How to use the elusive comma
The comma has the most uses of any single punctuation mark making it one of the hardest for people to use properly.
The Basics:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Usage
Below are sentences that one may find in normal writing, and not all of the commas are used correctly. Try to find these errors before reading the explanations.
- Applications to AFA Charitable Foundation, Inc. must be received by March, 22, 2008.
- In the 1990’s movie studio’s realized that people will be far more likely to read a movies’ credits, if they add extra things like bloopers at the end.
- I have been to all the countries of the world except, Nigeria, Singapore, and Taiwan.
- The students who didn’t do their homework failed the class.
I ran two miles on Tuesday, so I could stay home on Thursday.
Incorrect:Applications to AFA Charitable Foundation, Inc. must be received by March, 22, 2008. The “Inc” falls under the same rules as “M.D.”; thus, it is correct; however, there should be no comma between the word March and the number 22.
Correct:Applications to AFA Charitable Foundation, Inc. must be received by March 22, 2008.
Incorrect: In the 1990’s movie studios realized that people will be far more likely to read a movies’ credits, if they add extra things like bloopers at the end. “In the 1990’s” is a parenthetical phrase — it doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence it if is moved.
“if they add extra things like bloopers at the end” is not a parenthetical phrase — if it is removed or moved the sentence makes no sense.
Correct: In the 1990’s, movie studios realized that people will be far more likely to read a movies’ credits if they add extra things like bloopers at the end.
Incorrect:I have been to all the countries of the world except, Nigeria, Singapore, and Taiwan. The “except,” is completely wrong because the listed names are extremely important to the sentence.
The last comma in the list is a stylistic comma called a serial, Oxford or Harvard comma. While not strictly necessary, some people include it while other people believe it is the bane of comma kind.
Correct:I have been to all the countries of the world except Nigeria, Singapore, and Taiwan.
This sentence is either completely wrong or perfectly correct depending on the meaning you want the sentence to have. If you want the sentence to suggest that the students who failed to do their homework also failed the class, it is correct; however, if you meant to say that all the students failed the class because they didn’t do their homework, it would have to be rewritten as “The students, who didn’t do their homework, failed the class.”
This sentence is a very good demonstration of how commas aid reading and clarify information.
Correct:I ran two miles on Tuesday, so I could stay home on Thursday. This sentence alternatively seems correct and incorrect depending on how you read it. The short answer is it is correct, the longer answer is it looks like it is something that it is not. The comma with a coordinating conjunction (so) is not connecting two separate ideas. We can see this because “I ran two miles on Tuesday. I could stay home on Thursday.”
However, “so I could stay home on Thursday” is a parenthetical phrase. We know this because “I, so I could stay home on Thursday, ran two miles on Tuesday” makes just as much sense.