Harvey Stanbrough, Punctuation for Writers (pp33-34)

Five basic rules, and two of the five mirror each other. I used to assume that most writers know how to use commas, but my experience as an editor proved me wrong. If you will follow these brief rules, breaking them only intentionally and only for a very good reason, you will be correct in your usage most of the time:

The Five Rules of Comma Use:

1. Never place a comma between a subject and its verb or between a verb and its object. (Realize that a subject may have more than one verb and that a verb may have more than one object.)

2. When a subordinate clause introduces an independent clause, separate the two with a comma. (This sentence is an example.)

3. Do not use a comma to separate the clauses when a subordinate clause follows an independent clause. (In this sentence, "Do not use a comma" is an independent clause and the remainder is a dependent clause.)

4. Use a comma before the appropriate coordinating conjunction to join two related sentences. (The coordinating conjunctions for, and, nor, hut, or, yet, and so. Remember the acronym FANBOYS.)

5. Trite as it sounds, when you are in doubt about whether to use a comma, leave it out. Believe it or not, most comma problems arise from misuse of commas, not their omission.

---

Patricia Silber, The Longman's Writer's Grammar(p220)

Commas to separate items in a series:

"The semicolon is used to separate the items in a list that has internal punctuation. For simpler lists, the comma is used. Usually, the last item will be followed by a comma before and. For example, Apples, oranges, and lemons formed the centerpiece."

More examples:

1. stuffed peppers, asparagus, tomato and onion salad, and sliced kiwis.
   

2. chicken noodle soup, pizza, cole slaw, and frozen yogurt
   

3. meatloaf, mashed potatoes, string beans, and strawberry Jell-O

4. cheeseburger, fries, vanilla shake, and apple pie

---

Karen E. Gordon, The New Well-Tempered Sentence (pp46-47)

The Serial Comma Three or more elements in a series are separated by commas. When the last two elements (words, phrases, or clauses) in a series are joined by a conjunction, a comma comes before the conjunction —unless you're a journalist.

1. Across her pellucid and guileless complexion danced a motley choir of alibis, innuendos, disguises, and sobriquets.

2. He looked at her face, her thighs, her hands for some sign of approbation, but everything about her -was glancing away in the direction of something he could not name or escape.

3. We gave ourselves over to an interregnum of discord, mockery, and delight.

4. The rest of the story can be figured out by gossip, slander, and false report.

5. A great gnashing of teeth and popping of knuckles followed, many hard feelings got thwacked about, and many wings were bruised.

6. The oleaginous hors d'oeuvres were followed by beakers of vodka, remorse, and cold soup.

7. He is walking up walls, crawling sideways, and turning somersaults as he approaches the queen.

8. She attended the wedding feast in her Buster Brown collar, her water moccasins, her spring-loaded pelvic girdle, and her coiffeur's interpretation of Medusa at the Mardi Gras.

9. The turgid prose of the wedding ceremony gave way at the gala reception to biting remarks, caustic canapes, and drunken apologies, "which the newly-weds fled in a rented BMW for a little spa frequented by clerics and crooks.

When elements in a series are very simple and are all joined by conjunctions, no commas are used.

1. The truth of her checking account was mysterious and awkward and sad.

2. Blood and sweat and tears are all equally delectable to that renegade vampire.

3. He thought the remark she'd made was brilliant or irrelevant or mad.

4. She led a complicated and secret quotidian existence of matinees and intrigues and regrets.

5. Terror and beauty and flying fur were only the beginning of our revels that night.

6. Light of foot and dark of mind, she set off into the shrubbery with her needlepoint and a bunch of grapes and a basket of vipers and thread.

7. Once Alyosha and Jean-Pierre had slapped their mug shots onto their visas, they broke some plates and ate some blini and drank a toast to Chichikov.

8. And now we have a serial comma in the company of a serial killer:

9. The Grim Reaper was cutting capers in the vestibule, attractively wagging his finger, and suggestively

---

Michael Strumpf, The Grammar Bible, (p442)

The Comma

The comma is a mark of separation. It may divide items in a series, distinguish subordinate from main clauses, and insert stylistic pauses, among other things. The comma is a useful tool, but it is all too often misused. Please pay close attention to the dos and don'ts that follow. They will start you on your way to becoming the master of the comma

. With Adverbial Clauses
Do place a comma after an adverbial clause that begins a sentence.

• Until we have your final report, we cannot make a decision.

• Because we are such great friends, I am asking you for this favor.

When the adverbial clause ends the sentence, the comma is optional. Use a comma if you feel that it clarifies the meaning of the sentence or makes the sentence easier to read.

• We cannot make a decision until we have your final report.

or

• We cannot make a decision, until we have your final report.

• I am asking you for this favor because we are such great friends.

or

• I am asking you for this favor, because we are such great friends.

With Verbals
Do place a comma after a participle phrase, a simple infinitive, or an infinitive phrase (see chapter 5) that introduces a sentence.

• Seeing her again, I felt my heart go pitter-patter.

• To fly, one needs a strong pair of wings.

• To win this competition, we must trust each.other completely.

Please do not place a comma after an infinitive that functions as the subject of the sentence.

• To drive a Porsche would be an exhilarating experience. To sail the high seas was a childhood fantasy of mine.

With Prepositional Phrases
Do place a comma after a prepositional phrase that begins a sentence if you feel that the comma clarifies the meaning or makes the sentence easier to read. This comma is optional.

• After the concert, we stopped for a cup of coffee, or After the concert we stopped for a cup of coffee.

• In Sweden, we toured the royal palace. or In Sweden we toured the royal palace.

With Conjunctive Adverbs
Do use commas to set off a conjunctive adverb from the sentence of which it is a part. If a conjunctive adverb begins the sentence, place a single comma after it. If a conjunctive adverb appears amidst the other words in the sentence, place a comma before and after it.

• Consequently, the freighter sank just three miles from its home port.

• Sherman said, however, that he could not let these mistakes go unreported.

With Negative and Affirmative Adverbs
Do place a comma after a negative or affirmative adverb (no or yes) that begins a sentence.

• Yes, that is Merv Griffin.

• No, I will not buy you a velvet Elvis.

With Nouns in Direct Address
Do use commas to set off nouns in direct address.

• Mr. Grennan, assume the push-up position.

• I told you, Ms. Stevens, that we no longer sell garlic shakes.

With Interjections
Do place a comma after an interjection at the beginning of a sentence.

• Oh, I didn't expect to see you here.

• Well, that was certainly an unusual movie.

With Appositives
Do place commas before and after appositives in the midst of the words in a sentence.

• Jennifer, the consummate hostess, put together another staggering dinner party.

• I sent my complaint to Herb Lornthorpe, the head of employee relations, but haven't received a response.

If an appositive ends the sentence, a comma need only precede it.

• I met my best friend, Susan. That's Herbie, my dog.

With Three or More Items in a Series
Do use commas to separate the items in a series of three or more words, phrases, or clauses.

• I need you to buy olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, and paprika for me.

• We looked around the yard, by the pond, in the cave, and along the tracks.

• I sheared the wool, Beth spun the yarn, and Agnes knit the sweater.

• A dank, oily, and gray cloud of smoke bellowed out from the machine's innards.

With Adjectives
Do place a comma between two adjectives that describe the same noun and that precede the noun they describe when no coordinate conjunction is present.

• A damp, gray day greeted us this morning.

• Our chicken dinner benefited from those large, aromatic cloves of garlic.

Do not place a comma between two adjectives that modify the same noun when the first adjective modifies the entire idea created by the second adjective and the noun modified.

• The brave young man rode into battle without fear.

In this example, the adjective brave describes the noun phrase young man. He is a young man who is brave. The braveness affects the youngness.

Adding a comma would imply that we could have written the sentence with the conjunction and between the two adjectives without changing the meaning. However, we would never write the sentence in this way:

• The brave and young man rode into battle without fear.

We are writing of a young man who is brave, not a man who is brave and young.

With Coordinate Conjunctions
Do place a comma before a coordinate conjunction that separates two main clauses of a compound sentence.

• I saw the game, but I don't remember the final score.

• She drove us to the market, and I bought another pack of cream soda.

Do not place a comma before a coordinate conjunction that connects two subordinate clauses.

• Because time is short, and because the matter is so urgent, we must act now. (incorrect)

The first comma in this sentence, the one that appears before the conjunction and, is unnecessary. The sentence should read as follows:

• Because time is short and because the matter is so urgent, we must act now. (correct)
  

That first comma is gone, and all is well.

To Indicate Omissions
Do use a comma to indicate the omission of a word.

• Frank is a strong man, and Hank, a clever man.

In this example, the second comma marks the omission of the main verb is. We could have written the sentence as follows:

• Frank is a strong man, and Hank is a clever man.

To Set off Phrases of Contrast
Do use a comma to set off a phrase of contrast at the end of a sentence.

• Jeff told her to chop the onion, not dice it.

• Bev ordered the shrimp salad, not the chicken salad.

• The concert was loud, yet dull.

To Set off Interrogative Clauses
Do use a comma to separate a declarative clause from an interrogative clause that follows it.

• She has beautiful eyes, doesn't she? This is the place, isn't it?

With Quoted Material
Do use commas to set off quoted material from the main body of the sentence in sentences that contain quotes. If the main body precedes the quote, one comma appears between the end of the main body and the start of the quote.

• Terry said, "Bring me the flashlight."

• The speaker wondered, "Do any of you understand what I am talking about?"

In these cases the commas appear outside of the quotation marks. If the main body follows the quote, one comma appears between the end of the quote and the beginning of the main body.

• "I am overjoyed," my mother cried.

• "I think that music is going to drive me crazy," John said.

In these cases the commas appear inside the quotation marks.
If the main body comes between the pieces of a broken quote, two commas separate the quote from the body, one before and one after the body.

• "What," she asked, "is the point of this display?"

The comma between the first piece of quote and the main body appears inside the quotation marks. The comma between the second piece of quote and the main body appears outside the quotation marks.

---

Noah Lukeman, A Dash of Style -- The Art and Mastery of Punctuation, (pp44-68)THE COMMA IS the speed bump of the punctuation world. With its power to pause, the comma controls the ebb and flow of a sentence, its rhythm, its speed. Based on frequency alone, the comma wields tremendous influence, outnumbering the period by at least three to one, and outnumbering other punctuation marks by at least five to one. And yet, paradoxically, it is also the mark most open to interpretation. The comma has few hard rules, and as a result is the mark most often misused.

The comma can be used to divide. "The word comma is derived from Greek komma (clause), which came from koptein (to cut off). Indeed, a comma normally does 'cut off one part of a sentence from another," says Harry Shaw says in Punctuate It Right1. In this sense, the comma can control meaning itself, since the same sentence cut in different ways takes on entirely new meaning.

Yet the comma can also connect. Two sentences can become one by virtue of a comma, and a sentence can be made longer in its own right by tacking on a comma. In this capacity, the comma is a people person, a middleman. It likes to be connected, and to make connections. Both divider and connector, the comma is schizophrenic. The comma is supremely important if for no other reason than its relationship to the period. Without the comma, the period is often left in the cold, waiting at the end of a long sentence without a rest stop. To grasp the comma's influence, imagine a long sentence without any commas:

A sentence like this without any commas makes it nearly impossible for the reader to know when to pause if not when to stop and also makes him feel as if the period cannot come soon enough indeed should have come several moments ago.

You have to reread it several times just to figure out its natural rhythm and grasp its meaning. Why would you, as a writer, want to make the reader work twice as hard? With the proper use of the comma, you won't have to.

HOW TO USE IT

The comma is probably the hardest of all punctuation marks to master. Not only is it the most flexible, not only are its uses the most varied, but it also carries few rules and has been used (and not used) by great authors in many different ways. That said, you can learn to master the comma. Its creative uses are many, and they must each be examined carefully:

• To connect. The comma can connect several half ideas (or clauses) into one grand idea (the sentence). It is the glue that holds a sentence together. If a short sentence is lacking in fullness of meaning, a comma can step in to connect it to the sentences that follow:

  • I sat on a bench. I opened my book. I removed the bookmark.

  • I sat on a bench, opened my book, and removed the bookmark.

  The commas here have connected three infantile sentences into one more elegant sentence.

• To provide clarity. If a sentence conveys several ideas, a comma can help distinguish them. Witho ut a comma, you risk readers reading from one clause to the other without grasping where one idea ends and another begins. Subsequently, each idea won't have the impact it could otherwise, won't have the proper time and space to be digested. Consider:

  • She told me I looked like an old boyfriend of hers then turned and walked away.

  Here we feel no pause between the first clause and the second, no time to digest. One comma, though, can make all the difference:

  • She told me I looked like an old boyfriend of hers, then turned and walked away.

  Now we feel the proper pause, can fully process each of these clauses. In this capacity, commas act like buoys in the sea, letting us know when we're leaving one zone and entering another.

• To pause. This is what the comma was built for, where it really shines. A comma allows the reader to catch his breath {as he would if reading aloud), and prevents a long sentence from reading like stream of consciousness. For example, read the following sentence aloud:

  • He raised his rifle cocked it adjusted his neck and had the deer in his sights but when he went to pull the trigger his hand started shaking again just like it had every day for the last two weeks or maybe three he couldn't be sure.

  With no chance to pause, the reader hopelessly builds momentum until he crashes into the period. It is the equivalent of taking one huge breath and seeing how much you can say before you burst. Sentences were not meant to be read that way, and should not be written that way. A few commas, though, can transform the reading experience:

  • He raised his rifle, cocked it, adjusted his neck, and had the deer in his sights, but when he went to pull the trigger his hand started shaking again, just like it had every day for the last two weeks, or maybe three, he couldn't be sure.

• A passing of time, particularly in creative writing. This is something I rarely see employed well. Consider:

  • John thought about that and said . . .

    Although technically correct, we don't feel a pause here between John's thinking and his speaking. But if we add a comma:

  • John thought about that, and said . .

    Now we feel the moment. It is subtle, but a well-placed comma adds just enough time in a scene to make a difference, one that works unconsciously on the reader.

    Consider this example from Jean Toomer's short story "Blood-Burning Moon":

    Up from the skeleton walls, up from the rotting floor boards and the solid hand-hewn beams of oak of the pre-war cotton factory, dusk came.

    The commas here, particularly since they encapsulate such long clauses, make us really pause, make us feel the approach of dusk.

    Lynne Truss addresses this point with an apt story in Eats, Shoots & Leaves: "Thurber was once asked by a correspondent: 'Why did you have a comma in the sentence, "After dinner, the men went into the living room"?' And his answer was probably one of the loveliest things ever said about punctuation. 'This particular comma,' Thurber explained, 'was Ross's way of giving the men time to push back their chairs and stand up.'"

• Alter the meaning of a sentence. Consider:

  • The windows with the glass treatment are holding up well.

  • The windows, with the glass treatment, are holding up well.

    In the latter sentence it's understood that the windows are holding up well because of the glass treatment; in the former, it can be understood that the windows, which were created with a glass treatment, are holding up well in general. The entire meaning of the sentence changes, simply due to the comma placement.

• To offset a clause or idea, to allow it to stand out when it might otherwise be lost. Consider:

  • Taking medicine and eating well coupled with exercise can help assure a healthy life.

  • Taking medicine and eating well, coupled with exercise, can help assure a healthy life.

    In the latter example, the commas force us to pause before and after "coupled with exercise/' offsetting it and emphasizing a point that might have been glossed over otherwise.

• To maximize word economy. Placing a comma in the right spot can enable you to delete several words. For example:

  • I liked chocolate and she liked vanilla.

  • I liked chocolate, she vanilla.

All in all, the comma has so many different creative uses and can enhance a work creatively in so many ways, that it can be detrimental not to use it. Like its cousin the period, it is one of the few marks of punctuation that must be used throughout.

Always interested on your comments.

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