Comma Rules Made Easy
First, some terms you should know…
Independent Clause (IC): A group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses
a complete thought. In other words, a sentence.
Dependent Clause (DC): A group of words that contains a subject and verb, but does not
express a complete thought. In other words, it can’t be its own sentence. Usually, the
dependent marker word comes before the clause, which is how you can tell it’s
dependent.
So what’s a dependent marker word (DMW)?
It’s a magical word that makes an IC into a DC when added to the beginning. Most common
examples: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even, if, even if, even though, in
order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever, whether, while.
EXAMPLE:
Independent clause: Jim likes cookies.
Dependent clause: Although Jim likes cookies…
Make sense? The only difference between an IC and a DC is that DMW.
Using this technique, you can turn short sentences into long, fancy ones!
EXAMPLE:
Boring sentence: Jim likes cookies.
EXCITING sentence: Although Jim likes cookies, his wife likes pie, so they will have
pie for Thanksgiving.
NOW, what does all this have to do with commas??
Well, let’s get to the rules.
1. Use a comma to separate ICs when they are connected by a little word with a fancy
name: a coordinating conjunction (CC). You use these all the time, I promise. And
there are only seven: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet. They go right between two ICs and
a comma goes right before them.
EXAMPLES:
Jim really likes cookies, but his wife likes pie.
Jim’s wife likes pie, so they will have pie for Thanksgiving.
Now for a scary term.... Comma Splice!!! Duhn, duhn, duhhhhhhn....
Sometimes people like to separate two ICs with a comma. This is called a comma splice, and
it's a very common comma mistake.
EXAMPLE:
Jim loves cookies, Jim's wife loves pie.
Fixed: Jim loves cookies, but his wife loves pie.
2. Now let’s talk about introductions. Commas always go after introductory clauses
and phrases. And yes, there is a slight difference between clauses and phrases. They
both provide a little background information for the sentence, but a phrase is not a
complete clause. A clause has a subject and a verb separate from the subject and verb
in the main sentence, and a phrase does not. Don’t worry, I’ll give examples.
EXAMPLES:
Clause: For Jim to get cookies at Thanksgiving, …..
Phrase: To get cookies at Thanksgiving, …. (notice there is only a verb, not subject)
In the phrase, a subject would have to be stated later in the sentence to clarify who is
getting the cookies. That isn’t necessary in the clause because “Jim” is included. Let’s
complete the sentences.
Clause: For Jim to get cookies at Thanksgiving, he will have to convince his wife.
Phrase: To get cookies at Thanksgiving, Jim will have to convince his wife.
Notice how both the clause and the phrase give some extra background information. In
both examples, if the introductory phrase or clause was removed, the sentence would still
make grammatical sense, but the reader wouldn’t know what was being talked about
without the introductory phrase or clause.
3. You know when you add a bonus phrase, clause, or word in a sentence that isn’t
really necessary to the meaning of the sentence? Those need commas around them.
EXAMPLES:
Jim loves cookies, especially chocolate chip, but his wife loves pie.
Jim’s wife, Pam, loves pie.
Without those bonus phrases, the meanings of these sentences would still be clear.
(Jim loves cookies, but his wife loves pie.)
(Jim’s wife loves pie.)
When these bonus phrases, clauses, or words are essential, do not put commas around
them. Usually, when they are essential, they begin with the words “that” or “who,” or with a
word ending in “-ing.”
Jim loves cookies that are chocolate chip.
Jim does not like people who like pie.
The cookies containing chocolate chips are his favorite.
4.) Lists! Whenever you list words, phrases, or clauses (like I just did), you need
commas between all of them.
EXAMPLES:
Another than cookies, Jim likes candy, cake, and ice cream.
Pam likes apple pie, cherry pie, and pecan pie.
To get cookies at Thanksgiving, Jim can either buy his wife a necklace, cook the
entire dinner himself, or disinvite his mother.
See that comma before the words “or” and “and”? That’s called an Oxford Comma. And you
might find some snobby English Professor who says it is not necessary to use Oxford
Commas, but use them. Always. Just do it.
5. When using a bunch of adjectives to describe one noun, put commas between each
adjective, but NOT between the final adjective and the noun.
EXAMPLES:
Jim loves moist, gooey, yummy cookies.
Pam loves sweet, sugary, fruity pie.
6. When you add an extra comment at the end of a sentence, usually to show
contradiction or further describe something, always put a comma before it.
EXAMPLES:
Jim is willing to buy his wife a necklace or cook Thanksgiving dinner, not disinvite
his mother.
When Jim suggested cookies to Pam, she was surprised, even shocked.
7. Quotations! Whenever you're writing dialogue, or people talking, there are all
these little punctuation rules to remember. In a nutshell, commas go at the end of a
quotation before the dialogue tag and before the quotation if the dialogue tag or
something else comes before the quote. The dialogue tag states who is talking and
usually contains the word "said".
EXAMPLES:
"We can't have cookies as our Thanksgiving dessert," Pam said.
When putting a question or exclamation in quotation, put the question or exclamation mark
in place of the comma.
Jim frowned, "Why not?"
Notice the comma is inside the quotation in the first example and outside in the second.
When going from normal writing into a quote, a comma must introduce it.
Think of the stuff inside the quotation as it's own sentence, so all the comma rules
mentioned above still apply.
Pam shook her head, "Jim, it's not normal. People, like my parents, expect something
much fancier, like pie. I don't care if you buy me a new necklace, we can't have
cookies at Thanksgiving, at least not as the main dessert."
You can also put the dialogue tag within the quote itself, which would combine these two
rules.
"Fine," Jim said, "We can have pie as our main dessert, but we better have at least
one tray of cookies."
"I'm ok with that," Pam said.
And that's pretty much all there is to it. Happy travels in all your comma endeavors. I
hope you have more luck than Jim.