ACT Preparation / Unit 2 ACT 0114 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Finding the Comma With No Job
The idea
When a sentence carries too many commas, the one to delete is the comma that does no job. Check each comma against the jobs it can do: joining clauses before a conjunction, ending an introduction, enclosing nonessential information, separating series items. Then check it against the four places it never goes: between subject and verb, inside a two-part compound, after the last series item, and before a that-clause reporting speech or thought. A comma that matches no job, or sits in a forbidden place, goes.
In practice
Worked example: "After the meeting, the new manager, explained, that the schedule, and the budget would change." The first comma ends the introduction, so keep it. The second separates the subject from explained, so delete it. The third separates explained from its that-clause, so delete it. The fourth sits inside a two-part compound subject, the schedule and the budget, so delete it. Corrected: "After the meeting, the new manager explained that the schedule and the budget would change."
Where people slip
Check every comma, not only the one that looks odd. The example held three commas with no job, and only one of them looked out of place.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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