Commas - Cengage



Commas

Punctuate the follow sentences by applying the four comma rules. Some sentences may be correct.

Exercise 1

1. Saving money for college is vital but few save enough for living expenses.

2. Most people save for tuition room and board and books.

3. Few save for laundry pizza and telephone calls.

4. Although parents know of these expenses college students often are unaware of the expense.

5. Simple living expenses could exceed $2000 a year and the student would have to budget carefully.

6. Students however also need to save for health expenses.

7. Students may be surprised at activity fees lab fees and travel fees associated with college life.

8. Laundry fees may be $4 $5 or $6 a week which does not include dry cleaning.

9. Some students pay monthly rent for a television and they also rent a VCR.

10. Some students find themselves in financial nightmares.

Exercise 2

1. To succeed in school students should prepare for tests.

2. As students study they should collect a list of possible questions a teacher could ask.

3. Use the questions and make up practice tests.

4. You can take these practice tests and check your answers.

5. When checking your answers check for any misunderstanding you may have about the subject.

6. If you're not sure of an answer in a practice test try making up an answer and then see how close you are.

7. A practice answer therefore may help the student on an actual exam.

8. Test taking often creates feelings of anxiety fear and frustration.

9. Students should divide the test time and they should determine which test parts will require the most time.

10. If you don't understand a question place an X by it and return to it later.

Correcting Common Sentence Errors

Underline the subject once and the verb twice in both independent and dependent clauses. Circle the dependent clause. Then correctly punctuate the sentence run-ons and comma splices and make fragments into complete sentences.

Exercise 1

1. While he was waiting for breakfast Charles Kuralt read the newspaper.

2. Noticed the amount a paper products.

3. The newspaper had sixty-six pages, the waitress took the order on a paper pad.

4. The placemat was paper the napkins were paper.

5. Opening the paper sugar envelope and the paper cup of cream for the coffee.

6. When the waitress brought his toast.

7. On a little paper tray with a paper cover the butter.

8. He opened the marmalade package it was also paper.

9. His eggs came and paper containers of salt and pepper were with them.

10. Wondering how national forests can ever survive breakfast.

Exercise 2

1. John H. Postlethwait and Janet L. Hopson writing "How Human Intervention Alters Ecosystem Function."

2. New York City’s Fresh Kills, the largest municipal garbage dump on the planet.

3. Throwing out six pounds per person per day.

4. The landfill receives 34 million pounds of refuse each day, the landfill is expected to reach its capacity by 2005.

5. Landfills pollute ground water and surface water and landfills emit gases that threaten the atmosphere.

6. Solid-waste engineers creating improved dumps.

7. After they compact the topsoil place two synthetic liners of high-density polyethylene between alternating layers of clay and sand.

8. The double-liner system is honeycombed with two levels of pipes, the pipes drain the rainwater and other liquids into a collection chamber for treatment.

9. Gas emissions collected and processed for energy recovery.

10. The earth has an envelope of atmospheric gases, it acts like a greenhouse on a sunny day.

Agreement

Underline the correct word in the following exercises to make your subject, verb, or pronouns agree grammatically.

Exercise 1

1. Laughing relieves stress. (Whoever, Whomever) belly laughs cannot feel bad at the same time.

2. For people (who, whom) are caught in a situation they can’t change, such as a traffic jam, humor may be the healthiest way to relieve stress temporarily.

3. Others and (I, me) usually tense up during a crisis.

4. When I’m tense, my muscles tighten, but a hearty laugh massages my facial muscles, my diaphragm, and my abdomen. Therefore, laughing is good for (I, me).

5. Here are some suggestions for dealing with situations that are stressful for (we, us).

6. We could ask whether a favorite cartoon character such as Bugs Bunny or Bart Simpson would handle the situation differently than (we, us) would.

7. Relieve stressful situations by imagining comic strip balloons coming out of people’s mouths. What would (they, them) be saying?

8. I need to learn to laugh at (I, me).

9. Games and exercise (becomes, become) unpleasant activities because we don’t know how to have fun.

10. But not everyone (knows, know) what to do with (his/her, their) free time.

Exercise 2

1. Many of my friends (finds, find) sports emotionally satisfying.

2. Sports on television or swimming (is, are) important to one particular friend.

3. One of my friends (is, are) taking a water polo class.

4. There (is, are) good and poor swimmers in the class.

5. The instructor, a member of Olympic water polo team, (works, work) the students hard.

6. But the class with its determination to have fun (joins, join) together and improves considerably.

7. Another of my friends (is, are) taking an equestrian class.

8. Each of the students (supplies, supply) (his/her, their) own horse.

9. Stable fees and feed (is, are) costly.

10. But riding, alone or with others, (is, are) relaxing.

Choosing the Right Pronoun

Underline the correct pronoun in the following sentences.

Exercise 1

1. (She, Her) is worried about her nutritional health.

2. What recommendations do health officials have for (she, her)?

3. Someone suggests (she, her) reduce her total fat intake to 30 percent less than her current levels.

4. That should be easy for (she, her), since few people like fish and fresh vegetables more than (she, her) does.

5. It is (she, her) (who, whom) eats five or more servings of a combination of vegetables and fruits each day.

6. (They, Them) also encourage (she, her) to balance food intake and physical activity to maintain appropriate body weight.

7. The committee did put a challenge before (she, her): to eliminate any alcohol consumption.

8. Both (she, her) and her mother are to maintain adequate calcium intake through low or nonfat dairy products and dark green vegetables.

9. A final caution was given to (she, her).

10. They found (she, her) was taking more dietary supplements in excess of the RDA recommendations-- much more than (she, her) needed to take

Exercise 2

1. Health should be a concern for the whole family. How can you get (they, them) interested in good health and fitness?

2. Many of (we, us) are woefully fat and unfit.

3. Researchers claim the number of obese children has risen more than 50% percent twenty years. What does that tell (we, us) about our condition?

4. More than 68 percent of (we, us) can't meet minimum standards for strength, flexibility, and endurance.

5. As (we, us) grow older, (we,us) are usually less active than (we, us) were as children.

6. Many people believe good health and well-being are beyond (they, them).

7. All people can improve their lives somehow if (they, them) want to work at it.

8. (We, Us) need to take control of our lives.

9. It is hard for many of (we, us), but it is possible.

10. Each person needs to say, "It is (I, me) (who, whom) can help make my own life healthier."

Correcting Ambiguous Modifiers and Pronouns

In these sentences you'll find misplaced or dangling modifiers. Some you can correct simply by placing the modifier next to the word it modifies. Other sentences may require rewriting.

Exercise 1

1. The little black dog followed him wagging his tail.

2. Purring contentedly, I saw the cat in my armchair.

3. Zooming down the hill, the tree was struck with a bang.

4. A child was born to Mr. and Mrs. N.L. Smith weighing eight pounds.

5. When I picked up the dog's dish, it began to bark.

6. As I approached the baby's playpen, it began to cry.

7. Lauren told her mother that her dresses were all dated.

8. The instructor told him that he did not understand the poem.

9. When I open the door of the bird cage, it flew out.

10. She told her roommate that her stereo needed a new needle.

Exercise 2

1. It would be cold in Idaho at this time of year which I don't like.

2. She told her instructor she didn't understand what she was saying.

3. Staring in disbelief, the car jumped the curb and crashed into a telephone booth.

4. Also soft and cuddly, the main appeal of a kitten is its playfulness.

5. After subduing the protesters, the meeting resumed.

6. To avoid hitting the bumper of the car in front, I struck the mailbox.

7. The chairperson asked him to reconsider his statement.

8. His dad told him he would have to be more generous with his time.

9. Looking back in history, Americans have often professed individualism while rewarding conformity.

10. There were only six students in that class which I really liked.

Economy and Parallelism

Make the following sentences economical and parallel by cutting unnecessary words or by making the sentences agree in form, time, person, and number.

Exercise 1

1. Judy Syfers is a person who writes a satiric essay.

2. She writes "I Want a Wife" in order to draw attention to women's many roles in a marriage.

3. Syfers envies a recently divorced man while she ironed clothes one evening.

4. The man at this point in time is looking for a new wife.

5. Syfers explains why each and every person needs a wife.

6. She wants a wife to keep clothes clean, ironed, mended, and replacing them when needed.

7. There is no doubt that she wants a wife to take care of the children.

8. Syfers's wife would do the shopping, preparing, cooking, and to clean up after every meal.

9. In the event that Syfers is writing a paper for school, her wife revise and type the paper.

10. Syfers had convincingly characterized the exaggerated expectations men sometimes have of their wives.

Exercise 2

1. Can men during this day and age also mother?

2. Biologically, a man cannot bear children, but they can nurture children.

3. Men are capable of providing for children's needs physically, emotionally, and in social ways.

4. Fathers may feel uncomfortable around infants due to the fact they haven't had much experience.

5. When a father changes his child's diaper for the first time, you can sense the uncertainty.

6. But soon after he changes several diapers, one realizes it's not that difficult.

7. Changing diapers allows a father to care physically for the child, to meet the child's emotional demands, and putting another's needs above his own.

8. A father misses countless bonding situations while waiting for one's child to grow older.

9. Even feedings at 2 a.m. in the morning can draw a father closer to his infant.

10. There are many fathers who don't understand the important essentials of fatherhood.

Punctuation

Exercise 1

Add the necessary punctuation to these sentences.

1. My father has said Being dependable means that we do what we have said we would do, when we said we would do it, and in the best way we can.

2. The dictionary defines the word dependable as being reliable.

3. To illustrate the importance of dependability, my father asks What if a sky divers parachute did not open?

4. He also asks What if the brakes on a car didnt hold.

5. Before making promises, we need to stress whats expected.

6. Its also important to know when were to do it.

7. And, finally, its essential to know how well we should do it.

8. Phoenix Jackson in the Eudory Welty story A Worn Path is dependable.

9. Father Latour, the main character in the Willa Cather novel Death Comes for the Archbishop is also dependable.

10. Isn't it wonderful when someone says to you Your are dependable.

Exercise 2

Add the necessary punctuation and capitalization to these sentences.

1. floyd dell wrote his autobiography entitled homecoming.

2. in the auobiography there is a narrative titled we're poor.

3. he remembers going to sunday school with the soles of his shoes worn through.

4. at church the children were asked to bring food for the poor next sunday.

5. his mother sent a few pennies and a small bag of potatoes.

6. that year, his parents didn't even mention christmas they hoped he wouldn't notice.

7. on christmas eve, the little boy realized, we're poor!

8. dell then explains, it wasn't so bad, now that i knew. i just hadn't known.

9. whatever he had wanted for his christmas gift, he no longer wanted.

10. the next morning in his stocking he found a bag of popcorn and a pencil.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download