Another tremendous coach of mine was Mimi Speer. . . . She'd tell me, "Do not imitate another singer, because you'll end up sounding just like they do, and you won't develop an original sound. Instead, find a musician you really like and study their phrasing. That way, you'll create a sound all your own." It was a great tip. I paid particular attention to sax players Stan Getz and Lester Young. Art Tatum was the greatest piano player of all time and was particularly instructive to listen to because he did unexpected stuff, all those jumps in and out of the melody.

--Tony Bennett, from his autobiography, The Good Life (written with Will Friedwald)

Have a question about grammar, punctuation, syntax, sentence structure or anything related to writing in general? Send it along. I'll include my answer to one question each month.

Here's our question for this month:

Question: Are both the sentences below correct?  What's difference between them and how can I remember it?

I went to the race track, although my brother decided to stay home.

I went to the race track, however, my brother decided to stay home.

Jerry: The first sentence is correct, but the second sentence is incorrect. The issue is the connecting comma. It's correct to connect the two clauses in the first example with a comma. It's incorrect to do so in the second. Here's why, and what to do about it:

In the first example, we have the two independent clauses (clauses that stand on their own as sentences), "I went to the race track" and "My brother decided to stay home," connected by "although."  In the second example, the connector is "however."

"Although" is a subordinating conjunction. (Don't worry about the grammar jargon.)  An independent clause ("My brother decided to stay home.") with a subordinating conjunction in front becomes a subordinate clause ("Because my brother decided to stay home . . . ") that must be connected to an independent clause (with or without a comma).

"However," on the other hand, is a relative adverb (a.k.a. "conjunctive adverb," depending on the book you're reading). An independent clause with one of these fellows in front of it is still an independent clause. So we may not connect it to another independent clause with a comma. Watch:

Although my brother decided to stay home.  [This is not a sentence. It's a subordinate clause looking for an independent clause to call home.]

However, my brother decided to stay home. [This is a sentence, just fine on its own, that cannot be grafted onto another sentence with a comma.]

What to do? The easiest "fix" for the second example above is to create to separate sentences. It is also OK to connect two independent clauses with a semicolon. So:

I went to the race track, however, my brother decided to stay home. (incorrect)

I went to the race track. However, my brother decided to stay home. (correct)

I went to the race track; however, my brother decided to stay home. (also correct)

How to tell which is which? Knowing that "subordinate conjunctions" and "relative adverbs" have different punctuation rules doesn't help all that much if you can't easily determine which is which. Below, I've included a list of the most common examples of each, but who's going to memorize them? Nobody. Here, however, is a handy rule of thumb: If you can move the word around in the clause, it's a relative adverb and needs a semicolon or a new sentence. Observe:

You could write

I went to buy the family's groceries. However, the store was out of milk.

Or you could write

I went to buy the family's groceries. The store, however, was out of milk.

The word can be moved about in the sentence somewhat. That's a relative adverb. In the examples above, it would need a period or semicolon

But you can't change

I had to go to the store, because my brother had forgotten to buy milk. 

to

I had to go to the store, my brother, because, had forgotten to buy milk.

Common relative adverbs (start a new sentence or use a semicolon): however, also, furthermore, otherwise, then, besides, similarly, therefore, consequently, moreover, still, thus, finally, nevertheless, supposedly, on the other hand.

There's been lots going on at Rocket Words World Headquarters lately, including:

• producing a direct mailer and a set of marketing brochures for the San Francisco-based real estate/mortgage broker team of Irene Ogus and Eileen Lynette.
• writing a series of articles for JazzWest.com, a great website offering comprehensive coverage of the Bay Area jazz scene. 
• beginning planning with Janelle McCuen of The Girl Project for creation of curriculum materials to accompany her short film, Shoes.
• creating product introduction material to help designer Lori Elder market her fabulous inflatable floating baseball glove (officially licensed by Major League Baseball) to all 30 major league teams.
• doing good works! in the form of volunteer editing for Music in Schools Today, a great nonprofit (see this edition's Cool Website).
• updating my website: all the JazzWest.com stories are linked from the Writing Samples/Publications page; the Free Resources page includes several new resource links for arts and music lovers, artists, musicians, writers and business owners; also on the Free Resources page you'll find the first issue of the Gazette archived and a new feature called Rocket Words Interviews. These will be full-length transcriptions of the artist and musician interviews I conduct as background for my published arts articles. The first installment is my interview with Mike Zilber an insightful and expression jazz saxophonist and bandleader who has made a name for himself in the Bay Area and in New York.