7 ways to use commas Let’s start with what commas don’t do – they do not show you where to take a breath! A comma is just one type of punctuation which play their part in the grammatical construction of a sentence. Below is a list of what commas do with examples, and we will then look at some in more detail. Rule Example A To separate the clauses in a sentence Society depends on its traditions, and the authority of the written text is one of those. B To separate the introductory element of a After the death of his wife, Hardy went sentence from the main part (or subject) of it in to a deep depression. C To separate an additional and final part of a The sea is calm tonight, yet it raged sentence from the opening and main part (or fiercely all day. subject) of it D To separate out essential/useful information Charles Handy, in his book The Empty from the main part (subject) of the sentence Raincoat, has argued that federalism is a way of making sense of large organizations. E To separate out nonessential words from the There is, however, one mistake that remainder of the sentence. The word many students make. ‘however’ is used as a signal to suggest a change of direction or to stress an exception to the rule F To separate commands or interjections from Stop, or I’ll shoot the remainder of the sentence G To separate out a) adjectives, or b) list of a) It was a fine, dry and sunny day in items in a sentence my home town. b) Raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and gooseberries are all traditional English fruits Clauses and commas (A above) Quick note about clauses: A clause is a group of words that may or may not have a complete meaning on their own. Clauses are building blocks of sentences with each one adding to the overall detail of a sentence. A sentence may contain more than one clause, but must have one main clause.
7 ways to use commas Let’s start with what commas don’t do – they do not show you where to take a breath! A comma is just one type of punctuation which play their part in the grammatical construction of a sentence. Below is a list of what commas do with examples, and we will then look at some in more detail. Rule Example A To separate the clauses in a sentence Society depends on its traditions, and the authority of the written text is one of those. B To separate the introductory element of a sentence from the main part (or subject) of it After the death of his wife, Hardy went in to a deep depression. C To separate an additional and final part of a sentence from the opening and main part (or subject) of it The sea is calm tonight, yet it raged fiercely all day. D To separate out essential/useful information from the main part (subject) of the sentence Charles Handy, in his book The Empty Raincoat, has argued that federalism is a way of making sense of large organizations. E To separate out nonessential words from the remainder of the sentence. The word ‘however’ is used as a signal to suggest a change of direction or to stress an exception to the rule There is, however, one mistake that many students make. F To separate commands or interjections from the remainder of the sentence Stop, or I’ll shoot G To separate out a) adjectives, or b) list of items in a sentence a) It was a fine, dry and sunny day in my home town. b) Raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and gooseberries are all traditional English fruits Clauses and commas (A above) Quick note about clauses: A clause is a group of words that may or may not have a complete meaning on their own. Clauses are building blocks of sentences with each one adding to the overall detail of a sentence. A sentence may contain more than one clause, but must have one main clause.
Punctuation---Commas-and-Apostrophes-Booklet---Student.docx