Revising a Paragraph's Commas

In practice

This worked example is constructed for this course. The draft reads: "When the new library opened the students who had complained about the old one were thrilled. The building, has three floors and a quiet reading room. The director Ana Ruiz said, that the project took four years. It replaced a cramped, dark basement room, and gave students a bright modern place to study. Visitors came from nearby towns, cities and even other states." Check each sentence. The first opens with a clause, "When the new library opened," so it needs a comma after opened; "who had complained about the old one" identifies which students, so it is essential and takes no commas. The second has a comma between the subject, building, and the verb, has: delete it. The third has a comma before an indirect quotation introduced by that: delete it. If Ana Ruiz is the only director, the name is nonessential and should be set off, "The director, Ana Ruiz, said." The fourth joins two verbs, replaced and gave, that share one subject, so the comma before and should go. "Cramped, dark" are coordinate, since "dark and cramped" works; "bright modern" is also coordinate by the same test and needs a comma. The fifth is a series; add the serial comma, "towns, cities, and even other states," if the paper's style uses it.