Comma story - Terisa Folaron

Translator: Srii yun Reviewer: Prameswari Rahmanu

Commas are tricky things,

Koma itu sulit dipahami, apalagi saat

especially when subordinates

and conjunctions are involved.

subordinatif dan konjungsi disatukan.

If you can remember a few basic rules,

Jika kamu ingat beberapa aturan dasar,

a simple law of physics,

hukum fisika sederhana,

and some common scenarios,

dan beberapa skenario umum,

you will be able to use commas correctly.

kamu bisa menggunakan koma dengan benar.

I like to think of the different parts

Aku suka memikirkan struktur kalimat

of our sentence as characters.

sebagai tokoh karakter.

Let's meet a few of them:

Ayo temui mereka:

the tiny conjunctions,

si kecil konjungsi,

the mighty subordinates,

si kuat subordinatif,

and the clever comma.

dan si cerdas koma.

Conjunctions are small and nimble.

Konjungsi itu kecil dan lincah.

They are words that connect clauses,

Merekalah yang menghubungkan klausa,

words,

and phrases.

kata dan frasa.

You can easily remember the conjunctions

Kamu bisa mudah mengingat

by remembering the acronym FANBOYS.

konjungsi dengan akronim FANBOYS.

The conjunctions are

Konjungsi yaitu

for,

and,

nor,

but,

or,

yet,

so.

Because they're so small,

Karena sangat kecil,

more often than not,

biasanya

they require the help of a comma

mereka butuh bantuan koma,

but not always.

tapi tidak selalu.

Subordinates, on the other hand,

Di sisi lain, subordinatif,

are the WWE heavyweight champions of sentences.

adalah juara kelas berat kalimat WWE.

They are words that connect two unequal things,

Yaitu kata yang menghubungkan dua pernyataan berbeda,

dependent and independent clauses.

klausa dependen dan independen.

Subordinates make it very clear

Subordinatif memperjelas

what is being prioritized in a sentence.

apa yang menjadi inti dari suatu kalimat.

Commonly used subordinates are

Subordinatif yang umum digunakan berupa

although,

because,

before,

however,

unless,

and even though.

dan even tough.

Because subordinates are all about power,

Karena subordinatif sangat kuat,

they can do a lot of heavy lifting by themselves.

mereka mampu mengerjakan pekerjaan berat sendirian.

But, of course, sometimes even the strongest among us

Namun, terkadang yang terkuat pun

needs some help from our clever friends.

butuh bantuan dari teman- teman kita yang pintar.

Because our clever comma is so nice,

Karena si koma teman kita sangat baik,

she often roams her neighborhood

dia sering berkeliling

looking for some community service to do.

untuk mencari seseorang yang butuh bantuannya.

Today, as soon as she leaves her house,

Kini, setelah dia pergi,

she sees a subordinate lifting the weight

dia bertemu subordinatif yang sedang mengangkat

of two complete sentences,

dua kalimat lengkap,

one on each arm.

di kedua tangannya.

Bartheleme loves engaging in political debate

Bartheleme gemar terlibat dalam debat politik

even though

‘meskipun’ biasanya dia kalah.

he usually loses.

The comma asks the subordinate if he needs help.

Koma bertanya pada subordinatif apakah dia butuh bantuan.

Well, we know that subordinates

Nah, kita tahu subordinatif

are the WWE heavyweight champions of sentences.

juara kelas berat kalimat WWE.

They can easily hold the weight

Mereka dengan mudah

mampu menahan berat dua kalimat

of these two complete sentences

because they are distributed evenly on both arms.

karena keduanya ditempatkan sejajar di kedua lengan.

So, when the comma asks if it can help,

Jadi, ketika koma bertanya apakah dia bisa membantu,

the subordinate is appalled

subordinatif sangat kaget

at the idea of needing assistance.

dengan tawaran itu.

No thanks, maybe next time!

“Tidak, terima kasih, mungkin nanti!”

So, the comma continues on.

Lalu, koma melanjutkan perjalanan.

Soon, she seems a couple of subordinates

Kemudian, dia melihat subordinatif lain

mencoba mengangkat langsung

attempting to lift the weight

of sentences directly in front of themselves.

kedua kalimat di depannya.

Even though Bartheleme loves to sing,

‘Walaupun’ Bartheleme suka menyanyi,

he never sings in front of others.

dia tidak pernah bernyanyi di depan orang.

The comma asks the subordinates if they need help.

Koma bertanya pada subordinatif apakah dia butuh bantuan.

Mereka mungkin tak mau mengakuinya,

They might not want to admit it,

but this time the subordinates do need help.

tapi kali ini subordinatif butuh bantuan.

Complete sentences weigh quite a bit.

Kalimat lengkap memang cukup berat.

Simple physics tells us

Fisika sederhana memberi tahu kita

that it's easier to balance heavy objects

lebih mudah menyamakan dua benda berat

if the weight is evenly distributed.

jika beratnya disamakan.

So, while the subordinates are quite capable

Jadi, saat subordinatif cukup mampu

of balancing two complete sentences

menyeimbangkan kedua kalimat lengkap

when carrying the weight on both sides,

di kedua sisi lengan,

they're having trouble picking just one up.

mereka kesulitan mengangkat satu kalimat.

The comma rushes over

Koma bergegas

to help the struggling subordinates,

membantu subordinatif yang kesusahan,

but how will she help?

tapi bagaimana cara dia menolong?

When subordinates begin sentences,

Saat subordinatif di awal kalimat,

the comma will place herself

koma akan menempatkan dirinya

directly after the first thought or complete sentence.

langsung setelah gagasan pertama atau kalimat lengkap.

After helping the subordinates,

Setelah membantu subordinatif,

our comma heroine continues on

si koma pahlawan kita melanjutkan perjalanan

and spots a conjunction

dan melihat konjungsi

holding the weight of two complete sentences.

sedang mengangkat dua kalimat lengkap.

Bartheleme was accepted into the University of Chicago,

Bartheleme diterima di Universitas Chicago,

and

‘dan’ dia ada di daftar tunggu Universitas Stanford.

he is on the waitlist for Stanford University.

The comma asks the conjunction if he needs help.

Koma bertanya pada konjungsi apakah dia butuh bantuan.

Of course he does! Hurry!

“Tentu saja! Cepat!”

The comma rushes and places itself before the conjunction.

Koma langsung menempatkan dirinya sebelum konjungsi.

Fanboys aren't as militant as subordinates.

Fanboys tidak sekuat subordinatif.

For this reason,

Maka dari itu,

the commas don't have to fall in line behind the fanboys.

koma tak harus berada sebaris di belakang fanboys.

Fanboys are courteous creatures.

Fanboy adalah karakter yang sopan.

Mereka membiarkan koma mendahului mereka.

They allow the comma to go ahead of them.

Helping others is hard work!

Membantu yang lain adalah kerja keras!

On her way home,

Saat dia pulang,

our comma sees a conjunction holding up the weight

si koma bertemu konjungsi yang sedang mengangkat

of a complete sentence

kalimat lengkap

and a fragment sentence.

dan kalimat fragmen.

Bartheleme is going to major in molecular biology

Bartheleme akan mengambil jurusan biologi molekular

or

‘atau’ tari interpretatif.

interpretive dance.

The now-exhausted comma asks the conjunction

Koma yang lelah bertanya pada konjungsi

if he needs help lifting the items.

apakah dia butuh bantuan untuk mengangkatnya.

This is one of the rare occassions

Ini adalah kesempatan langka

where a conjunction doesn't need the help of a comma.

di mana konjungsi tidak butuh bantuan koma.

The conjunction assures the comma

Konjungsi bilang pada koma

that help isn't needed,

ia sedang tak butuh bantuan,

which is good for the comma

yang berarti baik bagi koma sekarang

because by now,

all it wants to do is go home and rest up

karena dia ingin pulang dan beristirahat

for another day of vigilant sentence constructing.

untuk esok hari menyusun kalimat yang lebih sulit.