Don’t Let Bad Grammar Lock You Out of the Job

Posted on July 7th, 2011 by Keith Ferrazzi

If you’re looking for a new gig, whether it’s your first or your 10th, you’re doing a lot of writing. Cover letters, emails, versions of your resume... At no other time is clean, clear concise writing more important – and that means you need to brush up on your grammar, too. Yes, punctuation counts. You don’t want to be pushed to the “no” pile because you were sloppy with your commas.

Enter Mignon Fogarty, the founder of the Quick and Dirty Tips network and author of the new books Grammar Girl’s 101 Misused Words You’ll Never Confuse Again and Grammar Girl’s 101 Words Every High School Graduate Needs to Know.

Here’s a post from her on something that’s stumped me before and I’m sure plenty of you – when to use a comma. Thanks Mignon!

***
Commas Are Not Confetti

That "rule" you learned about using a comma when you'd pause if you were speaking is not a real rule. It might get you the right answer slightly more than half the time--a good stat for baseball, but not for writing. Such random comma usage is sometimes called the “Shatner comma”: Must, go, now.

Commas are one of the trickiest punctuation marks because there are so many different rules. Learn them so you don't write "Let's eat grandma," instead of "Let's eat, grandma." Here are the basics:

Direct Address (The Grandma Rule)

When addressing someone by name or nickname in a sentence, you need a comma.

John, go get the CEO’s double mocha.
He can get it himself, Dave.
You’re fired, John.

Serial Comma (The Oxford Comma)

The comma before the “and” at the end of a sentence can be optional depending on the style you follow. The AP Stylebook recommends using the serial comma when it’s needed for clarity; the Chicago Manual of Style recommends using it all the time.

The CEO likes a double shot, whipped cream, and sprinkles. (Chicago)
The CEO likes a double shot, whipped cream and sprinkles. (AP)

Appositives

When you’re clarifying who a person is by adding a name, use a comma.

The CEO, Skippy Robinson, goes crazy if he doesn’t get his sprinkles.

If-Clauses

If the if-clause comes at the beginning of a sentence, put a comma after it. If it comes at the end, don’t use a comma.

If Skippy doesn’t get his sprinkles, it’s best to hide in the bathroom.
Hide in the bathroom if Skippy doesn’t get his sprinkles.

Compound Sentences

When you join two sentences with a conjunction such as “and,” “but,” “or,” or “so,” use a comma.

Dave hid in the bathroom, but John eventually came to his senses and got Skippy some coffee.

These are just some of the most common comma rules--plenty more will keep you guessing--but it’s a start. Put, your, knowledge, to, good, use.

Send a trackback!
0 comments // In Career
Bookmark and Share
« Previous Post Next Post »

Leave a Reply