Welcome to my first MicroBlog, where I’ll share a grammar nugget at lightening speed. I recently saw a humorous book about punctuation titled: ‘Have You Eaten Grandma?’ What a horrible question! But what if we add a comma? ‘Have you eaten, Grandma?’ As if by magic, the … [Read more...] about MicroBlog 1: Commas, Names, and not eating Grandma
English grammar
‘However’ and commas
Here’s a simple grammar principle that’s well worth remembering: Where there is ‘however’, there should always be a comma nearby. That comma can come in one of two places, and over the next few minutes, I’ll help you make that choice of locations as simple as possible. … [Read more...] about ‘However’ and commas
Can a single comma change the meaning of a whole sentence? A simple guide to placing commas before ‘which’ and ‘that’
‘Place a comma before “which” but not before “that”.’ I’ve come across this simple guideline many times, and it’s certainly memorable, straightforward, and easy to apply. And it works most of the time. However, I often wonder if it’s too simple for its own good. It refers to one … [Read more...] about Can a single comma change the meaning of a whole sentence? A simple guide to placing commas before ‘which’ and ‘that’
How to Punctuate Dialogue
It’s dialogue time again. Over the last two weeks, I’ve addressed paragraphing dialogue and capitalising dialogue. This week, it’s time to address punctuating dialogue so that mere formatting can never again harm your brilliant lines of dialogue. There is nothing profound or … [Read more...] about How to Punctuate Dialogue
How to capitalise dialogue
If you’ve written fabulous dialogue, I’m ready to help you defend it against awkward punctuation, strange capital letters, and wonky paragraphing. Mere formatting errors will never get between your dialogue and your readers again. Last week, we worked through how to paragraph … [Read more...] about How to capitalise dialogue
