The most common surface errors that MS Word doesn’t catch – besides misused homophones and homonyms – are ones related to commas. Word tries to help with commas, but most of its suggestions are awkward and quite a few are flat out wrong. So take a few minutes to review some of the most commonly missed or misused commas.
The Use, Misuse, and Abuse of Commas
The Post-Appositive Comma
“Ms. Jones, the executive director of the Save the Something-Or-Other Fund noted that supporters donated nearly $2 million in 2013 to competing causes.”
An appositive is a word or phrase describing another noun. In this case, “the executive director of the Save the Something-Or-Other Fund” is an appositive describing “Ms. Jones” – it provides more detail about her. In standard written English, a comma follows the appositive and separates it from the rest of the sentence. This appears to be the single most frequently omitted comma in native English speakers’ writing. If the appositive is long enough that it needs interior punctuation of its own, it probably needs to be a separate sentence.
Items in a Series
“Some people find inspiration in cooking their families and pets.”[1]
I may not like some of my family members, but I don’t think I would cook them. Most of the ones I’d be willing to cook would be too bitter, tough, or rotten to be worth eating. And I would never cook my pets; half the dogs’ weight is fur, and the meat that’s left wouldn’t be worth the effort. Always separate items in a list with commas, and note that the comma comes after the item (i.e., after cooking and families), and not after the conjunction. Conjunctions in a series may include or, nor, or but not as well as and. When one or more of the items in a series includes commas, separate the elements with semicolons.
A Special Case: The Oxford Comma
“[H]ighlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector.”[2]
The so-called “Oxford comma” (or serial comma) separates the penultimate item in the series from the conjunction and final item in the series. Some style manuals call for omitting it, but I for one find it crucial to most lists where the items are more than one word long. In this example, omitting the Oxford comma implies that “an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector” is an appositive describing “Nelson Mandela.” What we meant was no such thing; the demigod and collector are items in the series that are distinct from and unrelated to Nelson Mandela. The Oxford comma precedes the coordinating conjunction (and, or, or but). The Chicago Manual of Style, APA style manual, American Political Science Association (APSA) style manual, and Strunk and White all mandate use of the Oxford comma.
Compound Sentences
“Compound sentences contain two different subject-verb pairs, and the two halves would each make sense as a stand-alone sentence.”
The previous sentence and this one are compound sentences, so they require a comma before the coordinating conjunction. (Remember: and, or, but, nor, so.) Compound sentences differ from sentences with compound predicates, which have a single subject and two or more verbs. “I read for my research methods class and worked on my psychology paper” has a compound predicate – one subject (I), two verbs (read, worked). Compound predicates do not normally take a comma before the conjunction unless the comma is justified by a different rule.
- “I read for my research methods class, which was actually kind of interesting, and worked on my psychology paper.” (commas set off an appositive clause)
- “I read for my research methods class, worked on my psychology paper, and still had time to watch my favorite show on TV.” (commas separate elements in a series)
- “I lived in Bethesda, MD, and worked in Washington, DC.” (commas separate state abbreviations from surrounding text)
Other Surface Errors
Homophones[3]
Homophones are words that sound the same but have different spellings. Believe it or not, I’ve seen all of the following pairs of words confused in college student work.
- I read the book. The apple is red.
- I went to the store. He went to the store, too.
- It looks like it’s going to rain. Queen Elizabeth II’s reign has lasted over 60 years.
- The weather report looks good. I don’t know whether he will attend.
- The populace protested in the streets. Chongqing is the most populous city in the world.
- He can sing ‘til the cows come home. A farmer must till the land.
- The building collapsed under the weight of the upper floors. I had to wait to see the doctor.
- Her dress is very plain. I got on the plane.
- The sight of the Grand Canyon took my breath away. The site of the County Fair has yet to be determined.
- A wave of revolutions occurred in late 1989 and early 1990. The dean was unwilling to waive the requirement.
- The Security Council adopted a resolution. He sought [legal] counsel before deciding to evict the tenant.
- The zoo’s male gorilla died last month. The insurgents’ guerilla tactics rendered conventional warfighting plans ineffective.
- My grandmother dislikes seeing idle hands. Superwoman was my idol when I was little.
- Homographs usually have dual meanings. Aaron Burr challenged Alexander Hamilton to a duel and killed him.
You can find more examples of homophones, along with their cousins homonyms and homographs, at http://grammar.about.com/od/words/a/HomonymChart.htm.
Parallelism
“He is washing the dishes and drinks his coffee.”
Problems with parallelism occur when verb tense or form changes during a single sentence. To correct this, simply use both verbs in the same form: He washes the dishes and drinks his coffee, or he is washing the dishes and drinking his coffee. Be aware that English has two common versions of present tense: he drinks (simple present), and he is drinking (present progressive). Likewise, there are multiple forms of past tense (washed, has washed, have been washed, etc.). Whichever you choose, you should normally use the same form throughout the sentence. The best way to catch these is by reading aloud. Double-check long sentences for consistency in verb form.
Agreement
“The team is doing their victory dance in the end zone.”
Problems with agreement commonly involve disagreements in number or gender. In the case of this example, “the team” is being treated (correctly, in American English at least) as a singular noun. We can tell this because the verb form is third person singular, “is doing,” instead of third person plural, “are doing.” The use of the singular verb means we need the singular possessive pronoun its, rather than the plural possessive, their. In general, collective nouns such as team, class, United States/Nations, etc., are treated as singular in American English. In British English, the plural form is more common.
Exercise
Identify the error associated with each statement below and correct it.
- We invited the strippers, JFK and Stalin.
- Let’s eat Grandpa!
- Stop clubbing, baby seals.
- One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas, how they get into my pajamas I’ll never know. (Source: Groucho Marx)
- Despite protests from the United Nations, and the European Union, the United States is not limiting their use of drones in combat, and refuses to consider it.
[1] This quote came from a photoshopped-magazine-cover-blurb-gone-viral; the original referred to celebrity chef Rachel Ray and appeared on the October 2010 issue of Tails magazine.
[2] This is an actual unfortunate quote from a British daily newspaper (The Times, “Planet Ustinov”, Nov 22, 1998). That said, I should note that conventional written British English uses the Oxford comma much less frequently than contemporary standard written American English. In the Times’ defense, their own house style manual mandates against the use of the serial comma. That doesn’t stop the outcome from being funny, though.
[3] You’ve probably heard of homonyms, words that are spelled the same but which have multiple meanings: to scale vs the bathroom scale, a fair price vs go to the fair, suit yourself vs wear a suit, to lean over vs lean meat, etc. Usually homonyms are different parts of speech. Homographs, on the other hand, are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings – The drum majors lead the band. The pipes are made of lead.