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3 Common Comma Usage Mistakes in IELTS Writing
You’re not alone in hating commas! It’s not necessary, though.
First things first, save your hatred for larger, nastier stuff, such as unnecessary apostrophes and overused exclamation marks! Trust me; they’re the bane of humanity. I used to be on your side when I was doing my BA in English. While studying all those gut-churning punctuation rules for my grammar class, I would think of the first person who came up with the big idea of using punctuation, (now, do I need comma here between these two clauses?) afflicting humanity for good. I used to think this nincompoop with his or her big idea has added to the complicacy of life. Now, however, after years of struggle, I have come to adore this little troublemaker. It’s high time you stopped being paranoiac about commas and appreciate them like I do. The fact is that they do prevent ambiguity in our sentences. They’re not pineapples in pizza to hate. As soon as you drop your guard against them, you’ll see how easy it is to use them.
After years and years of assessing my students’ essays, I have identified six common mistakes regarding comma usage. I will share three of them with you in this post, and will tell you how to fix them. Let’s get down to it.
- Dropping The Comma Between Two Independent Clauses That Are Connected By A…