The Ten Commandments: Comma or Coma? (Part Six)
Here are the last two commandments (thank God...and Moses):
IX. Grammar English's Famous Rule of Punctuation: Never use only one comma between a subject and its verb.
"Believing completely and positively in your ability to use the comma is essential for success."
Although readers might pause after the word "comma," there is no reason to put a comma there.
X. Typographical Reasons: Between a city and a state (Rome, Italy), a name and a title when the title comes after the name (Moses Jones, Prophet Emeritus), in long numbers (5,456,783 and $14,682), and a date and a year (May 14, 1948).
Note that we use a comma or a set of commas to make the year parenthetical when the date of the month is included:
May 14, 1948, is regarded as the birth date of the nation of Israel.
Without the date itself, the comma shalt be removed:
May 1948 was one of the most eventful months in Israel's history.
In international or military format, no commas are used:
The state of Israel became a nation on 14 May 1948.
Although thou shalt often see a comma between a name and suffix — Samuel Thomas Eubanks, III — this comma is no longer regarded as necessary by most copy editors.***
I have to admit that the concept for this series of blogs fizzled out. In my quest to entertain, I didn't consider that some concepts are like a balloon that sits over time and the air leaks out until it goes flat. I apologize for letting the balloon go flat. Next time, my concept to do a series will be limited to two or three sessions. But I believe this series will help us all to regain the understanding of the comma.
Thanks for wandering with me. But I gotta get out of this desert.
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