\n I needed two eggs, seven potatoes, a radish, and four carrots from the grocer.<\/em><\/p>\n In the bag were copies of The Secret Garden, Peter Pan, and The Cat Returns.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nBoth ways are correct, it simply depends on your own personal stylistic choice. Just make sure you are consistent in your writing\u2014choose either to use it all the time or never, not sometimes.<\/p>\n
2\u2014Introductory Phrases<\/h2>\n
When a sentence begins with an introductory element, a comma is used to separate that element where the natural pause occurs, creating clarity and making the sentence easier to read.<\/p>\n
\n On Thursday morning, I went down to the park.<\/em><\/p>\n Though the weather was absolutely dreadful, John still went for his evening walk.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nFrom reading a variety of authors, I have found that a lot of them omit this particular type of comma. Though the human brain is capable of deciphering where the natural pause occurs, as a reader, it is much easier if the comma is included. However, don\u2019t go overboard and put commas where they are not necessary.<\/p>\n
\n It is with great sadness and sincere regret that I inform you of your wife\u2019s death.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nNote that there is no need to put a comma after regret<\/em>, as the sentence flows on nicely without it, thanks to the presence of that<\/em>.<\/p>\n3\u2014Sentence Separation<\/h2>\n
Commas can also help divide a sentence into two individual clauses where separation is required for clarity.<\/p>\n
\n He bent down to tie up his shoelace, then continued on.<\/em><\/p>\n It rained a lot in January, but February was much brighter.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe second example is a stylistic choice and can be omitted, providing that the conjunction but<\/em> is an adequate separating device within the sentence. Most sentences including a but<\/em> or because<\/em> will not require a comma, especially in ones as short as those above. Other sentences, however, might require a comma to dispense with any unintended misunderstanding. For example:<\/p>\n\n I was certain the accident was all Jenny\u2019s fault, because Clara was in the same classroom at the time and told me everything.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWithout the comma, the sentence may be misinterpreted to meaning that the accident was Jenny\u2019s fault because Clara was in the same classroom at the time, hinting that it might actually be Clara\u2019s fault instead.<\/p>\n
4\u2014Asides<\/h2>\n
Technically referred to as parenthetical elements, an aside is a section of a sentence which, when removed, does not affect the overall meaning of the sentence.<\/p>\n
\n When I arrived at the soccer pitch, after dodging some swooping magpies, my team was already training vigorously.<\/em><\/p>\n My cat Souk, who is absolutely mental, woke me up at four this morning for some attention.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nOther asides can include:<\/p>\n
\n Peter came first, George came second but, of course, I came last.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nOther instances of a parenthetical element is during the writing of a date or a place. For example:<\/p>\n
\n We are now arriving in Hamburg, Germany.<\/em><\/p>\n On the 20th of September, 1987, I was born.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nNote that the comma after September<\/em> is sometimes omitted, but I prefer to put them in. The comma after 1987<\/em>, however, adheres to the above point on introductory sections.<\/p>\n5\u2014Addressing in Speech<\/h2>\n
In direct speech, it is important to separate the name being addressed from the rest of the sentence. If not, some terrible misunderstandings could occur.<\/p>\n
\n \u2018Eat, grandma!\u2019 John said.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018Eat grandma!\u2019 John said.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nNotice the difference in meaning? In the first instance, John is telling his grandma to eat. In the second sentence, the lack of comma transforms John’s speech entirely, making him appear to command someone to eat his grandma! One little comma just saved grandma\u2019s life! Unfortunately, in this digital age, too many writers neglect to notice the difference, so eager are they to write down everything swimming around inside their minds. I’m surprised there are any grandmas left at all!<\/p>\n
Other examples of this kind of mix-up are:<\/p>\n
\n \u2018It\u2019s red, Sally,\u2019 George explained.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s red Sally,\u2019 George explained.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe first sentence has George explaining to Sally that something is red. The second sentence has George explaining that Sally is red herself.<\/p>\n
\n \u2018Can\u2019t you see, Jordan?\u2019 Gloria asked.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018Can\u2019t you see Jordan?\u2019 Gloria asked.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nIn the first sentence, Gloria is asking Jordan whether or not he can see or understand something. In the second sentence, Gloria is asking someone whether or not they can see Jordan.<\/p>\n
As these three examples have shown, commas are very important in these circumstances. Their absence could confuse a reader quite seriously!<\/p>\n
6\u2014Descriptions<\/h2>\n
When a character or object is described by more than one adjective, it may be necessary to separate these traits with commas. For example:<\/p>\n
\n The pale, screaming child.<\/em><\/p>\n The wiry, shrivelled tree.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nIf you can replace the comma with an and<\/em> while not affecting the meaning of the sentence, like the two examples above, a comma is necessary. However, other descriptions do not need a comma, for instance:<\/p>\n\n The red front door.<\/em><\/p>\n The little old woman.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nIt sounds awkward to say \u2018the red and<\/em> front door\u2019 and \u2018the little and<\/em> old woman, therefore these sorts of descriptions do not require commas.<\/p>\n7\u2014Dialogue and Quotations<\/h2>\n
Throughout school, university and my career thus far, I have been subjected to some of the worst written quotations imaginable. When writing direct speech, a comma is used correctly like so:<\/p>\n
\n Josh stood up and said, \u2018I\u2019m ready. Let\u2019s go!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n Bella blushed and admitted, ‘I don’t really know where we’re supposed to go.’<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nHere, a comma comes before the space and quotation mark, separating the prose from the dialogue.<\/p>\n
\n Harry agreed quickly, saying, \u2018Yes! I vote we have pizza!\u2019<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nNote that there is a comma before and after saying<\/em>. This is due to the fact that I wanted to clearly show that the adverb quickly<\/em> belonged to agreed<\/em>, not saying<\/em>. It also adheres to the rule about introductory elements as explained earlier.<\/p>\n\n \u2018I\u2019m so bored,\u2019 moaned Pansy.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018So am I,\u2019 agreed Draco. ‘Let’s go annoy some First Years.’<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nHere, notice that the comma at the end of the quotation comes before<\/em> the final quotation mark. One of the most common mistakes I come across is that a writer will put the quotation mark before the comma\u2014this is incorrect.<\/p>\n\n ‘It seems strange,’ David mused, ‘that we didn’t think of that before.’<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nIn this instance, note how the commas are used to indicate that the two elements of speech are one continuous sentence, not two. If there were two sentences, it would look like this:<\/p>\n
\n ‘That’s just not fair,’ Alison complained. ‘I was here first!’<\/em><\/p>\n ‘I was told to call this number if I was in trouble,’ Peter whispered urgently. ‘I think there’s someone after me.’<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nNote that fair<\/em> and trouble<\/em> are followed by commas, not full stops. When a piece of speech is labelled with the speaker’s name, use a comma in the ways demonstrated above. If you wish to have a series of fast back-and-forth exchanges between characters and don’t wish to label every element of dialogue, it may look like this:<\/p>\n\n ‘I thought you said you’d be here at nine o’clock,’ Charles grumbled.<\/em><\/p>\n ‘The traffic was terrible. I got here as fast as I could,’ James explained.<\/em><\/p>\n ‘Then you should’ve called to say you were running late or something.’<\/em><\/p>\n ‘My phone’s dead!’<\/em><\/p>\n ‘Sure, whatever.’<\/em><\/p>\n ‘Look,’ James said exasperatedly, ‘are you going to stand here all night, whinging and moaning, or can we go in and get a drink now?’<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhen using quotations in an essay or another type of formal writing, however, the quote should be written like so:<\/p>\n
\n According to Jane Austen, sitting in the shade on a fine day \u2018is the most perfect refreshment\u2019, though I would personally prefer to stay indoors.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nHere, the comma comes after the quote \u2018is the most perfect refreshment\u2019. This is due to the fact that, as explained in sentence separation earlier, sections of a sentence should be separated by a comma for the purposes of clarity. This is not a piece of direct speech, this is a quotation. Do not make the mistake of putting the comma before the final quotation mark, as in direct speech. They are different beasts, so treat them accordingly.<\/p>\n
8\u2014Contrasting Expressions<\/h2>\n
In instances where one thing is set in contrast to another, a comma should be used for clarity.<\/p>\n
\n The thing that hurt me the most was her parting speech, not the slap she gave me.<\/em><\/p>\n The train is going to leave on Tuesday, not Wednesday.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n9\u2014 Numbers<\/h2>\n
Sometimes, using a comma to separate groups of three figures in a number is necessary. I have found that this is another stylistic choice, as some writers will use a space instead, as you often see in phone numbers.<\/p>\n
\n US$1,258,755.50<\/em><\/p>\n 4,073km<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nNow, there are other occasions where a comma might be needed and I gather you may still have questions. If none of the categories above shed any light on your particular query, go with your gut or contact me and I’ll do my best to enlighten you.<\/p>\n
Good luck, writers, and treat your commas well.<\/p>\n
10\u2014Appositives<\/h2>\n
ADDITION: 4th June<\/p>\n
It has come to my attention that many writers misjudge what an aside actually is and create unnecessary asides in their sentences, such as:<\/p>\n
\n ‘My best friend, Caitlin, asked me to see a movie with her this weekend.’<\/em><\/p>\n The movie, Sin City, is one of my favourites.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nIn the above examples, the commas that surround Caitlin<\/em> and Sin City<\/em> are unnecessary. In fact, the addition of the commas in the first example suggests that the speaker is talking to Caitlin herself, which is not the case. Here is how those sentences should have been written:<\/p>\n\n My best friend Caitlin asked me to see a movie with her this weekend.<\/em><\/p>\n The movie Sin City is one of my favourites.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThis is an example of an appositive<\/em>, a group of words that provide additional information to the noun preceding it. This group of words, together with the noun, create a single descriptive unit that does not need to be separated by commas. Other examples include:<\/p>\n\n The Prime Minister David Cameron met with the Queen.<\/em><\/p>\n My aunt Susan is a good cook.<\/em><\/p>\n My crazy cat Suki did a backflip.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nSo when do you need to use a comma while providing additional information about the noun? When the information itself is unnecessary but merely extra information, creating an aside, then you are fully entitled to use commas. For example:<\/p>\n
\n The Prime Minister David Cameron, a Conservative, met with the Queen.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do you have a phobia of commas or do you use them too much?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154,"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153\/revisions\/154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}