Page 47 - Improve_Your_Written_English [Marion_Field]

PO L ISH ING U P Y O U R P U N CTU AT IO N / 33

do my research. The airport is also near me. I love
travelling and I’ve visited many different parts of the
world. This gives me the opportunity to write travel
articles. I enjoy taking photographs.

Because the passage has now been broken up into sentences,
it makes sense. Each statement is complete in itself and the
full stop separates it from the next one.

USING COMMAS CORRECTLY

Beware of using commas instead of full stops.

Look at the following:

She entered the library, it was crowded with people, she
didn’t know any of them and she wished she’d stayed at
home, she felt so lonely.

Here is the corrected version:

She entered the library. It was crowded with people. She
didn’t know any of them and she wished she’d stayed at
home. She felt so lonely.

Commas have a particular role to play but they can never
take the place of full stops. Full stops are used to separate
sentences, each of which should make complete sense on its
own. Each one must be constructed properly and end with a
full stop.