The Grammar of English Grammars Part 167

Where a finite verb is understood, a comma is generally required; as, "From law arises security; from security, curiosity; from curiosity, knowledge."--_Murray_.

"Else all my prose and verse were much the same; This, prose on stilts; that, poetry fallen lame."--_Pope_.

EXCEPTION.--VERY SLIGHT PAUSE.

As the semicolon must separate the clauses when the comma is inserted by this rule, if the pause for the omitted verb be very slight, it may be left unmarked, and the comma be used for the clauses; as, "When the profligate speaks of piety, the miser of generosity, the coward of valour, and the corrupt of integrity, they are only the more despised by those who know them."--_Comstock's Elocution_, p. 132.

RULE X.--INFINITIVES.

The infinitive mood, when it follows a verb from which it must be separated, or when it depends on something remote or understood, is generally, with its adjuncts, set off by the comma; as, "One of the greatest secrets in composition is, _to know_ when to be simple."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 151. "To confess the truth, I was much in fault."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 271.

"The Governor of all--has interposed, Not seldom, his avenging arm, _to smite_ The injurious trampler upon nature's law."--_Cowper_.

RULE XI.--PARTICIPLES.

Participles, when something depends on them, when they have the import of a dependent clause, or when they relate to something understood, should, with their adjuncts, he set off by the comma; as, 1. "Law is a rule of civil conduct, _prescribed_ by the supreme power in a state, _commanding_ what is right, and _prohibiting_ what is wrong."--BLACKSTONE: _Beattie's Moral Science_, p. 346.

2. "Young Edwin, _lighted by the evening star, Lingering and list'ning_ wander'd down the vale."--_Beattie_.

3. "_United_, we stand; _divided_, we fall."--_Motto_.

4. "_Properly speaking_, there is no such thing as chance."

EXCEPTION.--PARTICIPLES RESTRICTIVE.

When a participle immediately follows its noun, and is taken in a restrictive sense, the comma should not be used before it; as,

"A man _renown'd for repartee_, Will seldom scruple to make free With friends.h.i.+p's finest feeling."--_Cowper_.

RULE XII.--ADVERBS. Adverbs, when they break the connexion of a simple sentence, or when they have not a close dependence on some particular word in the context, should, with their adjuncts, be set off by the comma; as, "We must not, _however_, confound this gentleness with the artificial courtesy of the world."--"_Besides_, the mind must be employed."--_Gilpin_.

"_Most unquestionably_, no fraud was equal to all this."--_Lyttelton_.

"But, _unfortunately for us_, the tide was ebbing already."

"When b.u.t.tress and b.u.t.tress, _alternately_, Seem framed of ebon and ivory."--_Scott's Lay_, p. 33.

RULE XIII.--CONJUNCTIONS.

Conjunctions, when they are separated from the princ.i.p.al clauses that depend on them, or when they introduce examples, are generally set off by the comma; _as_, "_But_, by a timely call upon Religion, the force of Habit was eluded."--_Johnson_.

"They know the neck that joins the sh.o.r.e and sea, _Or_, ah! how chang'd that fearless laugh would be."--_Crabbe_.

RULE XIV.--PREPOSITIONS.

Prepositions and their objects, when they break the connexion of a simple sentence, or when they do not closely follow the words on which they depend, are generally set off by the comma; as, "Fas.h.i.+on is, _for the most part_, nothing but the ostentation of riches."--"_By reading_, we add the experience of others to our own."

"In vain the sage, _with retrospective eye_, Would from th' apparent What conclude the Why."--_Pope_.

RULE XV.--INTERJECTIONS.

Interjections that require a pause, though more commonly emphatic and followed by the ecphoneme, are sometimes set off by the comma; as, "For, _lo_, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north."--_Jeremiah_, i, 15. "_O_, 'twas about something you would not understand."--_Columbian Orator_, p. 221. "_Ha, ha!_ you were finely taken in, then!"--_Aikin_. "_Ha, ha, ha!_ A facetious gentleman, truly!"--_Id._

"_Oh_, when shall Britain, conscious of her claim, Stand emulous of Greek and Roman fame?"--_Pope_.

RULE XVI.--WORDS REPEATED.

A word emphatically repeated, is generally set off by the comma; as, "Happy, happy, happy pair!"--_Dryden_. "Ay, ay, there is some comfort in that."--_Shak_. "Ah! no, no, no."--_Dryden_.

"The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, The moss-covered bucket, which hung in the well!"--_Woodworth_.

RULE XVII.--DEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.

A quotation, observation, or description, when it is introduced in close dependence on a verb, (as, _say, reply, cry_, or the like,) is generally separated from the rest of the sentence by the comma; as, "'The book of nature,' said he, 'is before thee.'"--_Hawkesworth_. "I say unto all, Watch."--_Mark_. "'The boy has become a man,' means, 'he has _grown to be_ a man.' 'Such conduct becomes a man,' means, 'such conduct _befits_ him.'"--_Hart's Gram._, p. 116.

"While man exclaims, 'See all things for my use!'

'See man for mine!' replies a pamper'd goose."--_Pope_.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.--ERRORS CONCERNING THE COMMA.

UNDER RULE I.--OF SIMPLE SENTENCES.

"Short, simple sentences should not be separated by a comma."--_Felton's Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 135; 3d Ed., Stereotyped, p. 137.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because a needless comma is put after _short_, the sentence being simple. But, according to Rule 1st for the Comma, "A simple sentence does not, in general, admit the comma." Therefore, this comma should be omitted; thus, "Short simple sentences should not be separated by a comma." Or, much better: "_A_ short simple _sentence_ should _rarely be divided_ by _the_ comma." For such sentences, combined to form a period, _should generally be separated_; and even a single one may have some phrase that must be set off.]

"A regular and virtuous education, is an inestimable blessing."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 174. "Such equivocal expressions, mark an intention to deceive."--_Ib._, p. 256. "They are, _This_ and _that_, with their plurals _these_ and _those_."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 26; _Practical Lessons_, p.

3. "A nominative case and a verb, sometimes make a complete sentence; as, He sleeps."--_Felton's Gram._, p. 78. "_Tense_, expresses the action connected with certain relations of time; _mood_, represents it as farther modified by circ.u.mstances of contingency, conditionally, &c."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 37. "The word Noun, means name."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 14.

"The present, or active participle, I explained then."--_Ib._, p. 97. "Are some verbs used, both transitively and intransitively?"--_Cooper's Pt. and Pract. Gram._, p. 54. "Blank verse, is verse without rhyme."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 242. "A distributive adjective, denotes each one of a number considered separately."--_Ib._, p. 51.

"And may at last my weary age, Find out the peaceful hermitage."

--_Murray's Gr._, 12mo, p. 205; 8vo, 255.

UNDER THE EXCEPTION CONCERNING SIMPLE SENTENCES.

"A noun without an Article to limit it is taken in its widest sense."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 8; _Practical Lessons_, p. 10.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma is here set before the verb _is taken_. But, according to the Exception to Rule 1st for the Comma, "When the nominative in a long simple sentence is accompanied by inseparable adjuncts, or when several words together are used in stead of a nominative, a comma should be placed immediately before the verb." Therefore, a comma should be here inserted; thus, "A noun without an article to limit it, is taken in its widest sense."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 6.]