What's the deal with commas?

-
So what’s the deal with commas?
As a tutor in the WRC, I see a lot of confusion around the use of commas (,). How are we supposed to know when to use one? These are some examples of correct comma usage in writing.  
A comma (,) is used to separate items in series and this can mean a few different things:
  1. Series of words (list): I purchased some apples, oranges, grapes, mangos, and bananas.
  2. Series of phrases: They ran up the hill, around the corner, down the street, and through the park.
  3. Series of clauses: She opened the door, she yelled at the neighbor, and she slammed the door in his face.
A comma (,) is also used to add additional information to a statement:
  1. My dog, who is as cute as a button, chased a cat yesterday.
  2. Fresno, located in the Central Valley, has a great up and coming art scene.
  3. My house, built in 1945, used to be owned by the mayor.
As well as in what’s called an introductory phrase:
  1. Once upon a time, there was a boy who hated broccoli.
  2. Furthermore, children enjoy using shaving cream with their building blocks!
  3. However, not all dogs are good boys.
I hope these examples can be useful to you in your next writing assignment.
Remember, commas, while confusing, are necessary to add inflection to your writing.
By Aurora Lopez, FCC Student, WRC Tutor

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to the WRC

-
Image
We are excited to announce the start of our blog for the Writing and Reading Center at Fresno City College. We, the staff, tutors, and faculty, who work at the center are excited to share blogs with you weekly about different topics of writing and reading. Our hope is that you find this blog to be inspiring, and that it will push you towards greatness. That being said, I'd like to share with you a little bit about my love of writing and reading and why I work at the WRC I started here as a tutor in 2008 when I was working on my Master's degree. I had the opportunity to work here for 2 years before I chose to move on to a job on my seminary's campus. I came back after 5 years once my M.A. was complete and began work as a supervisor in April of 2015. I have always loved reading and writing. When I was a little girl, my older sister told me that once I started reading, new worlds would be open to me. She was right. From the time I could begin to read, I voraciously attacke...
Read more

Tutoring Students with Cognitive Disabilities

-
Tutoring adults with cognitive and developmental disabilities can be difficult. To me, it is especially hard to figure out if the person is trying to take advantage of you or if they genuinely need more help than the average student. In my experience, people with cognitive and developmental disabilities do not want to take advantage of you, they might even feel embarrassed about asking you many questions. Generally people who continue to ask you questions after a half hour to an hour session with them are the people who are taking advantage of you. It is important to try and stay patient with them but make it clear that you cannot right the paper for them. Now that does not mean that all people with disabilities are perfect angels, they still might try and get you to right the paper for them. The people who try to use thier disabilities as an excuse are the ones that can be the most difficult to tutor. I have actually had a student tell me, “I have a learning disability ...
Read more

Welcome to Spring 2020!

-
Image
          Welcome to the year 2020! We are in a brand new decade as well as a new semester. So this semester remember to consider all of your resources that can ensure your success as a student! There are so many resources you can utilize during this semester, the tutorial center is open and it is free. But I would like to mainly talk to you about the WRC located in the tutorial center. Here at the WRC we love to help students better understand the concepts for writing and reading. If you have a problem understanding your textbook, need help structuring a paper, learning how to take notes efficiently, or even understanding your Canvas the WRC is the place that you can get help. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, that’s what we are here for. Let’s start this semester with the intention to succeed! Hope to see you here soon! By Victoria Ford, FCC Student, WRC Tutor
Read more