How to learn English punctuation?

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Re: How to learn English punctuation?

Postby smallwhite » Tue May 16, 2017 6:36 am

Ольга wrote:How to learn English punctuation?
It is my weak point.

What aspects of English punctuation are you finding difficult?
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Re: How to learn English punctuation?

Postby Ольга » Tue May 16, 2017 7:51 am

smallwhite wrote:
Ольга wrote:How to learn English punctuation?
It is my weak point.

What aspects of English punctuation are you finding difficult?

Commas.
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Re: How to learn English punctuation?

Postby Elenia » Tue May 16, 2017 8:03 am

Scriptorium might work? You'd have to be careful about which texts you choose though - as MamaPata said, a lot of English natives have no idea what they're meant to be doing.* There will also be cases where you'll need to make a choice as to which standard you follow - the example I'm thinking of now is the Oxford Comma, which is a contested usage.

*Myself included.
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Re: How to learn English punctuation?

Postby smallwhite » Tue May 16, 2017 8:09 am

Ольга wrote:
smallwhite wrote:
Ольга wrote:How to learn English punctuation?
It is my weak point.

What aspects of English punctuation are you finding difficult?

Commas.

Comma, Wikipedia
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Re: How to learn English punctuation?

Postby golyplot » Mon May 22, 2017 6:04 am

One rule of thumb is to just put a comma wherever you would pause when speaking. It may not follow a manual of style, but it works well enough.
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Re: How to learn English punctuation?

Postby luke » Mon May 22, 2017 6:38 am

And if you like to get it from a concise book, The Elements of Style - William Strunk.

Some examples from the contents:

In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last.
Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas.
Place a comma before a conjunction introducing a co-ordinate clause.
Do not join independent clauses by a comma.
Do not break sentences in two.
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Re: How to learn English punctuation?

Postby Tomás » Mon May 22, 2017 9:01 pm

Ольга wrote:
smallwhite wrote:
Ольга wrote:How to learn English punctuation?
It is my weak point.

What aspects of English punctuation are you finding difficult?

Commas.


Comma use is 90% of the time a stylistic issue in which there is no right or wrong. It should be the least of your concerns about punctuation. Read a lot and you will absorb all you need to know.
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Re: How to learn English punctuation?

Postby Aozora » Tue May 23, 2017 12:43 am

Ольга wrote:
smallwhite wrote:
Ольга wrote:How to learn English punctuation?
It is my weak point.

What aspects of English punctuation are you finding difficult?

Commas.

You can try this site too
http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp

For something like punctuation, I'm not a fan of the advice to just read more, or the suggestion that commas don't matter. It's true that not everyone uses them correctly all the time, but we can at least try? If you learn the rules, you'll see them in use while reading, and that will reinforce those rules.
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Re: How to learn English punctuation?

Postby smallwhite » Tue May 23, 2017 6:53 am

Many members write commas the way, that Germans do. And they are often people, who read a lot in English. I know it's not only Germans, who write commas like that. But German is the only language, that I know, that punctuates like that.
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Re: How to learn English punctuation?

Postby SophiaMerlin_II » Tue May 23, 2017 7:49 am

smallwhite wrote:Many members write commas the way, that Germans do. And they are often people, who read a lot in English. I know it's not only Germans, who write commas like that. But German is the only language, that I know, that punctuates like that.


Were you breaking commas for effect :shock:
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