Anthology of Ideas

The comma has the most uses of any single punctuation mark making it one of the hardest for people to use properly.

The Basics:

1. They join sentences and ideas.
   • I am going on vacation for the summer, and I hope it doesn’t end up like last year.
   • If you are happy person, life seems much better.
   • However, it is best to just do it.
2. They aid reading and offset less important information.
   • Members, welcome! — If this does not have the comma then literally it is a command to the members to welcome.
   • However, no matter what your excuse is, it doesn’t change the fact that you were late.
3. They separate adjectives and list items.
   • I was attacked by a big, angry dog.
   • Tom, Fredrick, Negussie and Andy play football every day.
   • I am going to the grocer, butcher and florist.
4. They format numbers, dates, titles, and places.
   • 39,552,923
   • I was born on August, 22 1967 in Columbus, Ohio.
   • James Pratt, M.D., won the Nobel prize in medicine.

Haven’t heard of it? National Punctuation Day honors and celebrates “…the lowly comma,correctly used quotes and other proper uses of periods, semicolons and the ever-mysterious [and ignored] ellipsis.” Want to know more? There exists a wealth of information on the web about punctuation in general—and of course you are just dying to learn about it; if you just want to know about the day itself, it has its own website with lots of information and history: here.

The comma has the most uses of any single punctuation mark making it one of the hardest for people to use properly.

The Basics:

1. They join sentences and ideas.
   • I am going on vacation for the summer, and I hope it doesn’t end up like last year.
   • If you are happy person, life seems much better.
   • However, it is best to just do it.
2. They aid reading and offset less important information.
   • Members, welcome! — If this does not have the comma then literally it is a command to the members to welcome.
   • However, no matter what your excuse is, it doesn’t change the fact that you were late.
3. They separate adjectives and list items.
   • I was attacked by a big, angry dog.
   • Tom, Fredrick, Negussie and Andy play football every day.
   • I am going to the grocer, butcher and florist.
4. They format numbers, dates, titles, and places.
   • 39,552,923
   • I was born on August, 22 1967 in Columbus, Ohio.
   • James Pratt, M.D., won the Nobel prize in medicine.

Haven’t heard of it? National Punctuation Day honors and celebrates “…the lowly comma,correctly used quotes and other proper uses of periods, semicolons and the ever-mysterious [and ignored] ellipsis.” Want to know more? There exists a wealth of information on the web about punctuation in general—and of course you are just dying to learn about it; if you just want to know about the day itself, it has its own website with lots of information and history: here.