Hello, dearies! You’ll forgive my slovenly attire today, won’t you? Donna Reed might have pulled off the pearls-and-heels look whilst cleaning house, but your Style Maven has better luck with jeans and T-shirts. Especially considering what was under the fridge; egad. It was at some point during my third cappuccino break that my mind started wandering down the to-do list. “Laundry, dishes, lunch, aaaand …” And I gave up right there, I must confess, thanks to the sidetracking effects of conjunctivitis . Not pinkeye; it’s not my shade at all. I mean I was captivated by those lovely little words that connect clauses and sentences. They’re more important than you might think. In fact, the Chicago Manual of Style devotes quite a bit of space to the subject. For the sake of a fresh espresso and some dust-free clothes, we’ll pare it down to a few paragraphs today. Conjunctions can range from simple, one-word examples such as if, and, or but to elaborate phrases like as th...

The comma is the most common punctuation mark inside sentences. Although they seem to be thrown by the wayside more and more these days, a simple comma can change the meaning of a sentence entirely as in: The July 2nd Thursday meeting will be held … Is it on July 2 or the second Thursday? Commas are used to separate complete sentences connected by a coordinating conjunction: and, but, for, because . The bat is a nocturnal animal, and it sleeps during the day . I thought I could stay up all night, but I fell asleep about 4 a.m. The comma should not follow the and or but (such as T he bat is a nocturnal animal and, it sleeps during the day .) The only time I let that one slide is occasionally in dialogue if the speaker is pausing for effect: “He is a completely self-centered man, and, he is a jerk.” However, there are better ways to show this. Use a comma to set off most introductory phrases. A simple definition of a Phrase: A word group that lacks either a subject or a predicate or b...