It is time to practice using commas in English!  Yesterday I went over some important rules about comma usage, and today you get to put these rules into practice.  Take a look at the two paragraphs below and try to figure out where commas need to be added.  When you are finished, scroll down the screen to see these same paragraphs re written with the commas included in the correct places.   Here is a hint before you start, in the first paragraph you need to add 17 commas and in the second paragraph you need to add 13.  Good luck!

Paragraph 1:

Although women’s college basketball is a very entertaining and increasingly popular sport it is not hard to remember when it was not so popular. Only a few years ago my friends and I could decide on a Sunday afternoon to go to a women’s basketball game at the the local university and believe it or not we could get seats for free near center court. Of course that was before names such as Rebeccca Lobo Brittney Griner and Elena Delle Donne became household words. Lobo’s book Home-Court Advantage which she wrote with her mother was even a best-seller for a brief time. In the past if more than a couple of hundred fans showed up for a college woman’s basketball game it was considered a big turnout and games were played in practically silent gyms. Nowadays it can  be very hard to buy tickets to a women’s game and sometimes you can’t get seats even at a small school unless you know someone.

Paragraph 2:

Indeed who would have predicted ten years ago that women’s basketball would become so wildly popular? Well, people who have watched the growth of women’s basketball in  the southern United States are not surprised.  The enormous campus arenas at the state universities in Tennessee North Carolina and Georgia have been filled to capacity for every home game for some time. The former coach for University of Tennessee’s women’s basketball team Pat Summitt achieved nearly godlike stature in that state. A tall striking figure on-and off-court Summitt commands respect wherever she goes.  This is true even now after she has retired. In August 2011 Summitt announced that she had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Despite the diagnosis Summit completed the 2011-2012 basketball season but with in a reduced role while longtime assistant coach Holly Warlick, assumed most of the responsibilities.  During her career as ahead coach Pat Summit did a great deal to bring college women’s basketball a great deal of attention and notoriety.  The sport would not be the same today without her.

ANSWERS

Paragraph 1 with proper commas:

Although women’s college basketball is a very entertaining and increasingly popular sport, it is not hard to remember when it was not so popular. Only a few years ago, my friends and I could decide on a Sunday afternoon to go to a women’s basketball game at the the local university, and believe it or not, we could get seats for free near center court. Of course, that was before names such as Rebeccca Lobo,
Brittney Griner, and Elena Delle Donne became household words. Lobo’s book, HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE, which she wrote with her mother, was even a best-seller for a brief time. In the past if more than a couple of hundred fans showed up for a college woman’s basketball game, it was considered a big turnout, and games were played in practically silent gyms. Today, it can  be very hard to buy tickets to a women’s game, and sometimes you can’t get seats, even at a small school, unless you know someone.

Paragraph 2 with proper commas:

Indeed, who would have predicted ten years ago that women’s basketball would become so wildly popular? Well, people who have watched the growth of women’s basketball in  the southern United States are not surprised.  The enormous campus arenas at the state universities in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia have been filled to capacity for every home game for some time. The former coach for University of Tennessee’s women’s basketball team, Pat Summitt, achieved nearly godlike stature in that state. A tall, striking figure on-and off-court, Summitt commands respect wherever she goes.  This is true even now after she has retired. In August 2011, Summitt announced that she had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Despite the diagnosis, Summit completed the 2011-2012 basketball season, but with in a reduced role, while longtime assistant coach Holly Warlick, assumed most of the responsibilities.  During her career as ahead coach, Pat Summit did a great deal to bring college women’s basketball a great deal of attention and notoriety.  The sport would not be the same today without her.