Writing & Grammar: More Commas

by Jennie Ruby 

Answers to last week's challenge on commas are brought to you by Joanne Chantelau Hofmeister. Other respondents with all answers correct were Roslyn G. Hager, Anne Goldenberger, Douglas Daniel Blackley, and Vera Sytch. And, yes, number 4 was correct as written, meaning that technically the instructions should have mentioned that. Nevertheless, 55% of respondents answered correctly.

Number 2 elicited the most errors. Look carefully at that opening noun phrase, "The president of Super Simplistic Solutions." Because of the word the, this phrase completely identifies the one individual who is the subject of the sentence. His name is then grammatically nonessential. Contrast that with number 6, where the job title is used in front of the name without the word a or the. For that reason, the job title does not stand alone as a noun fully identifying the subject. Instead, it is merely an adjective modifying the proper noun George Baker. But be careful. Sometimes the word the or the word a may be present, but the opening phrase still does not narrow the discussion to one specific noun. Check out the examples in this week's new challenge on essential versus nonessential appositives.

Answers to Last Week's Challenge: Add or subtract commas to correctly punctuate these sentences

1. "Another electrolyte, potassium, works with sodium to generate the electrical current necessary for muscle function."
2. The president of Super Simplistic Solutions, Biff Bifferson, opened the competition to clients as well as staffers.
3. A nurse's aide, Jon Boxco, greets each patient at the desk.
4. "Important for bones and teeth, this element is even more essential in cell physiology."
5. Ramakrishna Sing, a research associate at the National University, created a new way to purify water.
6. Administrative associate George Baker set up the new device.
7. Built just a year ago, the senior center is already full.

This Week's Grammar Challenge: Essential versus nonessential appositives

1. The doctor standing by the podium Dr. Jasper Caspar is a specialist in joint repair.
2. A very important concept grouping will be discussed in the next section.
3. ABC Senior Director Sing will speak at the all-hands meeting.
4. The one topic we should not ignore reproducibility is the very one we most often neglect.
5. The very important insect drosophila melanogaster is the topic of our next lesson.
6. This insect's main predator the predaceous wasp cannot alone control the population.

Feel free to post your answers as comments below.