When is comma used in a sentence

Example: The f irst year university, for example, is a very busy year. Here are some other examples from our friends over at ProWritingAid:. Sometimes, your instructor might point out that you've used a comma splice in your essay. So what is it and how can you resolve it? Here are some quick articles to show you how to fix it. What is a comma splice? Use commas to set off nouns of direct address, the words yes and no, interrogative tags, and minor interjections.

Well, it's certainly good to see you here, Conrad. Yes, I remember you as an exceptionally fine soccer player. You're in medical school now, aren't you? Use commas to separate certain items in dates, addresses, titles, and numbers.

He was born on February 16, , in Morgantown, West Virginia. Yvette Shannon, D. Use a comma to indicate a pause when it is necessary to prevent confusion in the meaning of the sentence.

Reminder: In general, avoid using commas unless one of the above rules indicates that you should. The Comma. Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction joining independent clauses. There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English: and , but , or , nor , for , so , yet. When one of these words is used to join two or more independent clauses a group of words that could stand alone as a complete sentence , then a comma must always be placed before the coordinating conjunction.

The comma creates a pause to indicate that one complete thought is ending before the next one begins. Note that if the two independent clauses are very short and there is no chance the separate thoughts will be confusing, the comma can be optional. I work hard and I play hard. Use a comma to separate items in a series. All items in a series should be separated by commas. Generally, this includes placing a comma before the and preceding the last item Their new kitten was frisky, playful, coy, and mischievous.

A comma is not used if all items are joined by and Their new kitten was frisky and playful. The apartment and the car were more than I could afford.

When commas are used to separate items in a series of three or more, it is less confusing to include a comma before the final item, regardless of whether or not and is placed between the last two items. Although some writers and some publications follow other conventions, misunderstanding of the writer's intentions can occur without the comma.

The comma implies that all items in the series are separate. Without the comma the relationship between the last two items is not always clear. In the following example, it could be unclear who is included in each section: We will have separate sections for friends of the bride and groom, relatives of the bride and groom and the bridal party and their escorts The next two examples show that, depending on how the writer intended to separate the groups of people, the placement of a comma before the and of the last item clears up the confusion: We will have separate sections for friends of the bride and groom, relatives of the bride and groom, and the bridal party and their escorts.

Without the comma in the following sentence, yoga could be a topic of the scary stories: You may choose your favorite activity while at camp, including hiking and boating, morning calisthenics, crafts and woodworking, sharing scary stories of ghosts and yoga.

Placing a comma before and clarifies that yoga is a separate activity of its own: You may choose your favorite activity while at camp, including hiking and boating, morning calisthenics, crafts and woodworking, sharing scary stories of ghosts, and yoga.

The 1 relentless , 2 powerful 3 summer sun beat down on them. The 1 relentless , 2 powerful , 3 oppressive sun beat down on them. Both and are coordinate. Use a comma near the end of a sentence to separate contrasted coordinate elements or to indicate a distinct pause or shift. Use commas to set off phrases at the end of the sentence that refer to the beginning or middle of the sentence.

Such phrases are free modifiers that can be placed anywhere in the sentence without causing confusion. If the placement of the modifier causes confusion, then it is not "free" and must remain "bound" to the word it modifies.

Use commas to set off all geographical names, items in dates except the month and day , addresses except the street number and name , and titles in names. When you use just the month and the year, no comma is necessary after the month or year: "The average temperatures for July are the highest on record for that month. In , Marx wrote , "Workers of the world, unite! Commas in the wrong places can break a sentence into illogical segments or confuse readers with unnecessary and unexpected pauses.

Don't put a comma between the two verbs or verb phrases in a compound predicate. Don't put a comma between the two nouns, noun phrases, or noun clauses in a compound subject or compound object. Don't put a comma after the main clause when a dependent subordinate clause follows it except for cases of extreme contrast.

General Writing Punctuation Commas. The game was over , but the crowd refused to leave. Yesterday was her brother's birthday , so she took him out to dinner. If you are ill , you ought to see a doctor. This comma use is correct, because it is an example of extreme contrast. Having finished the test, he left the room. To get a seat, you'd better come early.

After the test but before lunch, I went jogging. The sun radiating intense heat, we sought shelter in the cafe. If a piece of direct speech takes the form of a question or an exclamation, you should end it with a question mark or an exclamation mark, rather than a comma:. Direct speech is often broken up by the information about who is speaking. In these cases, you need a comma to end the first piece of speech inside the quotation mark and another comma before the second piece before the quotation mark :.

Commas are used to separate clauses in a complex sentence i. There are different types of subordinate clause , though, and in some types the use of commas can be very important. Take a look at this example:. A non-restrictive relative clause contains information that is not essential to the overall meaning of a sentence.

Take a look at the following example:. Using commas in this way can really help to clarify the meaning of a sentence. It shows that Cynthia has more than one daughter, and so the name of the one who is a midwife needs to be specified for the meaning to be clear.

You should use a comma after 'however' when however means 'by contrast' or 'on the other hand':. However, a good deal of discretion is left in the hands of area managers.