Commas: What This Handout Is About..

Commas
What this handout is about...

This handout offers seven easy steps to becoming a comma superhero.
Commas, Commas, and More Commas

Commas help your reader figure out which words go together in a sentence and which
parts of your sentences are most important. Using commas incorrectly may confuse
the reader, signal ignorance of writing rules, or indicate carelessness. Although using
commas may have seemed mysterious before, using them correctly is easy if you
follow a few guidelines.
Beware of popular myths of comma usage:
A really long sentence may be perfectly correct without commas. The length
of a sentence does not determine whether or not you need a comma.
Where you pause or breathe in a sentence does not reliably indicate where a
comma belongs. Different readers pause or breathe in different places.
You can use the following procedures to help test your writing for common comma
errors. Read through an essay you have written and look at each comma. If none of
the five situations described in this handout apply, you probably dont need one at all.
You probably already know at least one of the following guidelines and just have to
practice the others. These guidelines are basically all you need to know; if you learn
them once, youre set for all but the most unusual situations.
1. Introductory Bits (Small-Medium-Large)

Setting off introductory words, phrases, or clauses with a comma lets the reader know
that the main subject and main verb of the sentence come later. There are basically
three kinds of introductory bits: small, medium, and large ones.
There are small (just one word) introductory bits:
Generally, extraterrestrials are friendly and helpful.
Moreover, some will knit booties for you if you ask nicely.
There are medium introductory bits (often these are two- to three-word prepositional
phrases):
In fact, Godzilla is just a misunderstood teen lizard of giant proportions.

On the other hand, Bert and Ernie are known to have worked closely with Flipper.
There are large introductory bits(more than 3 words). You can often spot these by
looking for key words/groups such as although, if, as, in order to, and when:
If you discover that you feel nauseated, then you know youve tried my Clam Surprise.
As far as I am concerned, it is the best dish for dispatching unwanted guests.
2. FANBOYS
FANBOYS is a handy mnemonic device for remembering the coordinating
conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So. You should always have a comma
before FANBOYS that join two complete thoughts (with two subjects and two verbs).
If you do not have two subjects and two verbs separated by the FANBOYS, you do
not need to insert the comma before the FANBOYS. In other words, if the second
grouping of words isnt a complete thought, dont use a comma:
3. The Dreaded Comma Splice

If you dont have FANBOYS between the two complete and separate thoughts, using
a comma alone causes a "comma splice" or "fused sentence" (some instructors may
call it a run-on). Some readers (especially professors) will think of this as a serious
error.
BAD: My hamster loved to play, I gave him a hula-hoop.
ALSO BAD: You wore a lovely hat, it was your only defense.
To fix these comma splices, you can do one of three things: just add FANBOYS,
change the comma to a semicolon, or make each clause a separate sentence.
GOOD: You wore a lovely hat, for it was your only defense.
ALSO GOOD: You wore a lovely hat; it was your only defense.
STILL GOOD: You wore a lovely hat. It was your only defense.
4. FANBOY Fakers
However, therefore, moreover, and other words like them are not FANBOYS (they
are called conjunctive adverbs). They are really small introductory phrases that begin
the second complete thought in a long sentence. When you want to use one of these
words in the middle of a sentence, check to see if you have a complete thought on
both sides of the "conjunctive adverb". If you do, then you need a semi-colon after the
first complete thought and a comma after the small introductory phrase in the second
complete thought.
Another option is to break the two parts of the long sentence into two separate
sentences.
5. X,Y, and Z
Put commas between items in a list. When giving a short and simple list of things in a
sentence, the last comma (right before the conjunctionusually and or or) is optional,
but it is never wrong. If the items in the list are longer and more complicated, you
should always place a final comma before the conjunction.
EITHER: You can buy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in Los Angeles.
OR: You can buy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in Los Angeles.
BUT ALWAYS: A good student listens to his teachers without yawning, reads once in
a while, and writes papers before they are due.
6. Describers
If you have two or more adjectives (words that describe) that are not joined by a
conjunction (usually and) and both/all adjectives modify the same word, put a comma
between them.
He was a bashful, dopey, sleepy dwarf.
The frothy, radiant princess kissed the putrid, vile frog.
7. Interrupters
Two commas can be used to set off additional information that appears within the
sentence but is separate from the primary subject and verb of the sentence. These
commas help your reader figure out your main point by telling him or her that the
words within the commas are not necessary to understand the rest of the sentence. In
other words, you should be able to take out the section framed by commas and still
have a complete and clear sentence.
Bob Mills, a sophomore from Raleigh, was the only North Carolina native at the
Japanese food festival in Cary.
Aaron thought he could see the future, not the past, in the wrinkles on his skin.
Congratulations! You know how to use commas!

But wait--is there more?
These guidelines cover the most common situations in writing, but you may have a
stickier question. Below are some suggestions for finding some of the many other
resources at your disposal.
If you are worried about punctuation in general, pick up a writing handbook from the
library or the University bookstore. Heres a list of handy resources:
Rosen, Leonard J. et al. The Allyn & Bacon Handbook. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2000.
Gordon, Karen Elizabeth. The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of
Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed. New York: Pantheon Books,
1993.
Gordon, Karen Elizabeth. The New Well-Tempered Sentence. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Company, 1993.
Kolln, Martha. Understanding English Grammar. New York: MacMillan Publishing
Company, 2005.
Kolln, Martha. Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects. New
York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 2006.
OConner, Patricia T. Woe Is I. New York: Riverhead Books, 2003.
Shertzer, Margaret. The Elements of Grammar. New York: MacMillan Publishing
Company, 1986.

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Commas

What this handout is about...

Commas, Commas, and More Commas

1. Introductory Bits (Small-Medium-Large)

In fact, Godzilla is just a misunderstood teen lizard of giant proportions.

3. The Dreaded Comma Splice

Congratulations! You know how to use commas!

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