By Christopher Schuck

“Commas in The New Yorker fall with the precision of knives in a circus act, outlining the victim.” ~E. B. White

The first concept I wanted to tackle was the appropriate use of commas. Commas seem like such a simple, friendly scratch of punctuation. However, this is a guise. Commas act nicely, that is, until you want to put them in their appropriate place.

I am a comma addict. I have found that I am not alone in this, either. Just put them where they sound right, right? Apparently, “use as a verbal pause” does not even make it on the “actual” uses commas are meant for. Granted, commas do create a verbal pause; however, using them for this, rather than this being their result, is an easy way to make mistakes.

None of this ever mattered to me, blissfully, until I considered writing as a serious profession. Now, my happy nonchalance – my buddy-buddy relationship with commas – is a slippery slope toward an unprofessionalism that might keep me from being published someday. On this premise, I set off to put my old fiend, the comma, in its place; setting an example for all the other punctuations I will come after next.

A side note – I included rules on semicolons below, as well, since I am fairly sure it is just a comma hiding under a period (also, the rules of their uses blend together).

Thus, here are the eight rules of when to use commas:

I. When independent clauses are linked by a conjunction (and, but, or, nor, yet, for, so)

He approached the desk, and the teacher told him his grade. He approached the desk, and after that, the teacher told him his grade. He approached the desk and received his grade. (no comma because second clause is dependent)

A semicolon can also be used to link clauses

He approached the desk; the teacher told him his grade. (if two sentences are closely related, they can be connected as clauses using a sermicolon)

He approached the desk; thus, the teacher told him his grade. (here, a conjunctive adverb is used but it is still the semicolon, as above, that combines the clauses)

The bonus lesson in reviewing rule I is that I learned the difference between a conjunction and a conjunctive adverb. There are rules for their difference, but I prefer to simply remember that conjunctions include the words and, but, or, nor, yet, for, and so. Anything else is just an extra, nonessential word added for clarification; therefore, conjunction rules do not apply and all you do is comma it (put commas around it).

On a side note, when to put commas around too tricked me for a minute. Basically, too is only a conjunctive adverb (needing commas to separate it) when it means as well – as opposed to it meaning an excessive amount of. For example:

She said, “There are too many rules.” He replied, “There are too many side notes, too.”

II. Most introductory elements (comma is required if the introduction is necessary to modify the main clause)

When a student fails a test, the school fails at teaching. After class, he told his friends that he had failed the test. After class he told his friends that he had failed the test. (can be removed if sentence has the same meaning without introductory element)

What is meant by “necessary to modify the main clause” is that the meaning of the sentence changes without the introduction. Here, just saying “the school fails at teaching” is not what is meant; the whole point is that the school fails at teaching when a student fails a test. However, just saying, “he told his friends that he had failed the test,” still gets its point across without the introduction, “after class.”

This rule is reminiscent of a rule above, and a theme common to many comma rules – if something can be removed from a sentence and it still makes sense – comma it.

III. Between items in a series (use semicolons in a list that contains another list)

How could a smart, attentive, and motivated student like John fail the test? He was a smart, attentive, and motivated student; an ideal son; and a great musician.

IV. To separate coordinating adjectives (adjectives that all modify the noun equally; this, are transposable)

He had randomly answered the tedious, boring multiple-choice questions. He had ignored the long written questions on the test. (do not separate cumulative adjectives – where one modifies the next)

This rule had a bonus lesson, as well. Apparently, when you make a list of adjectives to describe a noun, they are not always equal. There are coordinating adjectives that are all equal and all modify the noun alone. Then, there are cumulative adjectives that describe any other adjective in front of them, as well. Really, rules aside, the easiest way to distinguish them is to try to trade their places – to test if they are equal enough to stand in the other’s shoes. The first example above, actually, has both types of adjectives. Tedious and boring are coordinating adjectives; whereas, multiple-choice is a cumulative adjective.

Because of this, these sentences make sense:

“He had randomly answered the boring, tedious multiple-choice questions.”

“He had randomly answered the tedious and boring multiple-choice questions.”

While these ones do not make sense:

“He had randomly answered the multiple-choice, tedious, boring questions.”

“He had randomly answered the tedious, boring, and multiple-choice questions.”

Did you notice something else? The coordinating adjectives can be removed without confusion and the rule for them is to comma it. Whereas, pulling out a cumulative adjective changes the meaning of the sentence and they are not set apart by commas.

V. To set off non-restrictive elements (words that don’t limit the meaning of words they modifies)

The student, who failed the test, did not seem to care. Students who fail tests should care that they failed. (restrictive element – modifies)

Notice that saying, “The student did not seem to care,” still refers to the same student and the same result; however, saying, “Students should care that they failed,” doesn’t even make sense since all the students did not fail (I hope not). Notice, also, how the rule says to identify the removable element – comma it.



VI. To set off other non-essential elements (For example: parenthetical expressions, phrases of contrast, direct addresses, mild interjections, yes, no)

He was, in fact, the smartest student. Apparently, he needed more relaxing, less studying. Don’t be so nonchalant, John. Yes, it was surprising.

Another rule that, basically, says, “it’s nonessential – comma it.” You have no idea how excited I got when that theme kept jumping out at me; the theme really seemed to turned a huge mess of rules into something more containable.

VII. With dates, addresses, place names, numbers, and title

I was born on June 10, 1983. I live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20500. I was born in June 1983. Washington, DC, is where I live. Albert Einstein, Ph.D., must have had an IQ of 200.

VIII. With quotations

“I’m bored,” he said, “I think I’ll take this test with my eyes closed.” “You’ll fail the test for sure!” someone cried. Who said, “You’ll fail”?

Another day, I will get into how to use punctuation around quotation marks. For commas, though, you can see that they are used to separate quotations, unless another piece of punctuation takes precedent, and they hug the nearest word to their left.

One last side note, I have recently noticed that these rules, while essential to most professional writing, are avoided in one genre of writing. If you are writing in the first-person perspective, common in Young Adult (YA) novels today, the personal aspect of this writing means that commas, and many writings rules, are more subjective. However, if you really want to be a great writer, it is best to know the rules, even, or perhaps especially, if you are going to be breaking them.

Finally, I have to address the new concept that the Oxford comma (a.k.a. serial comma) can be ignored. The Oxford comma is the last comma in a series. Ignoring it turns:

“At the table were the kids who failed the test, Isaac, and Madison.”

Into:

“At the table were the kids who failed, Isaac and Madison.”

Granted, if the series is the three colors in a bouquet of flowers, dropping a comma will not cause confusion. However, in the example above, who is at the table? Is it just Isaac and Madison, who both failed the test, or is it a group kids who failed the test, along with Isaac and Madison? Because I know Isaac and Madison were the only two at the table who passed the test and would prefer to say that with a simple comma rather than adding an entirely new sentence of explanation, I stand by the Oxford comma.

Here is a more graphic and comical example of where an Oxford comma is useful.

–

Next, I will cover my thoughts on: Books vs Television.

Please feel free to comment below. 1) Are you cautious or free-spirited with your comma use?

2) Do you have anything to add about comma use?

Thanks for reading!

–