A Few Rules About Commas
Easing Comma Drama
Are you knee deep in drama regarding commas? Do you scatter them willy nilly throughout your writing? My own insecurity about where they should go once had me sticking them in everywhere. Like me, you need to remember that commas are normally placed where you would pause to take a breath when speaking.
We all know that commas separate nouns and noun phrases within a list. It's best to place a comma before the final 'and' in each list. This is a good practice because it allows pairs or extended noun phrases to be listed. However, it's always a good idea to check the style guide for the publication you're writing for.
Examples:
Amber brought corn chips, dip, and pork rinds.
Sandy
brought a deck of cards, a card table and four chairs, and drinks for everyone.
Commas are also used for setting aside parenthetical clauses.These clauses give additional information or added emphasis in a sentence. They could be left out without really changing the overall message.
Examples:
Writers, although underpaid, are in high demand.
The speech was long, therefore, people nodded off.
You can also use commas to separate independent clauses from supporting words or dependent clauses.
Examples:
I made it to work, despite the fact that my car ran out of gas.
Although she was late, she made it to her son's recital.
Coordinating conjunctions such as 'or,' 'and,' 'but,' 'so,' and 'yet' are joined by commas as they separate two
independent clauses.
Examples:
I think a comma should go here, but I'm not really sure.
Sally knew she was supposed to be watching her carbs, yet that bagel was screaming her name.
There are two very common misuses of commas.
The first is the comma splice. This happens when independent clauses are only separated by a comma with no coordinating conjunction used.
Example of Misuse:
Soccer is fast moving, many kids participate.
The second common misuse of commas is the run-on sentence. This happens when both the comma and the coordinating conjunction are forgotten.
Example of Misuse:
The lights are on no one is home.
I hope this eases your drama about commas. If in doubt, place them where you would take a breath when speaking. Try not to overuse them.
Published by Sherry Stoll
Sherry is a freelance writer and greeting card writer with varied interests. She purely just loves to write. View profile
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2 Comments
Post a CommentYou are very welcome. I'm glad you found it helpful.
good point! thanks for writing this.