Q. My question relates to the proper use of the comma when using a subordinate clause introduced by the pronoun “which” or “who.” My impression is that a comma to set off the clause is proper sometimes but not always. For example, if I say, “I have a car which has four doors,” a comma introducing the clause is not appropriate. However, if I say, “My car, which has four doors, is blue,” the comma is proper. I am not quite sure how to articulate the rule for when the comma is proper and when not. Can you help me?
Q. When a city and a state are mentioned in a sentence, am I correct in placing commas after the state name as well as before the state name? “Mary traveled to Seattle, Washington, before going on to California.” And when “Jr.” follows a name in a sentence, is it necessary to add a comma before it? How about after it?
Q. I wish to say that I have oranges, apples, and pears, and all of the oranges, apples, and pears have recently arrived at the supermarket. I write the following sentence: “I have oranges, apples, and pears, recently arrived at the supermarket.” Does the comma before “recently” mean that the words “recently arrived at the supermarket” apply to each of the oranges, apples, and pears? If I removed the comma before “recently,” would the sentence now mean that only the pears had recently arrived at the supermarket?
Q. Three people have three strong opinions about commas in the following passage: “He thinks that, if he asks for directions, his membership in the brotherhood of men will be revoked. He would rather be lost.” Person A likes both commas. Person B would omit the first but keep the second. Person C would strike both. Please judge us.
Q. I was always taught that one needs to put a subject after a comma and conjunction so that it joins two independent clauses. For example: “Sara picked a flower from the garden, and she smelled it.” So, per the rule, if there is no “she” in the second part of the sentence, it shouldn’t have a comma: “Sara picked a flower from the garden and smelled it.” I’ve seen that many publications ignore this rule. I’m wondering if this isn’t a real rule, or perhaps I misunderstood it? Thanks in advance.
Q. I can’t wrap my brain around this question re appositives. In the following sentence, is the man’s name restrictive or nonrestrictive? Ask Ruth’s childhood friend Tom Jones to help.
Q. A physicists’ society newsletter reported on some portraits by famed physicist and part-time artist Richard Feynman, noting, “The works were acquired by Princeton, where Feynman had been a graduate student, in the mid-eighties.” One reader chided the editors, claiming that the sentence makes Feynman (born 1918) a sixty-plus-year-old graduate student. I feel the comma after “graduate student” sets off the phrase correctly. How do I make my case concisely, or what rule do I cite? Or am I wrong?
Q. I’ve been having a debate with a vendor regarding commas. What is the proper way to punctuate a compound sentence with an introductory clause that applies to both parts of the sentence? For example, “During percussion, tympany is a hollow sound over an air-filled structure and dullness is a thud-type sound over a solid structure.” Most style guides cover the need for a comma after an introductory phrase (unless it is very short and clear) and the need for a comma between the independent clauses of a compound sentence (unless they are very short and related), but they don’t provide specific guidance for both elements in one sentence. I have interpreted this omission to mean that the comma should generally be used in both places, after the introductory phrase and between the independent clauses, but my vendor is insisting that the comma isn’t needed between the independent clauses because the introductory phrase applies to both of them.
Q. In the following sentence, it would appear that naming Fred as my brother is a nonrestrictive parenthetical: My brother, Fred, and I teach at the same school. However, these commas could be taken as serial commas (my brother and Fred and I teach at the same school). Thus, I was taught to write such a sentence as follows: My brother Fred and I teach at the same school. Which would you consider correct?
Q. Prepositional phrases beginning sentences. No longer followed by a comma?