Cleo will wear a sparkly red blazer, and high heels. Cleo will wear a sparkly red blazer and high heels. When a subject or object is made up of two items and the second item is parenthetical, you can set off the second item with commas—one before it and one after it.
You get a compound predicate when the subject of a sentence is doing more than one thing. Cleo will sing, and play the banjo. Cleo will sing and play the banjo. Cleo spotted the man who entered the diner, and waved. When you want to join two independent clauses, you need a conjunction or a semicolon. This kind of mistake is called a comma splice. We were out of milk, I went to the store.
We were out of milk, so I went to the store. We were out of milk; I went to the store. We were out of milk. I went to the store. Grammarly can save you from misspellings, grammatical and punctuation mistakes, and other writing issues on all your favorite websites. Try Grammarly for free. Grabbing her umbrella, Kate raced out of the house. As a rule of thumb, if the phrase is longer than about four words, use the comma.
You can also use a comma with a shorter phrase when you want to emphasize it or add a pause for literary effect. After the show, Cleo will be signing autographs.
Behind the building there is enough space to park two limousines. Without knowing why, I crossed the room and looked out the window. In life was very different. Suddenly, an angry black cat sprang from the shadows.
Before eating the family said grace. Before eating, the family said grace. This box is lighter, than that box. This box is lighter than that box. Hardcover books are more expensive, than paperback books.
Hardcover books are more expensive than paperback books. Interrupters are little thoughts that pop up in the middle of a sentence to show emotion, tone, or emphasis.
A parenthetical element is a phrase that adds extra information to the sentence but could be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence. Both interrupters and parenthetical elements should be set off with commas. The weather I was happy to see was beginning to clear. The weather, I was happy to see, was beginning to clear. It was sadly the last day of camp. It was, sadly, the last day of camp. Mary unlike Anne is very organized.
Mary, unlike Anne, is very organized. A question tag is a short phrase or even a single word that is added to the end of a statement to turn it into a question. Writers often use question tags to encourage readers to agree with them. A question tag should be preceded by a comma. I know, right? Hello, Chester. An appositive is a word or phrase that refers to the same thing as another noun in the same sentence.
Often, the appositive provides additional information about the noun or helps to distinguish it in some way. If you could remove the appositive without changing the meaning of the sentence, it is said to be nonessential and should be set off with commas.
Nonessential appositives: My sister, Angela, is a wonderful cook. Chocolate, my favorite treat, always makes me feel better after a bad day. July 4, , was an important day in American history. I was born on Sunday, May 12, Applications are due by 31 December Please join us on Saturday, June 14, , for the marriage of Annie and Michael. The region experienced record rainfall in March The prosecutor argued that the defendant, who was at the scene of the crime , who had a strong revenge motive , and who had access to the murder weapon , was guilty of homicide.
Use commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun. Be sure never to add an extra comma between the final adjective and the noun itself or to use commas with non-coordinate adjectives. Coordinate adjectives are adjectives with equal "co"-ordinate status in describing the noun; neither adjective is subordinate to the other.
You can decide if two adjectives in a row are coordinate by asking the following questions:. If you answer yes to these questions, then the adjectives are coordinate and should be separated by a comma. Here are some examples of coordinate and non-coordinate adjectives:. 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. Well, perhaps he meant no harm.
The sentence please! Comma Chameleon game. Using Commas quiz game. Going to work with commas game. Fill in the blank Comma in the news activity game. Common Confusion Clarified. Punctuation Games.
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