How To Use Commas On The Act
The basic purpose of commas is to clarify relationships between phrases and clauses.
How to use commas on the act. Class because she was able to learn. An example of an extremely vital comma. There are some cases where you know you should use a comma such as when separating items in a list but there are other times when you might be unsure whether or not a comma is needed. Here s an overview of how they re used with examples. When should you use the.
The act constructed a sentence like this to trick you into thinking they need to pair up with each other. In summary commas contribute to the structure within a sentence consequently helping readers interpret the sentence s intent. When an adverbial phrase begins a sentence it s often followed by a comma but it doesn t have to be especially if it s short. These 3 punctuation marks are probably the most confusing pieces of punctuation that you will encounter on test day. While there s some degree of flexibility in how commas are used it s important to have a clear grasp of the rules.
Without it the aforementioned amazing concert lineup becomes a jumbled mess. The oxford comma serves a key purpose here as florence and the machine is one musical act. You can also use a comma with a shorter phrase when you want to emphasize it or add a pause for literary effect. Commas can be a particularly tricky punctuation mark. On the surface it looks like they should pair up but they shouldn t.
4 key rules for comma use on the act. The comma is the most important punctuation mark to know on the act english test but you ll also need to know the comma s cousins. Note the following examples. The comma before but is simply a pause. In fact this comma is optional.
Colons semicolons and dashes. They re used for separate reasons. Luckily you only really need to focus on a few main rules in order to do well on the act. And the reason is because the act will often put another word after a comma that is not one of these fanboys and that would. The act test abides by the oxford comma rule.