How To Use Commas: A Quick And Handy Guide
To many intermediate writers (and some professionals I know), commas remain a tricky punctuation to use. As they affect both the way a piece is read and its overall effect, they are crucial to get right, lest risk dampening what could be particularly strong points of your material.
If, like me, you occasionally need a refresher on the proper way to use commas (I sort of need one every couple of weeks), this handy guide (with examples built into each rule, by the way) should help you out. Needless to say, we implore you to use a grammar checking software to help on this end, as well.
- A comma may not look necessary when separating two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction (and, or, but, nor, yet, for, so), but they are absolutely necessary to correctly relay the idea.
- You always add a comma when you put two independent clauses together, and
- Seriously, when you employ an introductory word or phrase to start a main clause, use a comma right after it.
- When you insert a word or phrase in the middle of the sentence that isn’t essential, such as this phrase here, add a comma before and after it (I sincerely hope you got that; if you didn’t, read again).
- My old grammar teacher used to say, “Write a comma before and after a quoted statement,” when you use it as part of a sentence.
- When showing items in a series, whether they be nouns, adjectives or adverbs, always use a comma to separate them.
- An afterthought (along with a contrast statement) requires a comma right before it, as unfamiliar as you may be with doing that.