Punctuation

One key point when punctuating a sentence in English is that commas, periods, question marks, and exclamation marks come immediately after the word. Do not leave a space. Another important thing to remember is that the dependent clauses, or those within commas, can be omitted from a sentence and the sentence will still read correctly. That's why they are called dependent because they cannot stand alone. Also, when making abbreviations, a period always follows the abbreviated form. Finally, when you have a list of three items, some editors say you should put a comma before the and while others say it is correct to omit the comma. I prefer to use a second comma in such lists. Let's look at the examples below. I will show you what I mean.

Use a comma to set off introductory elements. As you can see, the sentence reads correctly without it.

In the summer of discontent, they bonded for life.

Use a comma to set off coordinate adjectives. When you have more than one adjective in a row, they are separated with commas.

She had long, flowing hair. Her wide-set, green eyes were glowing.

An interjection, considered a parenthetical phrase, is also contained within commas.

Whatever you do, we must realize, of course , that there is much at stake.

If a phrase is placed between commas and it can be removed from a sentence without changing the ovall meaning of the sentence, it is a dependent clause. The part of the sentence that stands along is the independent clause.

John Cooper, the resident in question, gave the initial address.