The tiny, but strong. The simple, yet confusing. The rules of the comma are many and forgotten. Today, we will be using and explaining two common grammar symbols that get tossed around a lot and one way to use both symbols in a sentence. First, the comma can be used to separate an introductory word or words from the rest of the main statement in a sentence, like in this one. Introductory words are most of the time adverbs. We also use the comma before conjunctions, but not always, only when to separate independent clauses in the same sentence. If you’ve ever read a book you many have noticed that when a person says a sentence there is always a comma separating the person speaking and the dialog. Susie screamed, “I like dogs”, or “I like dogs”, screamed Susie. Commas are also used to separate appositives and added information, but you may say, “Why can’t we just use a semicolon for that?”. In simple terms, the comma separates added information to the sentence and the semicolon separates two closely related independent sentences. When writing list, you use commas to separate the different parts of the list, for example, the dog is blue, soft, and warm. We can also apply this previous rule to another misunderstood grammar symbol, the colon. Even though, the colon and the semicolon share the same key on the key board and have similar names they do very different things. The colon indicates: the start of a list of words for example, my mother only likes three fruits: peaches, apples, and oranges, a quote, for example, she screamed in my face the words of John F. Kennedy: “Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly”, or clarification, for example, we must find away to achieve: we can run away, or chase down the enemy. The semicolon is used to connect two closely related independent sentences and to replace conjunctions. Finally, at last, we can combine the colon and the comma in a stylish form of writing called parallel structure. A sentence with parallel structure choses one grammatical form and sticks with it through out the sentence, an example would be, Jason got good grades in school because he studied, he never talked out of turn, and always completed his homework. This sentence choses to use past thence verbs. Non-parallel structure sentences are still grammatically correct, but they don’t sound as good. Using the colon and the comma in parallel structure, example, Only three people could have stolen your cup: Mr. Brown, Lady Charlotte, and Helaine.

Question 4:  Yes or No, this is a parallel structure?
Sentence: I like to eat, read, and sleeping