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About Martha Beth Lewis
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I will answer questions having to do with grammar, plurals, punctuation, capitalization, mood, person, tense, and so on, as well as word usage and word choice. If you want a quick answer to a specific question, particularly if you wish to use formal American English for business or academic purposes (MLA), I can give you a timely response. I also can address word choice, clarity, structure, and similar concerns involving English as a second language. If you want advice of a deeper editorial nature (e.g., substantive [line] editing), please consult an Expert who offers this sort of assistance.
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I was employed as an editor for the graduate school at a major U.S. university and specialized in dissertations. I have over 200 publications in professional journals, consumer magazines, and newspapers. I am the author of five books and numerous syllabi in an arts field. I also am a freelance line editor, copyeditor, and proofreader (over 40 years), and I have written or edited countless community organizations' newsletters and promotional materials.
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Note: When using a word as a word in a sentence, such as:
Put a period after the word dog,
=dog= should be set in italics.
Since I do not have access to italics here, I shall use = on either side of the word or phrase that properly should appear in italics. For the above example:
Put a period after the word =dog=.
Also, ~~please do not mark your questions as private~~. I will change them to public because I don't want to type the same answer twice! Thanks for your understanding.
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Ph.D.
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mb
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You are here: Experts > Arts/Humanities > Writing > General Writing and Grammar Help > Comma usage before preposition and a date
Expert: Martha Beth Lewis - 11/3/2009
Question
I am a proofer for a worker of mine. She is placing a comma before the preposition "on" and a date. For example, in the following sentence she writes, "The offender failed to report, on December 12, 2009." I believe the comma is unnecessary, but she is claiming she was taught that you always use a comma in this instance. can you help me with a rule that affirms or negates this? tahnks
Answer
She is wrong, alas.
I think she is confused because the rule is to put a common AFTER the month name (or after the numeral date, if there is one) and a comma AFTER the year if the sentence continues after the date. There is no comma before the date (or after =on=, in her construction).
In December, 2009, we went skiing.
On December 12, 2009, we went skiing.
We went skiing on December 12, 2009.
We went skiiing in December, 2009.
Note that I had to change =on= to =in= when it was the month and year only.
mb
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