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.
Frigid winter temperatures have punished much of the United States this winter. For grammar enthusiasts, weather reports have drawn attention to when to use an apostrophe with numbers.
A Ruthless Editor blog follower noted that babysitting, which first appeared in the U.S. lexicon in 1937, is generally expressed as one word.
“We’re judged by the way we write and speak,” I often say.
Are there still 
Bullet points help readers scan what you’ve written, quickly drawing attention to key issues and facts. They can tell readers what needs to be done, provide step-by-step instructions, highlight important elements, or list features.
In the typewriter age, titles were set off with quotation marks or underlining:
A recent email from an aspiring author had two spaces at the end of each sentence. Among the suggestions I gave her about publishing was to change the double spaces to single spaces throughout her manuscript. (Microsoft Word makes this easy with the FIND and REPLACE function under the toolbar’s Edit choice.)
Today is a holiday in the U.S. — The Fourth of July (Independence Day) — so many of you probably are not in your office or at your computer.
The controversy rages on … or does it limp along?
