Universidad de Costa Rica
Escuela de Lenguas Modernas
LM-1245 English Composition II
Prof. Vanessa Pacheco
Separate the listed items in the following sentences by adding commas. Not every sentence needs commas.
1. Her favorite science fiction authors are, Terry Brooks, Ray Bradbury and Marian Zimmer Bradley.
2. She served her guests coffee and cake.
3. At the store, she bought, milk, orange juice, pasta and tea.
4. The instructor showed a video explained some key concepts and led a class discussion.
5. Basketball, hockey, football, baseball and soccer are popular spectator sports.
6. She played the piano and sang in the school choir.
7. He is taking history, psychology, political science and economics this term.
Add commas where needed in the sentences. Note that not all sentences need commas.
1. The Alouette satellite was launched in 1962, and the Anik satellite was launched in 1972.
2. The two satellites were used for communication and were launched with American rockets.
3. The satellites were Canadian, but the Americans launched them.
4. Julie Payette is a woman scientist, so she is a role model for Canadian girls.
5. Girls are good at science in elementary school, but often, they lose interest in science in high school.
6. Girls tend to do; as well, as boys in science courses yet they often think it is for boys.
7. Julie Payette studied engineering and joined Canada’s space program.
Add commas where they are needed in this paragraph.

Norman Bethune a Canadian doctor became a famous Canadian, who is better known outside of Canada than in it.
Bethune was born in Gravenhurst Ontario in 1890. As a young man, he studied medicine, and in 1917 he became a doctor. At the age of 36, he was stricken with tuberculosis a devastating lung disease. He spent about a year recovering.
Subsequently, he won worldwide fame for his experiments in lung surgery and for his invention of instruments used in chest surgery. In 1936, Bethune joined the Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. When he developed the first mobile blood transfusion service in history, his fame around the world increased. The blood transfusion service allowed doctors, for the first time, to provide significant treatment to soldiers near battle fronts. In 1938 Bethune went to China, which was at war with Japan. Bethune organized field hospitals served as a battle surgeon and set up medical schools to train Chinese surgeons. In November 1938, he became medical chief of the Chinese Eighth Route Army. Unfortunately in
1939 after only 21 months in China, Bethune died of blood poisoning. Despite Bethune’s major medical innovations, most Canadians have never heard of him. However, he is considered a national hero in China and is well known in many other parts of the world.
P:\shared\Handouts\COMPLETE Handouts with answers\GR7.20 Commas with exercises and answers.doc
J. Robinson/2005/Revised Winter 2009
Add semicolons and commas where necessary.
1. When she comes to Vancouver, he is going to take his sister to see a lot of Vancouver’s attractions: Granville Island with its exciting market Grouse Mountain with its incredible view of the city Stanley Park with its beautiful sea wall and
Queen Elizabeth Park with its lovely sunken garden.
2. She works downtown; he works in Surrey.
3. Smoking can kill you; nevertheless millions of people still smoke.
4. He really wants to improve his writing, but he finds he never has the time.
5. Some people prefer multiple choice exams; however others prefer essay exams.
6. When I called the restaurant, I learned that it had closed down consequently, we had to go somewhere else.
7. The pizza had her favorite toppings: ham pineapple and tomato.
8. The bald eagle is a beautiful bird; it is found in greatest numbers off the BC coast.
9. The circus had some amazing characters: Tina the tight-rope walker Fantastic Frank, the dog trainer and Leaping
Leonard the lion tamer.
10. Norman Bethune is not well known in Canada, surprisingly he is famous in China.
11. She reported the accident to the police, and then she phoned her mother.
12. Beach volleyball is increasing in popularity; you can see lots of people playing it every sunny day at Kitsilano Beach.

In each sentence, write the appropriate punctuation mark.
1. She practiced piano every day for more than an hour; however, she had not improved by the end of the summer.
2. Frustrated, she sought out a local maestro for lessons; she was not used to failure.
3. Instead of recommending further practice, the maestro urged her to listen to recordings by famous pianists,
Rachmaninoff, Rubinstein, Horowitz.
4. She listened every day; every day she put a new recording in her CD player, hoping to hear something useful.
5. For ten days she heard piano recordings; then, after many hours of listening, she heard something different.
6. She heard, in a way she hadn't heard previously, feelings within the music, sadness, exuberance, loneliness.
7. Returning to the maestro, she explained that she heard in Chopin, longing, in Mozart, celebration; and in Bach, glory.
8. The maestro proclaimed: "You have found your inner ear."
9. She returned to the piano and found that her fingers were rusty and her mistakes many; nevertheless, she persevered.
10. After two weeks of daily practice, she smiled. She knew that today she had made music. http://tychohub.umuc.edu/EDCP103/AdditionalExercises/exercise01.htm
Use either a period or a semicolon to correct each of the run-on sentences below.
1.
A jump rope is the ultimate aerobic exercise. It provides a top-notch daily workout.
2.
My teacher never missed a day of school; I think even the flu and the common cold were afraid of that lady.
3.
Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.
4.
A low blood-sugar level signals hunger a higher one tells the brain that you don't need to eat.
5.
A lobotomy is a fairly simple operation; however amateurs should not attempt it.
6.
Fifty years ago, parents were apt to have several children; nowadays children are apt to have several parents.
7.
Humor is a rubber sword; it allows you to make a point without drawing blood.
8.
Black magic is meant to harm or destroy. White magic is intended to benefit an individual or the community.
9.
Carefully open the can of soup empty the contents of the can into a saucepan and stir gently.
10.
It's not enough to hear opportunity knock you; must let him in, make friends, and work together with him.

11.
Boy bands should be exploded from a great height they're just pretty people singing music written by others.
12.
Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
13.
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.
14.
Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared.
15.
During a boat trip in 1862, Charles Dodgson began telling a story about an adventure in a world full of peculiar creatures the place was called Wonderland. http://grammar.about.com/od/grammarexercises/a/CorrectingRunonsI_2.htm
For each set of sentences below, correct the fragment(s) in two different ways: (1) Combine the sentences and fragments to make one clear, complete sentence or (2) By adding a subject or a verb (or both), turn each phrase into a complete sentence.
.
In the world of jazz, Boogie-woogie is the most physical piano rhythm.
1.
The word boogie comes from African-American slang and means to dance very rhythmically, using the whole body as opposed to only the feet and legs.
2.
It is possible that boogie derives from the West African Kongo word mbugi, meaning "devilishly good."
3. The right hand plays percussive phrases and chords, over the repeated, rocking left-hand rhythm.
On banjo, guitar, or piano, the style probably grew out of early blues accompaniments. .
3.
Considered low class during the first few decades of this century, boogie-woogie was generally confined to barrelhouses, dance halls, and houses of ill-repute.
4.
In a Chicago dance hall brawl over a woman, Clarence "Pine Top" Smith (1904-1929), was shot dead only three months after he had recorded "Pine Top's Boogie-Woogie."
5.
"Pine Top's Boogie-Woogie" gave the whole genre its name, and also defined the main characteristics of the rocking style. http://grammar.about.com/od/basicsentencegrammar/a/phrasefrags.htm