1. Reading a passage out loud enables some writers to sense a pause and properly place commas but other writers simply have to learn the rules. After which word(s) in the preceding sentence should commas be placed? (The University of Delaware Writing Center website is the source of comma rules used in this quiz.) A comma belongs after the words "commas" and "pause". A comma belongs only after the word "commas". A comma belongs only after the word "pause". No commas are required.

2. I am trying to escape a frustrating, recurring, and inevitable cycle. I write a quiz submit it to an editor and correct it. After which words should a comma or commas be inserted in the preceding sentence? A comma belongs only after the word "quiz". No commas are required. A comma belongs only after the word "editor". A comma belongs after the words "quiz" and "editor".

3. Unfortunately, some perverse little comma rules have exceptions. Why does the preceding sentence not read "perverse, little, comma, rules"? Items in a series do not require commas between them if they "go together". Adjectives in series do not require commas. Groan! Sigh! Some grammatical usage is simply inscrutable. Actually, commas are required in that sentence.

4. Loving punctuation as I do, creating a quiz such as this is pure pleasure. I see irony in the previous sentence, but I don't see an independent clause. So, should the comma be removed? Yes No

5. When I speak slowly dear reader my wife sometimes completes my sentences for me. In fact, she completed the previous sentence. Where should one place the commas that my wife left out? A comma belongs only before the phrase "dear reader". A comma belongs before and after the phrase "dear reader". A Comma belongs only after the phrase "dear reader". No commas are needed.

6. Anything, I should think, that interrupts the flow of a sentence, however minor, should, therefore, have commas around it. Were all the commas in that preceding sentence completely, totally, and absolutely necessary? Yes No

7. I think a person who "hears" grammar is fortunate indeed. The person lacking this auditory gestalt, I think, operates at a disadvantage. How come one "I think" merits commas while the other "I think" does not? Certain experts that have a powerful influence on grammatical usage wish to make the rules as complicated as possible. The instance of "I think" in the second sentence needs no comma. The instance of "I think" in the first sentence should have a comma after it. Certain expressions do not impede the flow if placed at the beginning of a sentence, but the same expression would do so if placed at the end.

8. The comma, which many feel has an aesthetically pleasing shape, is also used to enclose information not essential to the main idea of the sentence. Were the commas in the preceding sentence necessary? Yes No

9. The University of Delaware Writing Center has a final rule for comma usage. "Use commas," they advise "to set off expressions such as 'he said', 'she asked', and 'they shouted' from direct quotations." Where is the comma missing in the preceding sentence? A comma belongs after the word "shouted". The sentence is just fine as it is, thank you very much. Actually, the comma can be removed from after the word "commas". A comma belongs after the word "advise".

10. I ask you gentle reader, if I construct a convoluted, misbegotten, wordy sentence that is loaded with a truly, stupefying number of seemingly useless, redundant, and annoying commas, then will Word 2003 grammar checker, created by Microsoft, find at least one extraneous, unnecessary, or superfluous comma? Yes No