What marks we shall use and how we shall use them will be determined by
custom. In order to benefit a reader, marks must be used in ways with
which he is familiar. Punctuation changes from time to time. The present
tendency is to omit all marks not absolutely necessary to the clear
understanding of the sentence.

There are some very definite rules, but there are others that cannot be
made so definite, and the application of them requires care and
judgment on the part of the writer. Improvement will come only by
practice. Sentences should not be written for the purpose of illustrating
punctuation. The meaning of what you are writing ought to be clear to you,
and the punctuation marks should be put in _as you write_, not inserted
afterward.

+5. Rules for the Use of the Comma.+--1. The comma is used to separate
words or phrases having the same construction, used in a series.

Judges, senators, and representatives were imprisoned.

The country is a good place to be born in, a good place to die in, a
good place to live in at least part of the year.

If any conjunctions are used to connect the last two members, the comma
may or may not be used in connection with the conjunction.

The cabbage palmetto affords shade, kindling, bed, and food.

2. Words or expressions in apposition should be separated by a comma.

The native Indian dress is an evolution, a survival from long years of
wild life.

3. Commas are used to separate words in direct address from the rest of
the sentence.

Bow down, dear Land, for thou hast found release.
O, Sohrab, an unquiet heart is thine!

4. Introductory and parenthetical words or expressions are
set off by commas.

However, the current is narrow and very shallow here.

This, in a general way, describes the scope of the small parks or
playgrounds.

If the parenthetical expression is long and not very closely related to
the rest of the sentence, dashes or marks of parenthesis are frequently
used. Some writers use them even when the connection is somewhat close.

5. The comma is frequently used to separate the parts of a long compound
predicate.

Pine torches have no glass to break, and are within the reach of any man
who can wield an ax.

6. A comma is often used to separate a subject with several modifiers, or
with a long modifier, from the predicate verb.

One of the mistakes often made in beginning the study o