The Misplaced Comma

Comma usage is described by some as entirely too liberal while others say there can never be too many commas in a sentence, paragraph or essay. In fact, there are times when the use of a comma seems somewhat subjective. For example, in the case of the rule stating that a comma should come after a natural pause in the sentence. A pause can be interpreted differently among different people.

In general, however, there are a few good rules to follow in terms of comma usage. This may help when writing papers or even just e-mails. After all, good grammar makes you look good, appear smarter and can aid in getting the point across more effectively in written communication.

Commas should be used when two independent phrases are linked by a word such as "and" or "because." In such case the comma would serve as the designated joiner (even though you have a word such as "because" or "and"). The comma serves to make the sentence easier to read and navigate.

By "independent phrase," this just means two thoughts. Think of these as phrases that could stand alone and form a complete sentence on their own without the other phrase. Thus, in order to make sense of the two phrases, use a comma to distinguish between the two thoughts.

Another comma rule that is relatively straight-forward, is to use commas when listing items in a series. By series this means a list. If you are telling someone to buy apples, oranges and pineapples from the grocery store, you would use commas to separate each fruit from the other one in the list.

You might have also noticed that there was no coma after the "oranges" and the word "and" in that sentence. In school, you would normally include the comma. However, when following Associated Press style or if you are a journalism major for example, the last comma is always excluded.

If you are writing a paper, it is always best to find out from your instructor what sort of style guide you should be following.

Another general rule for commas is that they should be used to designate pauses. This is a little difficult because you don't want to use commas too liberally. The sentence, "Hey Joe, it's nice to see you again" would take a comma because there is a pause after Joe. However, writing "We are going to Joe's house since we haven't seen him in a while" would not take a comma because there is no pause. If you can picture yourself saying something at a moderate speed without taking a breath or having a need to add emphasis to something, you can assume there is no need for a comma.

As you can tell, this last rule is a little bit tricky. However, the more you read and look at books or newspapers to see how commas are used, the better you will be at deciding when it is best to use a comma in your own work.