Commas
Commas
No price too high!
No, price too high!
Let’s talk turkey.
Let’s talk, turkey.
Woman without her man is nothing.
Woman! Without her, man is nothing.
Commas should be used to . . .
o separate items in a
series of three or
more.
o set off introductory
and parenthetical
phrases.
o set off appositives.
o set off nonrestrictive
clauses.
o set off parts of dates
and addresses.
o set off parts of
compound and
complex sentences.
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 I can’t decide if I want to sleep in, go
jogging, or get started on my next essay.
Commas set off introductory and
parenthetical phrases.
o
introductory phrases—phrases that begin a sentence
o
o
conjunctive adverbs and transitionals
o
o
On Saturdays, I go to school.
My boss wants me to work on Saturdays; however, I
need to attend class.
parenthetical expressions—“afterthought” words that
interrupt the main sentence
o
She, of course, has no sympathy for me.
Commas 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
considered hard but fair.
, is
Commas set off nonrestrictive clauses.
o A nonrestrictive clause is not necessary to the
meaning of a sentence. You could delete it,
and the sentence would still make sense.
o Put commas on both sides of a nonrestrictive
clause when it falls in the middle of the
sentence.
,
o Sandra who is regularly late
best essays.
, turns in the
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.
, January 28,1993.
o I got my first job on Monday
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.
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
is world famous.
,
North Carolina
,
Comma summary:
Use commas to . .
 separate items in a
series of three or
more.
set off introductory
phrases and
parenthetical phrases.


set off appositives.
.
 set off nonrestrictive
clauses.
set off parts of
dates and addresses.

set off parts of
compound and
complex sentences.

Do NOT use commas . . .
before the first element of a series or after
the last.
X
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.
X
Do NOT use commas . . .
o
between a subject and its verb.
The computer at the end of the
table , doesn’t seem to be working.
X
Do NOT use commas . . .
o before FANBOYS when the FANBOYS are not
connecting two complete sentences.
X
o Workbook exercises , and grammar are my two favorite
activities.
o There’s nothing more exciting than getting up early in
the morning , and driving to school.
X
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 . . .
before a group of words beginning with that.
We all said , that we understand commas.
X
X
Please give us the test , that has the easiest questions.
WARNING!!!
Don’t go comma crazy!
o Now that you know the proper uses for
commas, resist the urge to use one every
time you’re unsure. Don’t give in to commaitis!
o Take your time; check the rules.
o And, finally, remember:
When in doubt, leave it out!