Commas, how to use them
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Commas, how to use them
Personally, outside some obvious situations I feel the use of commas is purely optional and dependent on whether you want to use it or not
E.g "I liked the inclusion of a green bear in the story, which really helped the plot"
In this situation, I don't have to use a comma, but if I didn't, i could be penalised by one reviewer for doing so, and if i didn't, I could be penalised for omitting it
It's all just confusing
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In the first sentence you've listed, I would argue that the comma is necessary because removing it makes the sentence hard to read (creating a run-on). There are other technical terms that justify its use in that context, but ultimately, it just makes the sentence clunky. However, if you change "which" to "that," you can then argue the use or omission of a comma, because the properties for "that" and "which" are not the same. There are semantics and subtleties involved in the English language that can be confusing to keep track of, even for people who have been reading and writing for most of their lives.
If you believe that you were unfairly counted against including/omitting a comma, I would highly recommend that you ask for a recheck/admin recheck. I have had multiple scorecards readjusted because the reasoning that the editor gave was weak/opinionated vs academically substantiated. As long as you can justify its initial use--and can provide reasoning/evidence from academic sources--you have grounds to defend your work. Don't be discouraged. (:
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Here are a few examples to get my point across.
1. My country, Nigeria, will become better.
Explanation- In this sentence, Nigeria is a non-essential element so I used two commas to separate it from the rest of the sentence.
2. I like rice, but I hate beans.
Explanation- In this sentence, but is functioning as a coordinating conjunction because it's connecting two independent clauses.
3. I like rice. However, I hate beans.
Explanation- Words like however, furthermore, moreover, etc are conjunctive adverbs. You must put a comma after them. They cannot be used to join two independent clauses.
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Editor Comments:
But Julie has a secret, one that could destroy her family, and one that she must guard at all costs if she is to be considered good enough to marry the gorgeous and successful Calvin Sexton.[remove the unnecessary comma after "family"]
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It seems the use of commas is getting the better of me, and I'm being overtaken, aaarrrghhh!! Lol.
Just want to say "Big Thanks" to the review editors. I learnt a new thing this week, about the use of the comma and the conjunction "and". I never knew a comma was needed in pretty much all uses of the word and, even in a list. I always thought the last "and" when listing many items didn't need that last comma just before. Going through the forums, I've just learnt about the "Oxford comma", and that it is grammatically optional to use or to not use the final comma in a list before the "and".
I've googled it a bit now though, and although the internet doesn't have everything, I've found enough to teach me otherwise about commas and "and". Thank you to the review editors for highlighting that, and allowing me to learn and grow.