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Teacher Tips and Answers

Page 483

483.1 To Set Off Dialogue

Commas are used to set off the exact words of the speaker from the rest of the sentence.

“With this new AI app,” the website says, “your computer recognizes, deletes, and blocks spam emails.”

Note: When you are reporting or summarizing what someone said, do not use a comma (or quotation marks), as in the example below. The words if and that often signal dialogue that is being reported rather than quoted.

The website says that this new AI app can recognize, delete, and block spam emails.

483.2 To Set Off Interruptions

Commas are used to set off a word, a phrase, or a clause that interrupts the main thought of a sentence. Such expressions can be identified with the following tests:

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