commas....?

Question

When I say "a hideous green velvet dress" where do i put the commas?
Is it "a hideous, green, velvet dress" or "a hideous, green velvet dress"

my english teacher said that you put a comma between each adjective, unless the one next to the noun was a necessary part or something like that.

like:
the pale, yellow moon
large, disgusting, smelly, purple monkey
i don't know if i'm doing these right either, and if so, what am i doing wrong?
and how do i know whether or not to put commas.
i need a whole grammar lesson

Answer 1

The comma is the most confusing punctuation in the English language. Here, the first question is "what is hideous?"

The comma can be used to separate items in a list. We do this to keep modifiers separate. If the dress is hideous, then we want to have a comma after each adjective (hideous, green, velvet dress). If the color is hideous, then we want to separate this modifier accordingly (hideous green, velvet dress). If green velvet was an important fabric we would isolate that (hideous, green velvet dress). We can eliminate the idea that green is hideous in this sentence since hideous is an adjective and cannot describe another adjective (ie. green). The sentence would have to read "hideously green."

But basically, remember that the commas do NOT separate the words in a list, but the items in a list. Spaces separate the words quite nicely. So if two words are meant to convey a single idea, do not separate them with a comma.

When a comma is not used will follow this same rule. A dog breed for example: "American German Shorthair," not "American, German Shorthair."

Then there is the ", and" rule, called a serial comma. When making a list it is now considered acceptable to leave out the comma before the word "and." (red, blue, green and purple * red, green, blue, and purple) I suggest leaving this in though. The reason can be seen by listing sandwiches (pastrami, balogna, peanutbutter and jelly).

Since the comma is so baffling (but I love it thanks to a singing professor of mine, but that's a story I promised not to share) many English teachers are nearly as confused as the students. I would suggest two references that are very helpful and vital to college. The standby MLA Guide (Modern Language Association) and The Deluxe Transitive Vampire, a fun look at grammar, but highly informative.

Answer 2

I like the one with green and velvet together. The fabric has the adjective as the modifier. "Hideous, green velvet dress"

or was the shade of green 'hideous', then it should be "hideous green dress, made of velvet."


Or you could leave it as it is, with commas dividing all words.

Dunno

Personal preference and the lilt of the language.