I love the comma and often tend to overuse it as you'll see in this tutorial. However, too many commas can slow down your writing make your clauses hiccup to a point of putting your reader off.
Commas should indicate a very short pause, and in most writing courses, you'll be told to write shorter snappier sentences, rather than long flowery ones with several associated clauses. The best way to know when to use a comma is to read your writing out loud and insert them in places where you pause (and intend for your reader to pause) naturally.
Note: These tutorials are by no means definitive, all inclusive guides. They are meant to briefly instruct in the areas of language most often used for every-day writing.
When to use a comma
1. Use a comma when you make a list.
The ingredients for a good curry are monkeys, eyeballs, a bit of dust, a two-by-four piece of cardboard, a block of ice and some toothpaste.
There is no comma after "ice" because "and" is usually replaced by the comma in lists. You have one or the other and don't need both. Having said this, years ago I did some studies with an American tutor who insisted that I needed a comma before the "and." Having had a British education and being UK trained to teach English, I found that strange as this was not something I was taught to do.
2. Use a comma before your quotation marks for direct speech.
Michael said, “Oooh, I really do so love those high heels. Do they come in purple?”
I've seen a full stop used after "said" in sentences with direct speech, but if you're confused, just remember that "Michael said," and his actual speech are put together to make one complete sentence. The words "Michael said" cannot by themselves make up a complete sentence, therefore, should not be followed by a full stop.
3. Use a comma to separate two or more adjectives which refer to a particular noun
Her curries tend to be chewy, thick, cold and tasteless.
The adjectives (describing words) referring to the curry are in fact lists. Like number one, they would require commas to separate them.
4. Use a comma when you put a phrase into a sentence to give more explanation.
In order to make a sentence clearer, we sometimes add an explanatory phrase. When we use this trick in our writing, we must enclose this phrase in commas. For example, look at the sentence below.
When he broke my purple stilettos I became very upset.
We could make this sentence clearer to the reader and explain that the reason why I was so upset over my broken shoes, was because they were brand new.
When he broke my purple stilettos, which were brand new, I became very upset.
To test yourself to make sure you've put the commas in the right places, try taking out the enclosed phrase. If the sentence still makes complete sense (without this phrase) then you've done the right thing. We will deal with dashes and brackets (which are used in the same way as commas in most cases) in another lesson.
As an aside, writing clear, concise sentences is admirable. Sometimes, however, this can become boring if it's all you do. Add a bit of spice with a different approach. For example, use clauses and commas to add interest to your writing. Look at the sentences below.
(a) Her daughter is very mature for her age.
(b) Her daughter, a child born a week before her father's death, is very mature for her age.
The former is a fine, complete statement. The second is a sentence offering your reader a possible answer for the girl's maturity, while leaving them wanting to read more by creating for them additional questions about the man's death.
5. Use a comma with these conjunctions
We can't help but use conjunctions in our writing, as they are an integral part to expressing ourselves colourfully. I will not deal with conjunctions here as this is not a tutorial on parts of speech. However, I will mention four which we are all bound to use in everyday writing. They are: of course, however, therefore and nevertheless. (Note: most conjunctions - coordinating or subordinating - do not need commas).
These tutorials, of course, are not all inclusive
These tutorials will, however, give you a sound starting point to writing English correctly.
You will, therefore, need to do further in-depth studies to advance in your work.
You have, nevertheless, been given some good pointers on the use of commas.
The Full Stop
The full stop is probably the easiest punctuation mark to use, as it dictates the end of a thought/sentence and commands the longest pause.
1. Use a full stop to end a sentence
As everyone knows, a full stop ends a sentence. A capital letter is then used to start a new sentence.
2. Use a full stop after an abbreviation
When you use a full stop after an abbreviation, you do not need a capital letter to start the next word, unless, of course, it is a proper noun which naturally needs a capital letter.
Here are some sentences to correct
The answers are below for you to check how you've done. Note that one of these sentences needs no correction.
1. He was the man of her dreams dreams she had kept hidden from her closest friends.
2. Noah had three sons they were Shem Ham, and Japhet
3. She said to him. “You have nothing to worry about. I have done the packing made the reservations rented the car the cabin and the skis.”
4. My builder, who had arrived late, told me that his car had been stolen last night.
5. “You've got to be kidding” I said. “Men don't wear high heel shoes”
Answers
1. He was the man of her dreams, dreams she had kept hidden from her closest friends. (1 mistake).
2. Noah had three sons, they were Shem, Ham and Japhet. (4 mistakes - don't forget the full stop at the end. Instead of a comma after "sons" a full stop can also be used. "T" in "they would then have to be capitalised).
3. She said to him, “You have nothing to worry about. I have done the packing, made the reservations, rented the car, the cabin and the skis.” (4 mistakes).
4. My builder, who had arrived late, told me that his car had been stolen last night. (Correct)
5. “You"ve got to be kidding,” I said. “Men don't wear high heel shoes.” (2 mistakes).
Other works in this series
Lesson 1 - The Apostrophe
Lesson 3 - The Colon, The Semi Colon And The Hyphen
Lesson 4 - The Dash, The Question Mark And The Exclamation Mark
Lesson 5 - The Inverted Commas, Brackets And Capitalization
