Grammar Help from Wesley Buerkle

The following are suggestions based on common errors I see in student work. Please always ask for clarification or help whenever you need it. The Writing Center is also a wonderful resource that should not go untapped.

Commas | And, But, . . . | That/Which | Who/Whom | Good/Well | etc. | i.e., & e.g., | Italics | Ellipses

Commas

This poor little punctuation mark gets abused regularly. Help end comma abuse. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

For the purposes of writing research papers, commas generally perform three functions

Use 1: Commas separate items in a series.

• Flowering bulbs include tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths.

Use 2: Commas join complete sentences together with the use of a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, so, yet, nor, for). See below for more on coordinating conjunctions.

• He had a very high fever, so we took him to the hospital.

Use 3: Commas create a clause, preposition, or other information in a sentence that would leave a complete sentence in tact if it was removed. When using a comma for this purpose, ask yourself, "If I were to cut the information inside the commas, would I still have a grammatically correct sentence?" If you would not have a complete sentence, then remove the comma(s). In the examples below you should notice that information set off by commas could be cut without affecting the grammatical structure of the sentence remaining (the essential part of each sentence is in blue).

• If they leave right now, they can make it to the party on time.
• My sister, Julie, lives in Phoenix, one of this country's hottest cities.
• She got accepted to medical school, which is not easy to do.
• When people did not have the conveniences in their homes that we take for granted, the women were often the ones who went to the well for buckets of water.

And, but, or, so, nor, for, yet (coordinating conjunctions): Combines two complete sentences with the help of a comma.

These should not start a sentence. Notice that in the examples below one version of each idea requires a comma and one does not. Why? Because only some examples have two complete sentences.

• "I will eat green eggs but not green ham." – The words "not green ham" do not make a complete sentence (it lacks a predicate and is not really a direct object either), so no comma is used.
• "I will eat green eggs, but I refuse to eat green ham." Here you could drop "but" and write it as two separate sentences if you so desired.
• "She likes rock music and always plays it in her office." – A comma cannot go here because "always plays it in her office" has no subject.
• "She likes rock music, and she always plays it in her office." – See how we again have two complete sentences?

That/which: Prepositions used to introduce clauses—note the use of commas with one but not the other.

"That" sets off clauses essential to a sentence. A clause introduced by "that" does not use a comma.

• "The car that hit my mailbox sped away." The description of the car in this case significantly alters how the sentence reads.

"Which" sets off clauses not essential to the sentence. A clause introduced by "which" requires a comma.

• "A garnet, which is my birth stone, is a red gem." In this instance, losing the clause does not change the main point of the sentence.

Who/whom: The equivalent to he/him and she/her.

"Who" applies to a subject (the person acting).

• "Who went to the store?" Just as you would say "He went to the store," you use "who" because that person is the sentence's subject.

"Whom" applies to the object (the person being acted upon).

• "I make my check payable to whom?" In this sentence "I" is the subject (the one doing the action). You use "whom" in this case just as you would use him/her in the sentence, "I made my check payable to her."

Good/well: Using the wrong one can sound like nails on a chalkboard.

Good is an adjective, so it describes the quality of a noun.

• "A saintly person is someone who does good." – This implies being a good person, not performing acts in a superior manner ("well").
• "He does good work." – Here "good" describes the thing produced, not the process of production (e.g., "A person who writes well produces good papers.")
• "I see good in people." – Meaning this person finds others' strengths. "Well" in this case would imply the ability to see through skin into a person's body.
• "They make good crafts." – Again, this describes the things manufactured.
• "The pie tastes good." – Use of "well" would describe the pie's ability to taste the person eating it.

Well is an adverb, so it describes the quality of an action.

• "You did well." – Describes the quality of the act, not the outcome. Using "good" would mean the person performed a kind act.
• "She works well under pressure." Again, this references her ability to perform, not the quality of the thing produced.
• "I do not need glasses because I see well." – In contrast to the example above, "seeing well" describes vision abilities, whereas "seeing good" means finding the joy in life.
• "They make crafts well." – As opposed to the example above, this example describes performance, not product.

Misuses of good and well.

• "I don't feel well," means, "I am going numb," as from Novocain. Why? Because "well" describes your ability to feel, not what you assess from your senses (e.g., hot or cold).
• "You are looking well," is the kind a statement an optometrist would make by referring to your ability to sense things visually.
• "You did good," implies the person addressed has not done "evil."

etc.: The most often misspelled (and mispronounced) abbreviation meaning "and so forth."

The abbreviation stands for "et cetera," often mispronounced "excetra." Never use "etc." with the word "and" since "et" means "and." If "etc." completes a sentence be sure to include a period that ends the abbreviation and one that ends the sentence (see first example). This should typically be used in parentheses as a matter of form.

• Most adults have acquired immunity to childhood diseases like chicken pox, measles, etc..
• Fur accessories (e.g., coats, stoles, etc.) have fallen out of fashion.

i.e., and e.g.,: The most often misunderstood Latin abbreviations used for in-sentence clarification.

"i.e.," translates as "that is" (from the Latin "ist et".). Use when you want to add specifics to something referenced generally or unclearly. Place primarily in parenthesis and always followed by a comma. This does not mean "for example."

• "Professors find that non-traditional students (i.e., those 25 years of age or older) offer the most interesting examples in class." – The material in parentheses is defining what the term "non-traditional student" means, so saying "for example" would not make sense.
• "People living below the poverty line (i.e., those making $10,000 or less per year) rarely have any health insurance." – Here what qualifies as poverty is defined concretely rather than some kind of example.

"e.g.," translates as "for example" (from the Latin "exemplar grata"). Use when you want to provide examples of something referenced generally. Place primarily in parenthesis and always followed by a comma. 

• "Be sure to bring cold weather gear (e.g., heavy coats, gloves, and scarves)." – The use of "e.g." tells us that these are merely suggestions and that people may also want to bring thick boots, hats, thermal underwear and other items of that sort.
• "Flowering bulbs (e.g., tulips, daffodils, etc.) bloom year after year." – Again, the sentence gets you started but does not try to be totally inclusive.

Italics: Used for emphasis and bibliographic citations.

Italics and underlining are one in the same, so use only one or the other. Avoid using emphasis in your writing unless absolutely necessary. If the emphasis is within a quote, it should be replicated.

Ellipses ( . . . ): These are used when you are cutting words from a quote.

Note: If your quote ends by cutting a sentence short that still reads as a complete sentence, ellipses are not necessary.

The samples below come from Herman Melville's Moby Dick, p. 63. Please forgive me for cutting such a beautiful piece of prose.

Use 1: Cutting words from the middle of the same sentence. In this case you use three periods with a space between each and the words before and after the ellipses.

• Original: "The Nantucketer, he alone resides and riots on the sea; he alone, in Bible language, goes down to it in ships; to and fro ploughing it as his own special plantation."
• Quote using ellipses: "The Nantucketer, he alone resides and riots on the sea; he alone . . . goes down to it in ships." – Note that the sentences reads as grammatically complete (i.e., a subject and predicate), so I do not have to end it with ellipses.

Use 2: Cutting one sentence short and jumping to a subsequent sentence. In this case use four periods with a space between each, the preceding word, and before the next sentence.

• Original: "The Nantucketer, he alone resides and riots on the sea; he alone, in Bible language, goes down to it in ships; to and fro ploughing it as his own special plantation. There is his home; there lies his business, which a noah's flood would not interrupt, though it overwhelmed all the millions in China."
• Quote using ellipses: "The Nantucketer, he alone resides and riots on the sea . . . . There is his home; there lies his business." – The second sentence is grammatically complete so ellipses following are not necessary. 

Use 3: Cutting one or two sentences following a complete sentence. After the period ending the preceding sentence, use three periods with a space between each and the first word of the next sentence.

• Original: "He lives on the sea, as prairie cocks in the prairie; he hides among the waves, he climbs them as chamois hunters climb the Alps. For years he knows not the land; so that when he comes to it at last, it smells like another world, more strangely than the moon would to an Earthsman. With the landless gull, that at sunset folds her wings and is rocked to sleep between billows; so at nightfall, the Nantucketer, out of sight of land, furls his sails, and lays him to his rest, while under his very pillow rush herds of walruses and whales."
• Quote using ellipses: "He lives on the sea, as prairie cocks in the prairie; he hides among the waves, he climbs them as chamois hunters climb the Alps. . . . With the landless gull, that at sunset folds her wings and is rocked to sleep between billows; so at nightfall, the Nantucketer, out of sight of land, furls his sails, and lays him to his rest, while under his very pillow rush herds of walruses and whales."

Use 4: Rare (i.e., you should probably avoid). Use when you are quoting a sentence and your quote and your introductory words together do not form a complete sentence. Again, do not use unless you know what you are doing.

 

Return to Courses | Return to Buerkle Main Page

 

C. Wesley Buerkle, Assistant Professor	PO Box 70667
Communication Department, East Tennessee State University	Johnson City, TN 37614
buerkle@etsu.edu	(423) 439-7579