{"id":2294,"date":"2015-02-02T14:34:41","date_gmt":"2015-02-02T14:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/?p=2294"},"modified":"2021-11-12T16:05:03","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T10:05:03","slug":"not-all-punctuation-is-created-equal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/not-all-punctuation-is-created-equal\/","title":{"rendered":"Comma, Dashes, Parentheses: Effectively Using Punctuations in Research Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Poor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/punctuation-in-research-paper-part-1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">punctuation<\/a> can camouflage, or even entirely deface brilliant ideas. This article addresses three of the most troublesome marks in English.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"margin-left: 10px\">Comma<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-left: 10px\">Dash<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-left: 10px\">Parentheses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/plagiarism-checker\/?utm_source=academy&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=banner&amp;utm_term=article\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-36233 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/M3_inarticle-service-banner_900x270_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"270\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/M3_inarticle-service-banner_900x270_1.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/M3_inarticle-service-banner_900x270_1-470x141.jpg 470w, https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/M3_inarticle-service-banner_900x270_1-750x225.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/M3_inarticle-service-banner_900x270_1-768x230.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 900px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 900\/270;\" \/><\/a><\/h2>\n<h2>When to Use Commas in a Sentence<\/h2>\n<p>Commas are frequently used and frequently misused. Grammarians have variously assigned a couple dozen distinct uses to the comma, but here we will concentrate only on the most troublesome.<\/p>\n<h3>Setting off an Introductory Phrase<\/h3>\n<p>Use a comma after an introductory word, phrase, or clause that precedes the main clause.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>For the Stop RT, there was a significant condition X group interaction (F = 8.78 (1, 38) P &lt; 0.01).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Foremost among other uses of the comma, this one is geared to the pause an actual speaker would make if the sentence were to be spoken aloud.<\/p>\n<h3>Listing<\/h3>\n<p>Use a comma when listing items in a series. Some publications have stopped using a comma before the last item in a series and if so, they will ask you to follow suit. Unless you know, however, that the publication has adopted this innovation, always use that last comma (also called the \u201cserial comma\u201d or the \u201cOxford comma\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>In a phrase that includes the serial comma, e.g. \u201cWe invited the musicians, JFK, and Stalin,\u201d three invitees are specified. In the phrase without that comma, e.g. \u201cWe invited the musicians, JFK and Stalin,\u201d musicians were explicitly invited; moreover \u201cJFK\u201d and \u201cStalin\u201d can be thought of as members of the musician group.<\/p>\n<h3>Bracketing<\/h3>\n<p>Misreading a list that lacks its final comma is due to the fact that a comma can validly be used to set off a word or phrase in apposition, one that defines or modifies the phrase that precedes it. This use is also called \u201cbracketing.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Leaving aside for the moment the anomalies in these lines, a passage containing both ambiguity and truth, one notices that Alisoun at once branches into a new verse paragraph: &#8220;And neer he cam, and kneled faire adoun&#8221; (803).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In the example, the \u201canomalies in these lines\u201d are equated with a \u201cpassage containing both ambiguity and truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Omission<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes a comma is used to indicate the omission of the word \u201cand\u201d or of a parallel-form marker. In the example below, the last comma stands for \u201cand Khit San was\u201d:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Khit San was Burma\u2019s first \u201cexperimental\u201d poetry movement, notable for the inclusion of everyday language.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>When to Use Dashes in a Sentence<\/h2>\n<p>The dash is also called the \u201cem dash\u201d or \u201clong dash.\u201d Dashes are used as a kind of advanced bracketing to set off emphatic content. Some publishers print a space on either side of the dashes.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The more inventive poetry is in honoring and transforming tradition\u2014while avoiding the political censor\u2014the more extraordinary it can be. (Byrne, 37)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>When to Use Parentheses in a Sentence<\/h2>\n<p>Unlike the dash, parentheses are used to set off inessential content. If the sentence does not make sense when you skip the information in parentheses, restructure it!<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Type II alcoholism has been linked to a disturbance of the central serotonin (5-HT) system. (Crean, 349)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>If you find that you are writing very long sentences that require lots of punctuation, you are probably writing about more than one thing at a time, which can confuse or tire your reader. You do not have to tell the reader everything you know in a single sentence!<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>However, Khit San (translated as \u201ctesting the times\u201d) retained a proclivity toward Burmese nationalism and the preservation of cultural symbols\u2014perhaps expectedly under the strong arm of British colonization\u2014and the preservation of a climbing rhyme first used in the pagan era (its rhyme scheme operated a 4-3-2 rhyming pattern of four syllables per line, the last or fourth syllable of the first line rhyming with the third syllable of the next line and the second syllable of the third line, and so on, usually ending with a line of seven syllables). (Byrne, 35)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In the example above, the first parenthetical should be omitted. The second should be rewritten as a separate thought.<\/p>\n<p>Perfectly punctuated sentences of varying structures help you engage and retain your reader\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n<div style=\"display:flex; gap:10px;justify-content:\" class=\"wps-pgfw-pdf-generate-icon__wrapper-frontend\">\n\t\t<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2294?action=genpdf&amp;id=2294\" class=\"pgfw-single-pdf-download-button\" ><img data-src=\"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-generator-for-wp\/admin\/src\/images\/PDF_Tray.svg\" title=\"Generate PDF\" style=\"width:auto; height:45px;\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\"><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Poor punctuation can camouflage, or even entirely deface brilliant ideas. This article addresses three of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[1424],"ppma_author":[1894],"class_list":["post-2294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-language-grammar","category-academic-writing","tag-using-punctuation-marks"],"better_featured_image":null,"acf":{"faq_main_heading":"","faq_heading_one":"","faq_heading_two":"","faq_heading_three":"","faq_heading_four":"","faq_heading_five":"","faq_heading_six":"","faq_description_one":"","faq_description_two":"","faq_description_three":"","faq_description_four":"","faq_description_five":"","faq_description_six":""},"views":1215,"single_webinar_page_date":null,"single_webinar_page_time":null,"session_agenda":null,"who_should_attend_this_session":null,"about_the_speaker_field":null,"co-webinar-sec":null,"co_webinar_sec_one":null,"speaker-name":null,"webinar-date":null,"webinar-time":null,"webinar-s-image":null,"custum_webinar_category":null,"authors":[{"term_id":1894,"user_id":6,"is_guest":0,"slug":"daveishan","display_name":"Enago Academy","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/cropped-favicon-192x192-1.png","url2x":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/cropped-favicon-192x192-1.png"},"author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":"Enago Academy, the knowledge arm of Enago, offers comprehensive and up-to-date resources on academic research and scholarly publishing to all levels of scholarly professionals: students, researchers, editors, publishers, and academic societies. It is also a popular platform for networking, allowing researchers to learn, share, and discuss their experiences within their network and community. The team, which comprises subject matter experts, academicians, trainers, and technical project managers, are passionate about helping researchers at all levels establish a successful career, both within and outside academia."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2294\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2294"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=2294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}