1. Eat your dinner. vs Eat. You’re dinner.
Normal: Eat your dinner. Cannibalistic: Eat. You’re dinner.
That apostrophe (‘) is important! There are often a lot of hilarious (sometimes scary) sentences that come about when people confuse “your” and “you’re.” To avoid looking like a creep, it’s best to remember that your is the possessive form of you. It functions just like my does in relation to me. If you get confused by that, you can memorize you’re as the contraction (short form) of “you are.” Your = the possessive form of you You’re = the short form of you are.
2. Let’s eat, Grandma. vs. Let’s eat Grandma. Normal: Let’s eat, Grandma. Cannibalistic: Let’s eat Grandma.
The comma here is critical. The comma tells the reader that Granny isn’t the object of the verb “eat.” That is, with the comma, Granny isn’t on the main course tonight. The function of the comma here is to show that the sentence “let’s eat” is directed to an audience, Grandma.
3. I love cooking, my dogs, and my family. vs. I love cooking my dogs and my family. Normal: I love cooking, my dogs, and my family. Cannibalistic: I love cooking my dogs and my family.
Similar to number two, the commas here keep the nouns “dogs” and “family” from becoming unintentional objects of the verb “cooking.” In general, use commas to break up the items in lists.
