Punctuation – Deneroff Education and Writing Coaching

https://youtu.be/sScHUorw-Hc

I am really not a grammar Nazi. The English language is living, and rules change as generations make it their own. However, English is hard to learn precisely because there are so many exceptions to rules. Following those conventions that still exist makes it easier to write. You don’t have to stop and try to remember each particular case—you just remember or look up the rule. It’s actually simpler.

And of course, if you use good grammar and syntax, you present yourself to the reader as an educated person.

Use of Apostrophes
This is probably the most broken set of rules we see. An apostrophe has three possible purposes:

To show ownership or possession. For example, Harvey’s book, Vickie’s painting.
To show that a letter or group of letters is being left out. For example, don’t for do not or he’ll for he will.
To indicate plurals for things that usually do not come in plural form. Examples might include A’s as in getting straight A’s on your report card, or “Good things come in 3’s.”

Most of the problems people have are with #1, that is, using apostrophes to show something belongs to someone.

The first difficulty comes when the singular word ends in s. (Also includes an s sound, such as Mrs. Gomez.) You actually have a choice here. Either add a “naked” apostrophe after the final s or add an ‘s at the end of the word. The important thing is that you do it the same way every time. For example, it is correct to write, I went to Chris’ house and gave him Mrs. Gomez’ money. It is also correct to say, I went to Chris’s house and gave him Mrs. Gomez’s money.

What is incorrect is to write, I went to Chris’ house and gave him Mrs. Gomez’s money. Or vice versa.

Plural nouns ending in s just have an apostrophe at the end of the word. My parents’ house sold quickly.

Plural nouns ending in something other than a s add ‘s. The children’s art was fantastic.

It’s versus Its
As an editor and educator, I’m coming to the conclusion this one is hopeless. People just get it wrong over and over. There’s a good reason for the confusion:

Its shows possession and is called a possessive pronoun, like her or his. The cat licked her tail. But if you don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl cat, you might write, The cat licked its tail.

If its followed the other apostrophe rules, it would be it’s, showing possession. The cat licked it’s tail. But that is WRONG. This may be one of the situations in which everyday usage is fixing a contradiction in the rules, and maybe in 10 or 15 years only cranky English teachers will care about its. But until then, even my grammar checker in Word picked up on “it’s tail” as wrong.

It’s WRONG because it’s is not a possessive but a contraction. You only use it’s when you are shortening it is. Any other time you use its. This is not couched in grammatical language, but it works.

If your grammar checker finds and flags it’s, then you have a pretty good idea that you need to lose the apostrophe. If you’re not using a grammar checker, think to yourself, can I substitute it is? If you can, then you need an apostrophe. If you can’t, then don’t use one.

Editing: Arranging, revising, and preparing a written, audio, or video material for final production, usually by a party (called an editor) other than the creator of the material. The objectives of editing include (1) detection and removal of factual, grammatical, and typographical errors, (2) clarification of obscure passages, (3) elimination of parts not suitable for the targeted audience, and (4) proper sequencing to achieve a smooth, unbroken flow of narrative. —Bus inessDictionary

There are probably a lot of times when running something through Grammarly or even Microsoft Word’s grammar checker will take care of your problems. We ourselves make use of them. They provide a quick way to find things like extra spaces between words. Sometimes Word tells you that a comma is needed, which is not always correct. What you have to understand is that punctuation is also a matter of style and choice. An extreme example is the poetry of e e cummings, who sometimes intentionally dispensed with punctuation altogether.

Contemporary writers tend to avoid using commas as much as possible. On the other hand, lawyers may introduce commas liberally in order to be more precise. Recently the New York Times reported on a lawsuit which hinged on a missing, so-called “Oxford comma.”

In spite of the fact that we are all taught rules for using commas in school, in the actual practice of writing, the rules may be more flexible than you think. An editor can help you make decisions on using them, which really depends on your purpose and perhaps your personal preferences.

I remember when our daughter came home from fourth grade with an F on a “comma test.” As we went over the exam, she expressed dismay at my suggestions as to where the commas should be. “No,” she said firmly, “you put a comma where you take a pause.” She then proceeded to read the sentences aloud, breaking where she thought was appropriate. She made complete sense, but it was different than what the test designer had decided was the correct answer. The point is, the hard-and-fast rules with regards to commas and other matters are often not helpful.

Another reason to use an editor is to insure proper syntax. Syntax means arranging words and phrases into larger phrases, sentences and paragraphs. Grammar checkers cannot do this very well, although they sometimes try to. There are nuances of word meaning that are just not quite right and don’t convey the intended meaning.

A good editor thus makes sure that your grammar and syntax carry through your whole work, including your use of commas.