CommasEnglish III

Grammar Club

Let’s eat Grandpa!Let’s eat, Grandpa!

The Science (and Art) of Commas

RULE #1

1. Use a comma to separate the elements in a series.“The ingredients in goat cheese salad are: lettuce, onions, tomatoes, goat cheese, and olive oil.”

“She hit the ball, dropped the bat, and ran to first base.”“She asked questions before I told her the problem, while I was talking, and after I left.”

RULE #2

2. Use a comma + a little conjunction (BAFNOSY).

“She hit the ball well, but she ran towards third base.”“He walked all the way home and shut the door.”

RULE #33. Use a comma to set off introductory

elements (words, phrases, and clauses).

“No, you can’t have candy for breakfast.” “Running towards 3rd base, she suddenly noticed how crazy she looked.”“A hot-tempered tennis player, Robbie charged the umpire.”“Although she thought she would win, she didn’t realize how good the competition was.

RULE #44. Use a comma to set off parenthetical

(nonessential appositives) elements. “The Kerrey Pedestrian footbridge,

which spans the Missouri River, is beautiful.”“Jill, who is my sister, shut the door.”“The man, knowing it was late, hurried home.”

RULE #55.Use a comma to separate coordinate

adjectives. *If you can put an and or a but between the adjectives, use a comma.

*If the order of adjectives is interchangeable, use a comma.

“She is a tall and beautiful woman.”“She is a tall, beautiful woman.”

“We stayed at an expensive summer resort.”

RULE #66. Use a comma to set off quoted

elements.

"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many things.” "I should like to buy an egg, please," she said timidly. "How do you sell them?”He said, “I don’t care.”

RULE #77. Use commas to set off phrases that

express contrast.“Some say the world will end in

ice, not fire. ““The puppies were cute, but very

messy.”“That is my money, not yours.”“The speaker seemed innocent,

even gullible.”“I can go, can’t I?”

RULE #88.Use a comma to avoid confusion. This

is often a matter of consistently applying rule #3.

For most the year is already finished. For most, the year is already finished.

RULE #99. Typographical Reasons: (Names,

Dates, Addresses, Numbers)• Between a city and a state [Hartford,

Connecticut]• a date and the year [June 15, 1997]• a name and a title when the title

comes after the name [Bob Downey, Professor of English]

• in long numbers [5,456,783 and $14,682]

RULE #10

10. Never use comma between a subject and a verb.

Incorrect:

“Believing completely and positively in oneself, is essential for success.”

Correct:

“Believing completely and positively in oneself is essential for success.”

“Slow Children Crossing”

+1 Use commas with caution! The biggest

problem with commas is overuse!