Just Commas: 9 Rules to Master Comma Usage [Paperback]

Janis Fisher Chan (Author), Diane Lutovich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 20, 1999

Commas are the most often used punctuation markand the most often misused. Commas used incorrectly can seriously interfere with communication. A missing comma, or a comma in the wrong place, can confuse readers or even change the meaning. Worse, mistakes in punctuation can make you seem less knowledgeable.

"Just Commas" is an easy-to-use guide that includes examples, explanations, and practice exercises to help you master comma usage. Youll quickly find answers to such questions as whether to use the series comma; how to avoid run-on sentences; when to use commas to separate phrases from the rest of the sentence; when to use commas in a series of adjectives; how to use commas with quotation marks and other punctuation marks; and how to use commas in dates, addresses, and numbers.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Diane Lutovich and Janis Fisher Chan, a former English teacher and a former copy editor, have been teaching business writing for more than 20 years to people in corporations, financial institutions, the professions, government agencies, and other organizations. They are also instructors at the University of California Business Extension.

In addition to "Just Commas," they are the authors of of four self-study writing skills books: "Professional Writing Skills," "Grammar for Grownups," "Writing Performance Documentation," and "How to Write Reports and Proposals.

Diane Lutovich's poems have been published in The Atlantic Review, Under the Sleeping Maiden, Earth's Daughters, and Medaphors, and she is the author of "A Final Cutting of the Cord: Midlife Women Talk About the Deaths of Their Elderly Mothers" (Bayood Publishing, 2000).

Janis Fisher Chan is the author of "Inventing Ourselves Again: Women Face Middle Age" (Sybil Publications, 1996) and, with Linda Mukai, of "Living With Dying" (Butterfield Press, 1996). She is also a playwright.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Advanced Communication Designs, Incorporated (December 20, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0963745565
• ISBN-13: 978-0963745569
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,599,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Avoid comma quicksand, December 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Just Commas: 9 Rules to Master Comma Usage (Paperback)

If you're like me, this little book will keep you from sinking into the quicksand of comma usage. Have you ever wondered where to put those squirrelly little punctuation marks in dates? Or whether the comma goes inside or outside single and double quotation marks? Or whether that "and" clause needs a comma, and if it does, whether the comma should go before or after the "and"? "Just Commas" will put you on firm ground. You don't have to slog through a swamp of punctuation advice - everything is laid out very simply - just nine basic rules. I was happy to lay my hands on it. I found I was hauling the book out so often, I now keep it right on the desk next to my dictionary and Roget.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great tool, November 3, 2004

By 

J. Knutsen (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Just Commas: 9 Rules to Master Comma Usage (Paperback)

Missing and misplaced commas are a pet peeve. This is a terrific guide I've given to several team members. The response and results have been terrific.

Love the approach here: The authors start by outlining nine basic rules and then give a chapter to each. For every rule there are great examples and practice exercises that bring the principles to life. Now, will someone please write "Just Semi-Colons"?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This helped everyone in my office!, November 3, 2004

By 

Wendy Sheldon (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Just Commas: 9 Rules to Master Comma Usage (Paperback)

Just Commas, Nonprofit Evaluation Director

I am the evaluation director for a national nonprofit organization. I write a lot of reports and also edit the writing of my colleagues. Many of my colleagues are great writers but often make grammatical mistakes, including the incorrect use of commas. We don't have resources for writing skills training, so I bought this book and shared it with my office (incidentally I found that it helped me too). These authors wrote another book, Professional Writing Skills, a self-paced training manual, that I also bought and found very helpful.