Page 317 - Oxford_English_Grammar_Course_Basic_2015

appendix 5 punctuation

This section summarises the most important rules of punctuation,

the basic sentence
We don't put commas (,„) between the basic parts of a sentence (subject and verb, verb and object etc).
M y b ro th e r has fo u n d a re a lly g o o d jo b .
(NOT My brother, has fo u n d a really g o o d jo b .
OR My b ro th e r has found, a really go o d jo br)

before the basic sentence
If we put long adverbial expressions (saying when, where etc) before the basic sentence, we often use
a comma (,). Compare:
Last year he follow ed a business studies course in Edinburgh.
Between January 2010 a n d M arch 2011, he follow ed a business studies course in Edinburgh.

after the basic sentence
We don't usually use commas when adverbial expressions come after the basic sentence.
He follow ed a business studies course in Edinburgh betw een January 2010 a n d M arch 2011.

inside the basic sentence
When adverbial expressions come between parts of the basic sentence, we usually put commas before
and after them.
She has, in the six m onths since she started her m usic studies, m ade rem arkable progress.

noun phrases
We don't usually separate a noun from the adjectives or other expressions that go with it.

those very nice people (NOT those very nice, people)
those very nice people in the fla t downstairs (NOT those-ver-y-nice-peeple, in the fla t dow nstairs)
those very nice people who invited us to their p a rty
(NOT those-veryn ice-people,w h o in v ite d us to their p arty)

sentences with conjunctions
We often put commas in sentences with conjunctions, especially in longer sentences. (See page 219.) Compa
Everything w ill be different when M r Harris leaves.
Everything w ill be very different after A pril next year, when M r Harris leaves.
We usually use a comma if we start with the conjunction.
W hen M r Harris leaves, everything w ill be different.

indirect speech
We don't put commas after verbs of saying, thinking etc in indirect speech.
Jam ie says th a t he has a problem . (NOT Jamie says, that ...)
I don't k n o w w h a t I was going to tell the police. (NOT / don't know, w h a t...)
We don't put question marks (?) in indirect questions.
I asked w hy he was late. (NOT / asked why he w as la te?)

a useful rule: no comma before th a t
We don't put commas before th a t (conjunction or relative pronoun).
I k n o w th a t she m arried a m an th a t worked for her father.

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