Infinitive Phrases, and the General Rule for Punctuating Qualifiers

This chapter is concerned with punctuating the last type of phrase qualifier, the infinitive phrase. It presents examples for infinitive phrases in the context of the type of antecedent that is modified by the phrase. For each type of antecedent, the remaining positions of the infinitive phrase - inside the core and following the core - are represented interchangeably in the examples. The chapter then presents a general rule for punctuating all of the qualifiers, whether clauses or phrases. The chapter establishes that the use of major qualifiers is essential in technical writing, that all qualifiers can be represented as one of six types, and that correctly punctuating qualifiers will enable the reader to avoid any misunderstanding. In order to correctly punctuate qualifiers, the first step is to recognize that one of the six categories of qualifiers is being used. Once recognized, the general rule for punctuating qualifiers should be applied.