Comma Punctuation - Welcome to the 500 Ironic Stories Resource Pages
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In addition to our own story collection, this website provides resources for short story readers and writers. This page is dedicated to helping writers with the use of punctuation, especially the use of commas.
The Need for Punctuation
In speaking, we use pauses and change the pitch of our voice to separate ideas, indicate questions, show excitement, indicate surprise, and demonstrate other emotions. In writing, on the other hand, we rely on punctuation marks to convey these verbal signals. Here is a list of the punctuation marks in English:
- Apostrophe [’]
- Brackets []
- Colon [:]
- Comma [,]
- Dash [--]
- Ellipsis […]/omission marks
- Exclamation point [!]
- Hyphen [-]
- Parentheses ()
- Period/full stop [.]
- Question mark [?]
- Quotation marks [“”]
- Semicolon [;]
- Slash [/]
The Comma
In this article, we will concentrate on one of the most common and difficult to use punctuation marks – the comma. To show how important commas are, look at the following example of sentences with the same words but with and without a comma.
*Let’s eat Grandma!
Let’s eat, Grandma!
The first sentence, without the comma leads to a strange conclusion. Does anyone want to eat their grandma. The second sentence, with the comma, indicates that we should pause at that point in the sentence and also that we are addressing Grandma and do not want to eat her.
Linking Clauses with a Comma
Case 1 – When a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet) connects 2 or more independent clauses, a comma must precede the conjunction.
Example: The department sponsored a seminar on college survival skills, and it also hosted a barbecue for new students.
Example: Road construction can be inconvenient, but it is necessary.
Note: The comma may be omitted if the two independent clauses are short and there’s no danger of misreading.
Example: The plane took off and we were on our way.
Case 2 – After an introductory phrase or clause functioning as an adverb (which tells when, where, how, why, or under which conditions the main action of the sentence occurred).
Example: Near a small stream at the bottom of the canyon, the park rangers discovered an abandoned mine.
Case 3 – After a participial clause describing the noun/pronoun immediately following it.
Example: Buried under layers of younger rocks, the earth’s oldest rocks contain no fossils.
Case 4 – Complex sentences. Join an introductory dependent clause with the independent clause by a comma.
Example: Because road construction has hindered travel around town, many people have opted to ride bicycles or walk to work.
This is how the example sentence could be written without the use of the introductory dependent clause:
Many people have opted to ride bicycles or walk to work because road construction has hindered travel around town.
Case 5 – Compound-complex sentences, composed of one or more dependent clauses and two or more independent clauses. Join an introductory dependent clause with an independent clause with a comma. Separate two independent clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, for, nor, so).
Example: When it is filtered, water is cleaner, and it tastes better.
Lists and the Oxford Comma
Commas are used to break up the items in a list or series. The Oxford comma is the final comma that can be used or omitted in a series. Consider the following two examples:
Example: I like skating, skiing, and snowboarding.
Example: I like skating, skiing and snowboarding.
The meaning of the sentences is the same but the first one has an additional comma before “and snowboarding”, which is known as the Oxford comma. Does the Oxford comma matter? Does it ever make a difference? Let’s consider the following example:
Example: I love my parents, Lady Gaga and Humpty Dumpty.
Example: I love my parents, Lady Gaga, and Humpty Dumpty.
This is the case when the Oxford comma can actually change or clarify the meaning. In the first case when there is no comma before “Humpty Dumpty” it is implied that “Lady Gaga and Humpty Dumpty” are my parents; however, as soon as we put a comma there, the implication is that I am just listing everything I love.
Comma Between Adjectives
Case 1 – When two or more adjectives each modify a noun separately, they are coordinate and require commas.
Example: Roberto is a warm, gentle, affectionate father.
Case 2 – Adjectives that do not modify a noun separately are cumulative (cannot be joined with and) and do not need commas.
Example: Three large gray shapes moved slowly toward us.
Common Error with Commas
A comma splice is the use of a comma between two independent clauses.
Incorrect Example: I like this class, it is very interesting.
Correct Examples: I like this class. It is very interesting.
(or) I like this class; it is very interesting.
(or) I like this class, and it is very interesting.
(or) I like this class because it is very interesting.
(or) Because it is very interesting, I like this class.
Additional Punctuation Resources
For additional guidance on the use of punctuation marks, visit a sister page on this website that covers punctuation for the colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, brackets, apostrophe, quotation marks, and ellipsis. The page is called Punctuation Guide – Colon to Quotations.