Comma Quiz

Bewildering Stories’ Style Manual has what may be the briefest and yet most informative discussion of commas on the Internet. Many of our contributors will appreciate it, because it can spare them wondering, “Shall I put a comma here? Or not?”

Here’s a short test of your comma acuity. Let’s take a line from an old spiritual that became a hit in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Some writers might load it with commas, as though they were adding secondary exclamation marks:

Michael, row, the boat, ashore, hallelujah!

Do some people actually write like that? Honestly, you’d be amazed... But on to the quiz. Of the four commas:

Two of the commas are required. Which are they?
And why? There’s a different reason for each.
Two of the commas are forbidden. Which are they?
And why? There’s a different reason for each.

Are you confident you can score 100%? Especially if you’re not, you can send your answers and explanations to our Fuzzy Grammar Bear for a quick check-up.