Use a coordinate conjunction. Use a subordinate clause. Get essay writing tips from educators and offers from partners sent directly to your inbox regularly. The Comma Part 6: An overview of when and how to use a comma Dr. When using a comma for a series of words, the last comma you use is known as the Oxford comma and can change the meaning or relationship of the last two items in the list. For phrases: Alexander the Great established a system of fortified cities, reorganised the military, and built a fleet of warships.
She thanked her parents, Sally Smith, and God. Before some conjunctions A conjunction is a linking word. She loved reading, so she spent every Sunday afternoon at the library.
You should always avoid putting a comma after the conjunction. When you are quoting direct speech If the information about who is speaking comes before the piece of direct speech, you should use a comma before the first quotation mark.
To separate clauses Some longer sentences are made up of more than one clause, a comma is used to separate these clauses. After finishing work, I went shopping for some new clothes. She was a capable, intelligent woman. In this instance you can swap the adjectives around and say intelligent, capable woman. When Evan was ready to iron, his cat tripped on the cord. Near a small stream at the bottom of the canyon, park rangers discovered a gold mine.
Use a comma between all items in a series Rule: Use a comma to separate each item in a series; a series is a group of three or more items having the same function and form in a sentence. We bought apples, peaches, and bananas today. Use commas to set off nonrestrictive clauses Rule: Use commas to enclose clauses not essential to the meaning of a sentence. Steven Strom, whose show you like, will host a party next week.
Use a comma to set off appositives Rule: An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames a nearby noun. Alexander Pope, the Restoration poet, is famous for his monologues.
Use a comma to indicate direct address Rule: When a speaker in a sentence names the person to whom he is speaking, this addressing of his audience is called direct address. Use commas to set off direct quotations Rule: A dialogue is a conversation between two or more people.
Use commas with dates, addresses, titles, and numbers Rules for dates: In dates, the year is set off from the rest of the sentence with a pair of commas. Don't offset a phrase that gives necessary information to the sentence. Usually, commas surround a non-essential clause or phrase. For example, "The duck that attacked me scared my friend" doesn't require any commas. Even though the phrase "that attacked me" describes "the duck," it provides essential information to the sentence.
Otherwise, no one would know why the duck scared your friend. Clauses that begin with "that" are usually essential to the sentence and do not require commas. That last comma, known as the serial comma, Oxford comma, or Harvard comma, causes serious controversy. Although many consider it unnecessary, others including Business Insider insist on its use to reduce ambiguity.
There's an Internet meme that demonstrates its necessity perfectly. The version without the Oxford comma, however, takes on an entirely different meaning, potentially suggesting that only one invitation was sent — to two strippers named JFK and Stalin.
Read more: 12 everyday phrases that you're probably saying incorrectly. Many adverbs end in "ly" and answer the question "how? How did something happen? Adverbs that don't end in "ly," such as "when" or "while," usually introduce a dependent clause, which rule number two in this post already covered. Also insert a comma when "however" starts a sentence, too. Phrases like "on the other hand" and "furthermore" also fall into this category.
Starting a sentence with "however," however, is discouraged by many careful writers. A better method would be to use "however" within a sentence after the phrase you want to negate, as in the previous sentence. Read more: 11 reasons the English language is impossible to learn. Another clever meme shows the problem with incorrect placement of this comma. The version with a comma, however, instructs them to stop attending hip dance clubs.
Only coordinate adjectives require a comma between them. Two adjectives are coordinate if you can answer yes to both of these questions: 1.
Does the sentence still make sense if you reverse the order of the words? Does the sentence still make sense if you insert "and" between the words?
Since "I saw the mean, big duck " and "I saw the big and mean duck" both sound fine, you need the comma.
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