Friday, April 2, 2010

Using Commas Between Adjectives

I loved the phrases the students created for practicing using commas with adjectives!  Notice where the commas are placed.  Here are the phrases (and one sentence):

B1: The tarnished, evil, ninja robot. . .
B2: The foxy, furry box turtle. . . .
B4: The carnivorous, spitting, gangsta' llama. . .
A1: The slimy, ferocious, man-eating hair (or hare?). . .
A2: The shy, loving, underprivileged, homeless, criminal spoon. . .
A4: The moldy, hysterical, rambunctious, smelly, politically-correct pinecone that smells like Limburger cheese got liposuction.

To test whether a comma is needed, try replacing it with the word "and."
"The foxy and furry box turtle. . . " could be written "The foxy, furry box turtle. . . "
"The intelligent and geeky box turtle. . . . "  could be written  "The  intelligent, geeky box turtle. . . "