The 15 times you need to use a commaWRITER’S, INC.

Class of 2018, let me introduce you to a friend of mine…

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1. A comma is used between two independent clauses that are joined by coordinating conjunctions such as these: but, or, nor, and, for, yet, so.

I would have liked to speak to him, but I did not know what to say.

I have to finish my homework, yet I need to get to work on time.

Our clothes had been left behind in the other block, and we had been promised other outfits.

Note 1: Do not confuse a sentence with a compound verb for a compound sentence (a sentence with two independent clauses.

I had to burn her trash and then sweep up her porches and halls.

Note 2: It is incorrect usage to place a comma after the conjuction, as below:

I would have liked to speak to him but, I did not know what to say.

I have to finish my homework, yet, I need to get to work on time.

2. Commas are used to separate individual words, phrases, or clauses in a series. (A series contains at least three items)

I need to get a loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butter.(three nouns in a series)

I took her for walks, read her stories, and made up games for her to play.(three verb phrases in a series)

Stop, drop, and roll is the mantra to follow if ever you find yourself afire.(three commands in a series)

Note 1: Do not use commas when the words in a series are connected with or, nor, and.

Her fingernails are pointed and manicured and painted shiny red.

Note 2: The comma before the conjunction (usually “and”) is called the Oxford comma (aka the serial or Harvard comma). The Oxford comma is optional, especially in the U.S., but I like it because it adds clarity. (e.g. next slide)

3. Commas are used to separate adjectives that equally modify the same noun. (note that no comma separates the last adjective from the noun)

I can still remember how my heart started beating when I walked into the dark, little room.

The brief day drew to a close in a long, slow twilight.

Note: To determine whether adjectives modify equally (and should be separated by a comma or commas), use these two tests:

a. Shift the order of the adjectives; if the sentence is clear, the adjectives modify equally. (if the words several and large were shifted in the example below, the sentence would be unclear).

b. Insert “and” between the adjectives; if the sentence reads well, us a comma when “and” is omitted. (if “and” were inserted in the sentences below, it would not read well.)

He threw down several large pieces on top of the snow.We went to an expensive summer resort.

4. Commas are used to enclose an explanatory word or phrase that is not essential to the basic meaning of the sentence. If something or someone is sufficiently identified, the description following it is considered nonessential and should be surrounded by commas.

Matthew, younger by two years, had always been more daring than I.

Freddy, who has a limp, was in an auto accident.

My hair, which was already prickling, began to rise upon my head.

Sinclair Lewis, a novelist, was the first American to win a Nobel Prize for literature.

Note: Phrases or clauses that are essential to understanding the meaning of a sentence (it changes the meaning or sense of the sentence if taken out) are NOT set off with commas:

The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out.

The boy who has a limp was in an auto accident.

The novelist Sinclair Lewis was the first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature.

5. Use commas with a specific kind of word or phrase called an APPOSITIVE, which identifies or renames a preceding noun or pronoun.

Benson, our enthusiastic Yorkshire terrier, joined our family on my sister’s fifteenth birthday. Benson is a devoted friend to Baxter, our older Yorkie. (appositives are underlined)

Olivia, my younger daughter, is much more shy than Annelise, my oldest child.

Note: There are words and phrases that are called RESTRICTIVE APPOSITIVES – and they rename things, as well, but are essential to the sense or meaning of the sentence (can’t be taken out without changing or messing up the sentence) and therefore should NOT have commas around them.

Nineteen-year-old student Edna Rivera almost had plastic surgery but changed her mind.

Child prodigy Adrian Romoff will be playing with the Cleveland Orchestra this fall.

6. Commas are used to separate contrasted elements in a sentence.

I laughed, not at my two colleagues, but at people who spend time worrying about what clothes they should wear.

I got a haircut to look better, not worse!

That is my money, not yours.

It is actually raining, not snowing.

7. A comma should separate an introductory adverb clause or modifying phrase from the independent clause that follows it.

In the oddest places and at the strangest times, my grandmother can be found knitting madly away.

Although we had reviewed the film twice before, we never noticed these details about the shooting.

As the day drew to a smoky end, the firefighters put out the last of the embers.

Sadly, the old church was completely destroyed.

To escape with our lives, we would have to run for the exits.

8. Commas are used to set off items in an address.

Send your letter to President Obama, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., 20006.

I live at 490 McClure, Newport News, Virginia.

I lived in San Francisco, California, for 20 years.

Note: If you use the two-letter capitalized form of a state in a document, you do not need a comma after the state. Also, with addresses on envelopes mailed via the post office, do not use any punctuation.

I lived in San Francisco CA for 20 years.

9. Use a comma to separate the day of the month from the year, and also after the year to separate it from the rest of the sentence.

Kathleen met her husband on December 5, 2003, in Mill Valley, California.

They got married on June 26, 2005, in a beautiful ceremony in a vineyard.

Note: If any part of the date is omitted, leave out the comma.

They met in December 2003 in Mill Valley.

They got married in June 2005.

10. Commas are used to set of the exact words of a speaker from the rest of the sentence.

“We can look as we walk,” Konrad murmured.

“It’s not a big deal,” she shrugged. “Besides,” she looked at me with that sly grin of hers, “it’ll be fun.”

11. A comma is used to separate an interjection or weak exclamation from the rest of the sentence.

Yeah, I can lie with the best of them.

Oh, rats. Lucy pulled the football away again, of course.

Wow, that’s a lot of bubble gum.

Hey, what’s your deal?

Darn, I meant to do that homework but I left my book in my locker.

Well, I never thought I’d see the day.

Yes, I do need that report.

Yikes, that’s a bad haircut.

12. Commas are used to set off a word, phrase, or clause that interrupts the movement of a sentence.

As a general rule, the safest way to double your money is to fold it and put it in your pocket.

You can, for example, buy a computer that fits in your pocket. I would not, however, want to own one.

I am, as you have probably noticed, very nervous about this.

I would, therefore, like a response.

I would be happy, however, to volunteer for the Red Cross.

Note: Such expressions can be identified in the following two ways: 1. They may be omitted without changing the meaning/substance of the sentence. 2. They may be placed nearly anywhere in the sentence without changing its meaning.

Therefore, I would like a response.

The safest way to double your money, as a general rule, is to fold it and put it in your pocket.

I am very nervous about this, as you have probably noticed.

13. Commas are used to separate a series of numbers in order to distinguish hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.

We sold 1, 101 tickets to the event.

25, 000 people in our city voted.

Her net worth is $7, 642, 000.

14. Commas are used to enclose degrees or titles used with names. Commas are no longer required around Jr. and Sr. Commas never set off II, III, and so forth.

Al Mooney, M.D., knew Sam Sunny Jr. and Charles Starr III.

We went to the offices of Harold Levine, Esq.

Someday I’d like to be known as Amy Klenz, PhD.

I had a friend in grade school who always wrote his full name at the top of his papers: George Zultan Hunyadi III. His father was George Zultan Hunyadi Jr.

15. A comma may be used for clarity or for emphasis. There will be times when none of the traditional comma rules call for a comma, but one will be needed to prevent confusion or to emphasize an important idea. Use a comma in either case.

What she does, does matter to us. (clarity) He saw only dreams and memories, and heard music. (emphasis)

A comma splice is an error caused by joining two independent clauses with only a comma instead of separating the clauses with a conjuction, a semicolon, or a period. A run-on sentence, which is also incorrect, is created by joining two strong clauses without any punctuation.

Incorrect:

Time flies when we are having fun, we are always having fun. (comma splice)

Time flies when we are having fun we are always having fun. (run-on sentence)

Correct:

Time flies when we are having fun; we are always having fun. OR

Time flies when we are having fun, and we are always having fun. OR

Time flies when we are having fun. We are always having fun.

One last thing! Do not use a comma that would cause confusion. There should be no comma between the subject and its verb or the verb and its object. Also, do not use a comma before an indirect quotation.

The commas below are INCORRECT –

My English teacher always said, Hemingway was a bit difficult.

But I liked, The Sun Also Rises.