- \r\n \t
- lists<\/li>\r\n \t
- transition words<\/li>\r\n \t
- descriptive words and phrases<\/li>\r\n \t
- dates and places<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
Lists<\/h3>\r\nUse commas to separate items in a list, e.g.:\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Four-year-old Harry liked hot dogs, real dogs, and dog-eared pieces of paper.<\/li>\r\n \t
- Pick up milk, bread, butter, eggs, fruit, and sausage for breakfast tomorrow.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nNote that there is\u00a0a comma before the \"and\" in the sentences above.\u00a0 Using a comma before the linking word and last list item is actually a debated issue (among grammarians, at least).\u00a0 That last comma before the linking word and last item is called an Oxford comma and\/or a serial comma.\u00a0 It's good to get used to using it,\u00a0because there are situations in which that last comma really\u00a0helps\u00a0to clarify the sentence.\r\n\r\nThe following example is adapted from an actual coupon for a restaurant that offered\u00a0four breakfast sandwich options - cheese, vegetable, bacon, and sausage:\r\n
- \r\n \t
- This coupon is good for cheese, vegetable, bacon and sausage breakfast sandwiches.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWithout that last comma, it seems that the restaurant offers a sandwich containing both bacon and sausage.\r\n\r\nHere's another example, from a speech in which an award recipient is thanking her sisters as well as the performers Beyonc\u00e9 and Rhianna, who both aided her career:\r\n
- \r\n \t
- I'd like to thank my sisters, Beyonc\u00e9 and Rhianna.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWithout that last comma, it seems as though Beyonc\u00e9 and Rhianna are the award recipient's sisters instead of the performers.\r\n\r\nBy always using a comma before the and<\/em> in any series of three or more, you honor the distinctions between each of the separated items, and you avoid potential confusion.\r\n
Transition Words<\/h3>\r\n
\r\n\r\nTransition words add new viewpoints to your material; commas before and after transition words help to separate them from the sentence ideas they are describing. Transition words tend to appear at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence:\r\n- \r\n \t
- Therefore<\/em>, the natural gas industry can only be understood fully through an analysis of these recent political changes.<\/li>\r\n \t
- The lead prosecutor\u00a0was prepared, though<\/em>,\u00a0for just this situation.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
\r\n\r\nNote:<\/strong>\u00a0As we mentioned, transition words require commas at the beginning or middle of a sentence. When they appear between two complete ideas, however, a period or semicolon is required beforehand:\r\n- \r\n \t
- Clint had been planning the trip with his kids for three months; however<\/em>, when work called, he couldn't say no.<\/li>\r\n \t
- Sam was retired. Nevertheless<\/em>, he wanted to help out.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
Descriptive Phrases<\/h3>\r\nDescriptive phrases often need to be separated from the things they describe. Descriptive phrases tend to occur at the very beginning of a sentence, right after the subject of a sentence, or at the very end of a sentence:\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Near the end of the eighteenth century<\/em>, James Hutton introduced a point of view that radically changed scientists\u2019 thinking about geologic processes.<\/li>\r\n \t
- James Lovelock, who first measured CFCs globally<\/em>, said in 1973 that CFCs constituted no conceivable hazard.<\/li>\r\n \t
- All of the major industrialized nations approved, making the possibility a reality<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nIn each example, the phrase separated by the comma could be deleted from the sentence without destroying the sentence\u2019s basic meaning.\u00a0If the information is necessary to\u00a0the primary sentence meaning, it should not<\/strong> be set off by commas.\r\n
Dates and Places<\/h3>\r\nUse a comma to separate day and year, and to separate year from the rest of the sentence, if more of the sentence follows.\r\n\r\nUse a comma to separate a city and state, and to separate the state from the rest of the sentence, if more of the sentence follows.\r\n\r\nFor example:\r\n
- \r\n \t
- The river caught fire on July 4, 1968, in Cleveland, Ohio.<\/li>\r\n \t
- We visited New Paltz, New York, on our tour of SUNY Colleges.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nFor additional explanations and examples, view the following video.\r\n\r\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Wk0k2FLjM1c&t=2s[\/embed]\r\n\r\n
Practice<\/h3>\r\nThe commas have been removed from the following sentences. Retype them, adding the correct commas back in.\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Sergi Sousa the top-ranked shoe designer in Rhode Island is\u00a0going to be at the party tonight.<\/li>\r\n \t
- Sergi only wears shoes that he created himself.<\/li>\r\n \t
- Nevertheless he is incredibly courteous and polite to everyone he meets.<\/li>\r\n \t
- He\u00a0was born in Barcelona Spain on April 19 1987.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"20588\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"20588\"]\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Sergi Sousa, the top-ranked shoe designer in Rhode Island, is going to be at the party tonight.\r\n
- \r\n \t
- While it is interesting that Sergi is a top-ranked shoe designer, this information is not crucial to the primary sentence meaning (Sergi\u00a0is going to be at the party tonight<\/em>). Thus, this information should be set off with commas.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
- The sentence is correct as it is: \"Sergi only wears shoes that he created himself.\"\r\n
- \r\n \t
- The sentence does not have the same meaning if you get rid of the descriptive phrase\u00a0(that he created himself<\/em>). Thus, no\u00a0commas are needed.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
- Nevertheless, he is incredibly courteous and polite to everyone he meets.\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Nevertheless<\/em> is a transition word, so a comma is required after it.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
- He\u00a0was born in Barcelona, Spain, on April 19, 1987.\r\n
- \r\n \t
- There should be commas around\u00a0Spain<\/em>, and before\u00a01987<\/em>. These are\u00a0adjacent items, and they should be set off with commas.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nBecause comma use is so important, here's some additional practice.<\/div>\r\n\r\n
Practice<\/h3>\r\nThe commas have been removed from the following sentences. Retype them, adding the correct commas back in.\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Victor\u00a0and Ava\u00a0were house-sitting for Ava's uncle\u00a0while he was on vacation.<\/li>\r\n \t
- Ava\u00a0had\u00a0purchased\u00a0food at a grocery store and Victor decided to\u00a0cook\u00a0Ava one of her favorite meals.<\/li>\r\n \t
- Ava's\u00a0favorite meals are cauliflower\u00a0soup steak and eggs lasagna and chicken parmigiana.<\/li>\r\n \t
- Victor\u00a0thought about the work needed for each meal. Unfortunately his skills were mostly limited to eating buying or serving food.<\/li>\r\n \t
- Victor and Ava decided to\u00a0choose\u00a0a restaurant and\u00a0go out to eat.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"859484\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"859484\"]\r\n
- \r\n \t
- The sentence is correct as it stands: \"Victor and Ava were house-sitting for Ava's uncle while he was on vacation.\"<\/li>\r\n \t
- Ava had purchased food at a grocery store, and Victor decided to cook Ava one of her favorite meals.\r\n
- \r\n \t
- There are two complete ideas in this sentence. They need to be separated by a comma and a coordinating conjunction.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
- Ava's favorite meals are cauliflower soup, steak and eggs, lasagna, and chicken parmigiana.\r\n
- \r\n \t
- There should be a comma after each item, including just before the conjunction\u00a0and<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n \t
- Steak and eggs<\/em> is a single item, so there should only be a comma at the end of it, not after steak and after eggs.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
- Victor thought about the work needed for each meal. Unfortunately, his skills were mostly limited to eating, buying, or serving food.\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Unfortunately<\/em> is an introductory word, and it should be followed by a comma.<\/li>\r\n \t
- There are three items in the list of Victor's skills: eating<\/em>, buying<\/em>, and serving<\/em>. There should be a comma after each item, including just before the conjunction\u00a0or<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
- The sentence is correct as it stands: \"Victor\u00a0and Ava decided to choose a restaurant and go out to eat.\"<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"
![\"decorative](\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/04\/29231825\/comma-969x1024.png\")
<\/p>\nCommas are important.\u00a0 Consider the following sentences:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Let’s eat, Grandma.<\/li>\n
- Let’s eat Grandma.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Perhaps the best\u00a0way to determine comma use is to\u00a0remember the comma’s fundamental function: it is a separator.<\/em>\u00a0Once you know this, the next step is\u00a0to determine what sorts of things generally require separation\u00a0using commas:<\/p>\n
- \n
- lists<\/li>\n
- transition words<\/li>\n
- descriptive words and phrases<\/li>\n
- dates and places<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Lists<\/h3>\n
Use commas to separate items in a list, e.g.:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Four-year-old Harry liked hot dogs, real dogs, and dog-eared pieces of paper.<\/li>\n
- Pick up milk, bread, butter, eggs, fruit, and sausage for breakfast tomorrow.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Note that there is\u00a0a comma before the “and” in the sentences above.\u00a0 Using a comma before the linking word and last list item is actually a debated issue (among grammarians, at least).\u00a0 That last comma before the linking word and last item is called an Oxford comma and\/or a serial comma.\u00a0 It’s good to get used to using it,\u00a0because there are situations in which that last comma really\u00a0helps\u00a0to clarify the sentence.<\/p>\n
The following example is adapted from an actual coupon for a restaurant that offered\u00a0four breakfast sandwich options – cheese, vegetable, bacon, and sausage:<\/p>\n
- \n
- This coupon is good for cheese, vegetable, bacon and sausage breakfast sandwiches.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Without that last comma, it seems that the restaurant offers a sandwich containing both bacon and sausage.<\/p>\n
Here’s another example, from a speech in which an award recipient is thanking her sisters as well as the performers Beyonc\u00e9 and Rhianna, who both aided her career:<\/p>\n
- \n
- I’d like to thank my sisters, Beyonc\u00e9 and Rhianna.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Without that last comma, it seems as though Beyonc\u00e9 and Rhianna are the award recipient’s sisters instead of the performers.<\/p>\n
By always using a comma before the and<\/em> in any series of three or more, you honor the distinctions between each of the separated items, and you avoid potential confusion.<\/p>\n
Transition Words<\/h3>\n
\nTransition words add new viewpoints to your material; commas before and after transition words help to separate them from the sentence ideas they are describing. Transition words tend to appear at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Therefore<\/em>, the natural gas industry can only be understood fully through an analysis of these recent political changes.<\/li>\n
- The lead prosecutor\u00a0was prepared, though<\/em>,\u00a0for just this situation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nNote:<\/strong>\u00a0As we mentioned, transition words require commas at the beginning or middle of a sentence. When they appear between two complete ideas, however, a period or semicolon is required beforehand:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Clint had been planning the trip with his kids for three months; however<\/em>, when work called, he couldn’t say no.<\/li>\n
- Sam was retired. Nevertheless<\/em>, he wanted to help out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
Descriptive Phrases<\/h3>\n
Descriptive phrases often need to be separated from the things they describe. Descriptive phrases tend to occur at the very beginning of a sentence, right after the subject of a sentence, or at the very end of a sentence:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Near the end of the eighteenth century<\/em>, James Hutton introduced a point of view that radically changed scientists\u2019 thinking about geologic processes.<\/li>\n
- James Lovelock, who first measured CFCs globally<\/em>, said in 1973 that CFCs constituted no conceivable hazard.<\/li>\n
- All of the major industrialized nations approved, making the possibility a reality<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In each example, the phrase separated by the comma could be deleted from the sentence without destroying the sentence\u2019s basic meaning.\u00a0If the information is necessary to\u00a0the primary sentence meaning, it should not<\/strong> be set off by commas.<\/p>\n
Dates and Places<\/h3>\n
Use a comma to separate day and year, and to separate year from the rest of the sentence, if more of the sentence follows.<\/p>\n
Use a comma to separate a city and state, and to separate the state from the rest of the sentence, if more of the sentence follows.<\/p>\n
For example:<\/p>\n
- \n
- The river caught fire on July 4, 1968, in Cleveland, Ohio.<\/li>\n
- We visited New Paltz, New York, on our tour of SUNY Colleges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
For additional explanations and examples, view the following video.<\/p>\n
- James Lovelock, who first measured CFCs globally<\/em>, said in 1973 that CFCs constituted no conceivable hazard.<\/li>\n
- Sam was retired. Nevertheless<\/em>, he wanted to help out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
- The lead prosecutor\u00a0was prepared, though<\/em>,\u00a0for just this situation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Therefore<\/em>, the natural gas industry can only be understood fully through an analysis of these recent political changes.<\/li>\n
- I’d like to thank my sisters, Beyonc\u00e9 and Rhianna.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- This coupon is good for cheese, vegetable, bacon and sausage breakfast sandwiches.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- There are three items in the list of Victor's skills: eating<\/em>, buying<\/em>, and serving<\/em>. There should be a comma after each item, including just before the conjunction\u00a0or<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
- Steak and eggs<\/em> is a single item, so there should only be a comma at the end of it, not after steak and after eggs.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
- There should be a comma after each item, including just before the conjunction\u00a0and<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n \t
- He\u00a0was born in Barcelona, Spain, on April 19, 1987.\r\n
- Nevertheless, he is incredibly courteous and polite to everyone he meets.\r\n
- The sentence is correct as it is: \"Sergi only wears shoes that he created himself.\"\r\n
- While it is interesting that Sergi is a top-ranked shoe designer, this information is not crucial to the primary sentence meaning (Sergi\u00a0is going to be at the party tonight<\/em>). Thus, this information should be set off with commas.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
- Sergi Sousa, the top-ranked shoe designer in Rhode Island, is going to be at the party tonight.\r\n
- James Lovelock, who first measured CFCs globally<\/em>, said in 1973 that CFCs constituted no conceivable hazard.<\/li>\r\n \t
- Sam was retired. Nevertheless<\/em>, he wanted to help out.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
- The lead prosecutor\u00a0was prepared, though<\/em>,\u00a0for just this situation.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
- Therefore<\/em>, the natural gas industry can only be understood fully through an analysis of these recent political changes.<\/li>\r\n \t
- I'd like to thank my sisters, Beyonc\u00e9 and Rhianna.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWithout that last comma, it seems as though Beyonc\u00e9 and Rhianna are the award recipient's sisters instead of the performers.\r\n\r\nBy always using a comma before the and<\/em> in any series of three or more, you honor the distinctions between each of the separated items, and you avoid potential confusion.\r\n
- This coupon is good for cheese, vegetable, bacon and sausage breakfast sandwiches.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWithout that last comma, it seems that the restaurant offers a sandwich containing both bacon and sausage.\r\n\r\nHere's another example, from a speech in which an award recipient is thanking her sisters as well as the performers Beyonc\u00e9 and Rhianna, who both aided her career:\r\n