title of the book my lifelong challenge. Feb 20, 2019 life after life won several book awards. The one exception to the use of subtitles is a novel.
Homer wrote two books that are set against the backdrop of the trojan war, and you need to specify the odyssey to your audience. Is a comma necessary after the word titled, as in the. Do you place a comma before a poems title in a sentence. Nov 10, 2020 if this posts title brought back memories of heated arguments over the oxford comma, no worries. If the book title is used as an appositive, it will need commas around it if it falls in the middle of the sentence, or one before it if it is at the end of the sentence. In this article, we are writing about right capitalization and punctuation of titles of your own books on the cover and on the title page, with. Formal titles to abbreviate most formal titles should be spelled out at all times. Oscar scolari, the chief operating officer, is secondincommand.
There are several uses of the comma that can best be described as conventional or mechanical. The correct way to use commas with names and titles. The punctuation mark after an italicized word or phrase or between elements of a reference list entry e. It is incorrect to place only one comma before the name or title. Commas comma rules and usage the blue book of grammar. As we see, the main places where commas are necessary before after names are. Oct 16, 2020 there is only one situation where you always need a comma before and.
Use a semicolon after the title, lowercase or, follow or with a comma. Theres no single rule that applies to all situations. It is not recommended to place italics or quotation marks around the titles if they are book titles. Start the quotation that follows with a capital letter if the quotation itself is a full sentence. How to punctuate book titles or can you ignore the rules. Commas should sometimes be placed before and after. Also known as the oxford comma, the serial comma is the final comma in a list of three items or more, and it is used immediately before and, or, and occasionally nor. Do not use commas to set off essential elements of the sentence, such as clauses beginning with that relative clauses.
Use a comma after an introductory participial phrase. Commas should sometimes be placed before and after names and titles. The answer to that depends on how youre using the word and. We learned that commas are used to separate peoples names from their titles. The comma would go outside the quotation marks for bre. Should commas be used around by and an authors name after a. Lastly, if you will be following some styles book on how to use punctuation, then for the duration of that story only use that one styles book. Apr 25, 2011 between elements including before and and or in a series of three or more items the height, width, or depth. Italics and underlining are used to emphasize titles of books, poems. Comma before parenthesis parentheses are used to give additional information to the readerinformation that would disrupt the flow of the sentence if written as a nonrestrictive clause.
Most newspapers and magazines drop the oxford comma in a simple series, apparently feeling its unnecessary. No one other than professional editors seems to know that. It is the indispensable reference for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers, informing the editorial canon with sound, definitive advice. The first thing to know is that there are generally only two correct options.
However, you might try to find some other way to say it, for example, by incorporating the title into the previous or the following sentence. The addition of commas gives extra emphasis to the name. In english language punctuation, a serial comma, or series comma is a comma placed. Titles before a name are capitalized and have no comma. Most newspapers and magazines drop the oxford comma in a simple series, apparently. When do commas or periods go inside quotation marks and. They are not used in a feature story about a deceased person. Also, lowercase adjectives that designate the status of a title. Feb 12, 2021 if a title is unique to one person within an organization, use a comma construction along with the word the before the title. But if you begin a new sentence after a citation, that new sentence will be two spaces after the citation. In a sentence, the last two items usually do not need.
Question mark and comma midsentence the editors blog. In each sentence, the introductory phrase is underlined. Generally, capitalize formal titles when they appear before a persons name, but lowercase titles if they are informal, appear without a persons name, follow a persons name or are set off before a name by commas. Commas make whatever you write easier to read by inserting pauses and setting things apart. Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven. The use or omission of the comma is well established, and writers need only to apply the rules. Times, mla, apa and every other style in the country, both the comma and the period should come before the closing quotation mark, not after. Previous post a guide on book title punctuation publishdrive. The terms interfacing, conferencing and downsizing are now part of the language of business. Apr 10, 2012 writers often think titled and entitled need to be followed by a comma, but, as this old chicago faq points out, that would mean that the title of the book is not necessary to the sentence. Make sure your book title reflects the contents of your book, at least in some way.
Use a comma after introductory and concluding expressions. If so, include the number in parentheses after the title but before the period. Make sure your book title absolutely requires commas, even if it is just one. No space before or after a comma when followed by a closing quotation mark. Here are two examples from the first book in the game of thrones series.
Its almost always optional to put a comma before and in a list. The comma after the name also tells us that the information after the name is essential to identify the person. Use a comma when two sentences are joined with and, or, but, or nor. Lowercase adjectives that designate the status of a title. Lets start with the fact that unless a name or title is the last word s in a sentence, it can either be used with no commas at all, or with a comma both before and after. You need a comma after movie because this and only this is mr. Thats because in most types of dialogue, the quoted material stands apart from the surrounding text. In general terms, a comma falls under the category of a punctuation mark. Using a comma before and in a series get it write online. If the book title is used as an appositive, it will need commas around it if it falls in the middle of the sentence, or one before it if it is at the end of the. Should commas be used around by and an authors name after a title. Along the route from the house to the woods, hansel and gretel left a trail of old lottery tickets. Nov 30, 2011 the book, titled my lifelong challenge.
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