Crazy Commas Worksheet

Look at the following examples and correct the comma errors.  Careful!  Some may not need correcting.

1.  Words are also actions and actions are a kind of words.  –Ralph Waldo Emerson   

2.  I admit it is more fun to punt than to be punted and that a desire to have all the fun is nine-tenths of the law of chivalry.  –Dorothy L. Sayers   

3.  He gets at the substance of the book directly, he tears out the heart of it. 
–Mary Knowles    

4.  It’s not enough to be Hungarian, you have to have talent too.  –Alexander Korda 

5.   He was dull in a new way and that made people think that he was great.  –Samuel Johnson 

6.  When angry count to a hundred, when very angry swear. –Mark Twain 

7.  From what we get we can make a living; what we give however makes a life. 

–Arthur Ashe 

8.  In the practice of tolerance one’s enemy is the best teacher.  –Dalai Lama

9.  Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are and doing things as they ought to be done.  –Harriet Beecher Stowe   

10.  A man may bring a horse to the water but he cannot make him drink without the will. –John Heywood

11.  If you don’t know where you are going you will probably end up somewhere else. 
–Laurence J. Peter

12.  I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet simple things of life which are the real ones after all.  –Laura Ingalls Wilder 

Crazy Commas: Answer Key

1.  Words are also actions, and actions are a kind of words.  –Ralph Waldo Emerson    [conjunction]

2.  I admit it is more fun to punt than to be punted, and that a desire to have all the fun is nine-tenths of the law of chivalry.  –Dorothy L. Sayers    [conjunction, 2 independent clauses]

3.  He gets at the substance of the book directly; he tears out the heart of it.  –Mary Knowles     [comma splice]

4.  It’s not enough to be Hungarian; you have to have talent too.  –Alexander Korda  [comma splice]

5.   He was dull in a new way, and that made people think that he was great.  –Samuel Johnson  [conjunction]

6.  When angry, count to a hundred; when very angry, swear. –Mark Twain [introductory phrases, comma splice]

7.  From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life. 

–Arthur Ashe [intro. clauses, interrupter]

8.  In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher.  –Dalai Lama [introductory phrase]

9.  Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are and doing things as they ought to be done.  –Harriet Beecher Stowe   [conjunction, independent and dependent clause]

10.  A man may bring a horse to the water, but he cannot make him drink without the will.         —John Heywood   [conjunction and 2 independent clauses]

11.  If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.  –Laurence J. Peter   [introductory phrase]

12.  I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.  –Laura Ingalls Wilder [adjectival list]