If you visit online grammar forums, you know that the comma is the most asked-about punctuation mark.
If you get confused about comma use with such as, you have company: me!
Let’s look at some examples and some explanations.
Nonessential such as
Consider that we often use such as when we present an example of something:
- Please paint red flowers.
- Please paint red flowers, such as roses, poppies and tulips.
- We’ll spend this year’s vacation traveling to an island country.
- We’ll spend this year’s vacation traveling to an island country, such as Australia or New Zealand.
- To become a competent blogger, you need to understand how to use punctuation marks.
- To become a competent blogger, you need to understand how to use punctuation marks, such as apostrophes and commas.
A recent online post about tweeting caught my attention:
Are you as overwhelmed as I am by our early start to the 2020 U.S. presidential election?
We judge writing in part by how lean it is; proficient writers, bloggers, students — and ruthless editors — strive to convey a thought using the fewest words.
As I was preparing to visit Hawaiʻi early this month, I did some research on the geography, history and language of the islands. My youngest son and his wife moved there recently, and I was eager to see them and their new surroundings.
A Ruthless Editor blog follower noted that babysitting, which first appeared in the U.S. lexicon in 1937, is generally expressed as one word.
A blog follower sent me an email questioning all right versus alright and when each should be used. The query arose at her weekly writers group gathering.
You’ve been out of the classroom for how long?
As the United States has struggled with catastrophic hurricanes, wildfires and mass shootings, I’ve heard people stumble over the use and pronunciation of incident and incidents, and of incidence (a valid word) and incidences (not a valid word in plural form).
If you send holiday greetings, or if you ever sign a gift card on behalf of your whole family, here’s a tip about writing a family name.
