Comma Rules and RegulationsEnglish 20

March 3, 2009

Commas in a series-- 3 or more

Commas go after the items except the last one.

Example:We can sleep in the car, stay in the motel,

or camp outside.

Commas in a compound Sentence

A comma comes after the coordinating conjunction.

And, but ,for nor,or, so , yet.

Remember that there needs to be a complete sentence on both sides of the comma and conjunction.

Commas in compound Sentences.

She tried to tell him what she was learning, but he didn’t seem interested in what she was saying.

She had chosen her college carefully, for it had an excellent program for physical therapy.

Commas after introductory material.

Use a comma after introductory material. The comma signals that the main part of the sentence ( with the subject and verb) is coming.

Commas after introductory material

Examples: According to a recent study, children

can unlearn violent behavior in less than six months.

For Americans between the ages of fifteen and twenty four, violence is one of the leading causes of death.

Commas for appositives & interrupters

An appositive: a word or phrase that comes after a noun/pronoun and renames it.

Lily, my youngest daughter, is turning 7.

Florida, where my parents live, is having a heat wave.

Interrupters This is an aside or interrupter that

doesn’t add anything to the sentence.

By the way, we’re out of coffee.

Incidentally, you have toothpaste on your jacket.

Commas with Quotation Marks

Commas are used to set off words inside the quotations from the rest of the sentence.

Example: I asked my daughter, “ Can’t you wear

your own shoes?”

Commas and quotations She replied, “They don’t fit me

anymore, and dad doesn’t have any heels.”

Commas in addresses If a sentence continues after the the

address, use a comma after the address.

I moved back to Allentown, Pennsylvania, after living in Buffalo, New York for eight years.

Commas in Addresses Use a comma to separate the street,

town, from the state. Do not use a comma after a zip code. I used to live at 2676 Willow Street,

Chincoteague, Virginia 23336.

Commas in dates Separate the day from the year with a

comma. My son was born on September 30,

2009. My daughter was born in April 2008.

Commas with namesPut commas around the name of a

person you are calling by name.

“Billy, can you give me the Real Estate section of the paper?”

“Can you pass the ice cream, Lily?”

Commas with yes or no.

Use a comma around the word yes or no in a sentence.

No, I can’t play another hand, I have to go to class early in the morning.

Yes, I would love another cup of coffee.