Are You a Comma-kazi*?
--a destroyer of sentence
meaning?
•
•
•
Let’s eat Grandma! -----> Let’s eat, Grandma!
While we were eating a rattlesnake approached our campsite. ---> ?
If you cook Ingrid will wash the dishes.--> ?
*A kamikazi is defined by Dictionary.com as the following:
“3. a person or thing that behaves in a wildly reckless or destructive manner.”
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Comma Usage
UWF Writing Lab
Created by Georgia Clarkson Smith
September 4, 2009
Revised by Mamie Hixon 6/15/10
A panda walks into a restaurant, sits down,
and orders a sandwich.
After he finishes eating the sandwich, the
panda pulls out a gun and shoots the waiter,
and then stands up to go.
“Please!" whimpers the bleeding waiter. “Why
did you shoot me?"
3
The panda yells at the waiter, “Look, dude, I am a PANDA! I’m just
doing my job. I looked it up online:
"A tree-dwelling marsupial of Asian origin, characterized by distinct
black and white coloring.
Eats, shoots, and leaves.”
Source: Lynn Truss,
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
4
5
Use a comma to separate direct quotations
from the phrase identifying the speaker.
Little Johnny said, “Grammar
lessons are so lame.”
“I don’t know how I was
able,” he remarked later,
“to stay awake.”
6
Use a comma to separate geographical names
and addresses from each other and from words
following them.
• Pensacola, Florida, is where
I live.
• Birmingham, Alabama, gets
its name from Birmingham,
England.
• The property located at
4590 Peach Street, Atlanta,
Georgia 32416, is for sale.
• (no comma before the zip
code)
7
Use a comma to separate dates from text
when using the month-day-year sequence.
• Earth Day was founded on
April 22, 1970, and is
celebrated every year on
April 22.
No comma when using
only two date items:
• April 22 is Earth Day.
• April 1970 marks the
founding of Earth Day.
8
Use a comma to separate titles following names.
• David H. Baldwin, MD,
will be the principal
speaker.
• Mary Hines, Senior Vice
President of Creative
Technology, will
conduct the interview.
9
Use a comma to separate two or more coordinate
descriptors/adjectives.
Coordinate:
can be flipped around
• He was a difficult, stubborn
child.
• Your cousin has an easy,
happy smile.
• The relentless, powerful,
oppressive sun beat down on
them.
Non-coordinate:
can NOT be flipped
• They lived in a white frame
house.
• She often wore grey wool
socks.
• My cat killed a little yellow
bird.
Practice:
The relentless, powerful summer sun beat down on them.
Should we add a comma between powerful and summer?
10
Use a comma to separate three or more items
or phrases in a series.
• I was so bored during
the grammar lesson that
I texted on my phone,
chewed on my pen, and
wrote notes to my
neighbor.
• Several other students
sat quietly, paid
attention, and took
notes.
11
Use a comma to separate two independent clauses
joined by FANBOYS (coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).
If you could remove the FANBOY and make two separate
sentences, use a comma.
• The student was trying to
follow along, but there
were so many comma
rules.
• I am having trouble with
my comma usage, so I
need to pay attention to
the presentation.
Incorrect:
I got up late this morning, I
did not have time for
breakfast. (comma splice)
12
Use a comma to separate introductory words,
phrases, or clauses.
Introductory phrases often begin with after, with, during, at, by,
for, from, until, because of, due to, in, to, with, without.
• Because her alarm clock was
broken, she was late for class.
• When she finally got there, the
testing period was over.
• If she is late again, her grade will
suffer.
• During lunch, there was a fire
drill.
Exception: DO NOT add a comma if the
introductory clause falls at the end of the sentence.
Incorrect: She was late for class, because her alarm
clock did not ring.
13
Use commas to separate nonessential words, clauses, or
phrases. Omit the commas if the information is essential.
Anyone wearing a “Hillary Running in Heels” button entered the
convention free.
Rus, who was wearing a political T-shirt, passed out leaflets.
•Used car dealers, who usually sell
“lemons” to their customers, are not
highly trusted individuals.
•Those who want to sell a car do try
to act friendly and courteous.
•The salesperson who sold us our
Ford was quite pleasant.
•His jacket, which was pink, was 14
quite spiffy.
Use a comma to separate contradictory or contrasting
phrases from the sentence.
• It was Mr. Williams, not
his son, who was
appointed to the
committee.
• He was merely ignorant,
not stupid.
• It was through the
window, not the
chimney, that Santa
entered the house.
15
Use a comma to separate names used in direct address as
well as direct addresses such as yes, no, thank you.
• Let’s eat Grandma.
Let’s eat, Grandma.
• You May have been
kind.
You, May, have been
kind.
• Yes, I did go to the
party.
16
Use a comma to provide clarity and prevent
misreading.
• We left the candidate,
assured that he would win.
(we were sure)
• We left the candidate
assured that he would win.
(he was sure)
• For Michael, Jordan was a
hero.
• For Michael Jordan was a
hero.
17
Use a comma to separate two or three
consecutive occurrences of a word.
•Rain, Rain, Go
away.
I see that your lips
are moving, but all I
hear is blah, blah,
blah.
18
Use a comma to separate tag questions from
the rest of the sentence.
• You are not
distracted, are you?
• You killed my
goldfish, didn’t you?
19
Use a comma to to separate interrupters, parenthetical words and
phrases, and transitional words and phrases from the sentence.
• Limes are good for
many things, for
example, hats.
• My cat, Fred, by the
way, loves to wear a
lime hat on Sundays.
• My dog, however,
prefers top hats.
• Additional benefits of
lime hats include, of
course, the fresh
scent.
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For more tips, go to
www.uwf.edu/writelab
and look at our
printable handouts
and mini-lessons.