

In fact, he wrote more than two dozen of them. It can lead to a train wreck like this:Įxample: Mark Twain's book, Tom Sawyer, is a delight.īecause of the commas, that sentence states that Twain wrote only one book. The summons shall state the name of the court and the names of the parties, be subscribed by the plaintiff or by the plaintiff's attorney, give an address within the United States where the subscriber may be served in person and by mail, state the time within which these rules require the defendant to serve an answer, and notify the defendant that if the defendant fails to. In the second sentence, Bill is nonessential information-whom else but Bill could I mean?-hence the commas.Ĭomma misuse is nothing to take lightly. uniformly given to Special Rule 4, and the precedents heretofore made by the. Why? In the first sentence, Bill is essential information: it identifies which of my two (or more) brothers I'm speaking of. In both civil and criminal cases, the parties shall submit their exhibits no later than the date on which they file their initial briefs in this Court. 95, 96, 97, and 98 as a certification of the whole list of eligibles. The commas in the second sentence mean that Bill is my only brother. Now, see how adding two commas changes that sentence's meaning:Ĭareful writers and readers understand that the first sentence means I have more than one brother. We do not know which boy is meant without further description therefore,no commas are used. The boy who has a limp was in an auto accident. If we already know which Freddy is meant, the description is not essential. If something or someone is sufficiently identified, the description that follows is considered nonessential and should be surrounded by commas.įreddy, who has a limp, was in an auto accident. This framework, in contrast to the most traditional rules engines, doesn’t make use of XML files or any Domain Specific Language files to. It can create complex rules from primitive ones by using the composite pattern. If such a phrase contains more than one preposition, a comma may be used unless a verb immediately follows the phrase.īetween your house on Main Street and my house on Grand Avenue, the mayor's mansion stands proudly.īetween your house on Main Street and my house on Grand Avenue is the mayor's mansion. Easy Rules is a simple Java rules engine providing a lightweight and POJO based framework to define business. When an introductory phrase begins with a preposition, a comma may not be necessary even if the phrase contains more than three or four words.Įxample: Into the sparkling crystal ball he gazed.

However, if the introductory phrase is clear and brief (three or four words), the comma is optional.īut always add a comma if it would avoid confusion.Įxample: Last Sunday, evening classes were canceled. When starting a sentence with a dependent clause, use a comma after it.Įxample: If you are not sure about this, let me know now.įollow the same policy with introductory phrases.Įxample: Having finally arrived in town, we went shopping.
