Badass Writing (ongoing)

Commatose writing...

Commatose writing is a type of writing that you read without pause and you end up catching your breath. Malabo ba? Imbento ko lang kasi yung term. Commatose. Comma + tose. Actually, this article will talk about how the heck did I learn to use the comma properly.

Honestly, hindi ako naturuan ng mga high school English teachers ko kung papano gumamit ng comma. High school grammar then was simply parts of speech, subject-verb agreement, and the many variations of verb tenses. The rest of our English classes was literature, reading and comprehension, and speech.

The only times yata na nabanggit yung comma sa English lesson namin noon was during oral reading exercises. Sabi kasi nung teacher ko, "When there's a period, stop. When there's a comma, pause."

Pero syempre, reading yun. Iba kapag writing. Sige nga, try natin: "When you want the reader to stop, use period. When you want the reader to pause, use comma." Medyo malabo, di ba?

Sad to say, during that time period, sa pagbabasa ako natuto kung papano gumamit ng comma. I read, I observed, I immitated. Through that, nagkaroon ako ng "gut feeling" kung ano yung proper use of punctuations. Kapag mali yung gamit ko ng comma, may gut feeling ako na parang mali. Kapag tama naman, may feeling ako ng confidence na tama ako. Pero syempre, hindi naman 100% yung accuracy ng gut feeling ko na yun.

Pagdating ko nga sa college, laging nahuhuli nung prof ko sa English 1 yung improper use of punctuations ko. Sa dami ng papers na ginagawa namin noon, everytime isinosoli niya sa kin yung paper ko, tambak ng corrections in red ink. Buti na lang maliliit yung red marks kapag use of comma yung mali. Kung words kasi yung naka-red mark, kitang kita yun ng mga classmates ko. Nakakahiya.

By tradition, sa University ko, hindi nagtatanong yung mga students like me sa mga English professors namin about grammar or rules of usage. Expected na ng mga profs na alam na namin yun, or if not, aalamin namin yun on our own.

So off I went to the internet, searching for the rules on the proper use of comma. And na-discover ko rin sa wakas yung mga rules.

Of course, common knowledge na yung use of comma after sa surname kung surname first yung format ng name. Common knowledge na rin na may comma between date and year, saka between town and province. 

Pero on the instances below, maraming nagkakamali sa use of comma. Isa na ko dun dati.

1. You have to put comma between two independent clauses separated by and, but, or other conjunctions na pwedeng palitan yung and and but. Examples: She went to Robinsons Galleria, and she spent a lot of hours there shopping. I went there, but I didn't see her. Hinanap ko siya sa buong mall, pero napagod lang ako sa kahahanap.

2. You have to put comma after an introductory word or phrase. Examples: Curiously, I never saw him smile the whole day. After much waiting, I finally decided to leave. Kinabukasan, galit na galit siya sa akin.

3. You have to use comma(s) to separate a descriptive phrase from the main sentence. Examples: Dr. Julia Samantha Arenas, the love of my life, was the guest speaker in their convention. She spoke about healthy living, the main topic of the day. Tuwang-tuwa ako habang pinakikinggan ko ang speech niya, ang speech na hindi naman niya pinaghandaan.

4. You have to use comma to separate items in a series, and also in a series of events. Examples: I brought towels, paper, and pencil for our project today. The teacher just looked at them, frowned at me, and gave us a surprise quiz. Na-zero ako, naka-one out of ten si Randy, at lahat ng mga kaklase ko ay bumagsak.

5. You have to use comma to separate a cause clause and an effect clause. Examples: If you study well, then you'll get a high grade. If you don't, I guess you don't deserve any grade at all. Mag-aral ka kasi, para hindi ka naman magmukhang tanga.

6. You have to use comma to separate an imperative or declarative dialogue and its description. Examples: "I missed you," I told her. She whispered to me very softly, "I love you." "Mahal na mahal kita," sagot ko.

Once naintindihan ko na yung mga rules na yon, and when I get to practice them in writing, naintindihan ko rin sa wakas yung sinasabi nung high school teacher ko about sa pagpo-pause kapag may comma. In fact, natutunan kong gumawa ng mga long and complex sentences by using a number of commas in the sentence. Sa long complex sentences kasi, baka kapusin ng hininga yung babasa if there is no comma.

Look at this example: I didn't know what to do because,(pause)  troubled by my situation,(pause) I just can't think of anything,(pause) except perhaps to just go away.

One example naman sa Filipino: Sinabi ni Nanay na huwag akong aalis ng bahay,(pause) pero pagdating ng oras ng tanghalian,(pause) at wala naman talagang pagkain sa bahay, (pause) wala na akong nagawa kundi ang suwayin siya.

Well, maraming rules about the use of comma, and I'm sure na hindi ko yon nabanggit lahat. In my opinion, mas maganda kung hahanapin nyo sila on your own. Mapa-practice nyo pa yung research skills nyo.

Kung ayaw nyo namang mag-research, marami namang authors dito sa Wattpad na may articles about grammar. I guess they would be very happy if you would check their articles.

Basta for me, Badass Writing is not a lecture about grammar. Kwento ko kaya 'to.

Oo nga pala. Since nabanggit ko na rin lang yung tungkol sa grammar, may gusto sana akong i-emphasize.

You study grammar not because you want to know what a noun is, what a verb is, about past tenses or present perfect tenses, active or passive voices, the figures of speech, etchetera. You study grammar so you can write well. Kung memorized mo nga yung technicalities ng grammar pero hindi ka naman makasulat nang maayos, useless yun. Mas gusto ko pa na nakakasulat ako nang maayos kahit na sa instinct or gut feeling ko lang naka-base yung grammar ko.

So study grammar, but practice writing more.