Commas

Why Commas are Important

No price is too high!
No, price is too high!

Lets talk turkey.
Lets talk, turkey.

Woman without her man is nothing.
Woman! Without her, man is nothing.

Lets eat Grandma.
Lets eat, Grandma.
Commas should be used to . . .
o separate items in a series of
three or more.
o addressing a person by name
o After phrases, clauses, or small
words that introduce the main
part of the sentence.
o set off appositives, non-
restrictive clauses

o Use commas before FANBOYS
(coordinating conjunctions) that
join to complete sentences
o Use commas between coordinate
adjectives not joined by and.
o set off parts of dates, addresses,
and professional titles.
o Quotes
Commas separate items in a series of three or
more.
Each item in a series can consist of one word or more than one
word.
o Tom, Dick, and Harry all came to the party.
o Sitting, begging, and fetching are all trick my dog can do.
o I cant decide if I want to sleep in, go jogging, or get
started on my next essay.
Commas to set off appositives

o An appositive is a word or word group that identifies, describes, or
renames a noun or pronoun.
o Appositives can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence.
o Place commas on either side of an appositive in the middle of a sentence.
o Dr. Shabazz, our math professor, is considered hard but fair.
o Mrs. McIntyre, an avid runner, finished her first marathon today.
o I live in Yale, home of the Yale Bologna Festival.


Commas set off introductory and parenthetical
phrases.
o introductory phrasesphrases that begin a sentence

o On Saturdays, I go to school.
o After we went to see Mr. Flynn, we had to talk to Mr. Nelson.
o Yes, we are going to attend the varsity football game.

o conjunctive adverbs and transitional words/phrases
o My boss wants me to work on Saturdays; however, I need to attend class.
o She is leaving for Florida on spring break; yet, the weather here is tropical.

o parenthetical expressions or interruptersafterthought words that interrupt the main sentence

o She, of course, has no sympathy for me.
o Everyone did not, as a result, take my side in the issue.
o She, however, did leave me alone the rest of the class period.
Use commas between coordinate
adjectives not joined by and
The dog has a shiny, silky coat. (both shiny and silky
modify the noun coat)
I went to the dark, dreary house to find the missing girl.
(dark and dreary both modify the noun house)


Do not use a comma between adjective that are not
coordinate that do not modify the same noun.
The light pink cotton candy was a favorite of the girls.
(light modifies pink, not cotton candy so no comma is
necessary)


Commas set off parts of dates.
o Use commas to separate the day of the week from the month and
the day of the month from the year.
o I got my first job on Monday, January 28,1993.

o When a date that includes commas falls in the middle of a sentence,
place a comma after the date.
o August 30, 2004, was our first day of school.

o When using a professional title, insert a comma
o Michael Smith, PhD, is the keynote speaker at the event.
o The Dentist is Mary Vinciker, DDS.
Commas set off parts of addresses.
o Use commas in addresses to separate the street address from the
city and the city from the state or country.

o The new restaurant is at 3020 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

o When an address that includes commas falls in the middle of a
sentence, place a comma after the state or country.

o The annual gem show in Franklin, North Carolina, is world famous.
Quotes
Insert a comma before direct quotes
Mrs. McIntyre said, Lets start Canterbury Tales today.
The class shouted, We dont want to!
A direct quotation is set off from the rest of the
sentence by a comma.
I saw the class working so hard, said Mr. Flynn
Thats nonsense, said Mrs. McIntyre.
before the first element of a series or after the last.


When school ends, I am going to , sleep late every Saturday, go out
every Friday, and forget about commas, for at least a day.

Sleeping, partying, and ignoring commas , sounds pretty good to me.

Do NOT use commas . . .
X
X
o between a subject and its verb.

The computer at the end of the
table , doesnt seem to be working.

Do NOT use commas . . .
X
o before FANBOYS when the FANBOYS are not connecting
two complete sentences.


o Workbook exercises , and grammar are my two favorite activities.

o Theres nothing more exciting than getting up early in the morning , and
driving to school.

To check the rule, look on both sides of the FANBOYS conjunction used to see if you can
make two sentences. In this case, look at the word and to see if there is a sentence on either
side. If not, then no comma should be there.
Do NOT use commas . . .
X
X
Do NOT use commas . . .
before a group of words beginning with that.


We all said , that we understand commas.

Please give us the test , that has the easiest questions.
X
X
WARNING!!!
Dont go comma crazy!
o Now that you know the proper uses for commas, resist the
urge to use one every time youre unsure. Dont give in to
comma-itis!
o Take your time; check the rules.
o And, finally, remember:

When in doubt, leave it out!