I need help with punctuation...?

Question

Can you please help me?...I am trying to learn more about punctuation and how it is correctly used....Also, if you know of any online sites I could use, please let me know...Thanks!

1. He denies recent travel, however, he did travel, extensively, last year.

2. He denies recent travel; however, he did travel extensively last year.

3. He denies recent travel however, he did travel extensively last year.

A. It takes time, effort and hard work, to accomplish that goal.

B. It takes time, effort and hard work to accomplish that goal.

C. It takes time, effort, and hard, work to accomplish that goal.

1. Joan got her degree; and she is now working for Goodyear.

2. Joan got her degree and, she is now working for Goodyear.

3. Joan got her degree, and she is now working for Goodyear.

A. The left fifth rib, which is broken, is very painful.

B. The left, fifth rib which is broken, is very painful.

C. The left fifth rib which is broken, is very painful.

1. If I do not insert proper punctuation, the meaning of the sentence will be changed.

2. If I do not insert proper, punctuation, the meaning of the sentence will be changed.

3. If I do not insert proper punctuation the meaning, of the sentence, will be changed.

A. The patient denies smoking alcohol, or drug use.

B. The patient denies smoking, alcohol or, drug use.

C. The patient denies smoking, alcohol, or drug use.

1. The patient is a young tall, female.

2. The patient is a young, tall, female.

3. The patient is a young, tall female.

A. He was born on March 8 1950 in Toledo Ohio to a young female.

B. He was born on March 8, 1950 in Toledo Ohio, to a young female.

C. He was born on March 8, 1950, in Toledo, Ohio, to a young female.

Answer 1

2 /  B / 2 / B / 1 / C / 2  / C

Answer 2

2. He denies recent travel; however, he did travel extensively last year.

This one could work as two separate sentences and would probably work quite well as two separate sentences, so a semi-colon is used to get them separate without separating them fully.

B. It takes time, effort and hard work to accomplish that goal.

To work out if your punctuation is correct, deconstruct a sentence. With this one, you should deconstruct it to "it takes hard work to accomplish that goal". No punctuation is necessary in this tiny snippet, and that's correct of the whole sentence. From here, it's a simple matter of adding "time" and "effort" to the beginning with a comma (or two) to create the list.

3. Joan got her degree, and she is now working for Goodyear.

If you didn't have the "and" then the semi-colon would be appropriate again here, splitting the whole thing into something akin to two sentences. But the "and" creates a flow which means it all works as one, so put it after the first bit. In your sentence reconstruction, you would probably take out the "and" and treat it as two separate bits, which indicates that the comma goes where it does.

A. The left fifth rib, which is broken, is very painful.

Again, deconstruct and reconstruct! Once you get the hang of it as a technique, it really is foolproof. What you're essentially saying here is "the left fifth rib is very painful". But you're adding in "which is broken" for clarification, so the commas go either side of "which is broken".

1. If I do not insert proper punctuation, the meaning of the sentence will be changed.

Amusingly, the second option of this didn't have a changed meaning with its incorrect punctuation, it was just wrong, whereas the third one wasn't strictly incorrect, but it was certainly a bizarre way of putting it. Another way of finding out if you're punctuating correctly, a little easier than the ol' deconstruct/reconstruct, is to simply say the sentence out loud, affording the punctuation its full worth. Make a purposeful pause at each comma with this one, and you'll soon see why the first option is the best.

C. The patient denies smoking, alcohol, or drug use.

A simple list! A comma goes directly after each item on the list, and nowhere else. Again, if in doubt, say it loud, and remember to pause at each comma.

2. The patient is a young, tall, female.

Again, a simple list. What you have here is an example of the Oxford comma; I'm not very good at explaining the Oxford comma, so check the link. But this is another one you can check simply by saying it loud and pausing properly at each comma. You could probably do that for every sentence you encounter with a suspect comma.

C. He was born on March 8, 1950, in Toledo, Ohio, to a young female.

While I quite like the first, punctuation-free, version of this one, I think we're going to have to go all out with the commas. With a date like that, you need the comma to separate the date from the year, and you always have a comma separating a town from a state like that. It's basically a flashback to the "fifth left rib" one. The sentence is "He was born on March 8 in Toledo to a young female", and you're adding bits in commas for specifics and clarification.

While the Wikipedia is NEVER to be treated as a bastion of correctness, it also has never failed me whenever I've looked up a bit of punctuation. If there's one thing I'm certain of, it is that I know what I'm doing when it comes to punctuation, and the Wikipedia and I have never had a falling out yet on this subject. If you'd be interested in a book, get yourself a copy of 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' by Lynne Truss. You'll need to ignore the arrogant tone of the author, but it is a deserved arrogance, because everything she says is quite correct and has helped clarify several things for me over the years.