How to Use Commas in English Punctuation Guide Learn English Grammar
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Hi, everybody. My name is Alisha.
Welcome back. And, today, I’m going to talk to you about
how to use the comma.
So, some of you have asked some punctuation-related
questions.
Today, I’m going to give a quick introduction
to a few times when we can use the comma,
that little mark you sometimes see in the
middle of sentences.
So, today, I’m going to introduce three different
times when you can use a comma.
Please, keep in mind that depending on the
style book or the rules at your company or
at a newspaper or at a publishing company,
the rules may be a little bit different.
But, in general, these are a couple of guidelines
that you can think about when you’re writing
and I hope that they can help you to decide
when you should and should not use a comma.
So, let’s look at three examples.
Let’s begin with the first situation which
is with coordinating conjunctions.
So, English has seven of coordinating conjunctions,
maybe you know them.
They are, “and,” “but,” “or,”
“for,” “nor,” “yet,” and “so.”
Usually, we use, “and,” “but,” and
“or,” most commonly, I suppose “so,”
as well.
But, these are called coordinating conjunctions.
We use these coordinating conjunctions to
connect pieces of information together.
So, when we’re using a coordinating conjunction
to connect sentences, we use a comma before
the conjunction if we are using a compound
sentence.
So, this is the key point.
A compound sentence is a single sentence made
of what could be two separate sentences.
So, it’s two complete sentences, two finished
ideas but we connect these two ideas with
a coordinating conjunction.
This is called a compound sentence.
In these cases, when it is a compound sentence,
you can use a comma before the coordinating
conjunction.
So, let’s look at a couple examples of this.
First, “He wanted to come to the concert
with me, but he had to study for an exam.”
So, here, I have two complete sentences.
“He wanted to come to the concert with me,”
is a complete sentence and I have a comma
here.
My coordinating conjunction is “but,”
in this case.
And again, at the end of the sentence, I have
another complete idea, “he had to study
for an exam.”
Here, I’ve used my comma before the coordinating
conjunction because this is a compound sentence.
Let’s look at another example.
“My mother invited her friends to dinner,
and she organized special cocktails for the
evening.”
So, here, again, there are two separate complete
ideas here.
“My mother invited her friends to dinner,”
comma, before the coordinating conjunction,
“and,” “she organized special cocktails
for the evening.”
There are two separate ideas here.
We use a comma before the conjunction that
connects these two ideas together.
Okay, so, this is the first type of comma
I want to talk about.
The next type of comma, in particular, this
is one that maybe the rules will vary.
There might be different rules depending on
the book or depending on the publication,
depending on where you work.
But, this is another case where you may see
commas often.
So, after we use an introductory expression.
So, this means a word or a phrase before the
subject and the verb of a sentence.
So, we’ll see a couple examples here.
After your introductory expression, so, a
comma that comes near the beginning of the
sentence.
For example, “In 2017, I started my own
company.”
So, here, “In 2017,” we have a comma after
2017 before the subject and the verb of the
sentence.
So, this is like an introduction, there’s
introductory information here.
One more example, “Last week, we met our
new clients.”
So, here, “Last week,” is some extra information,
it’s introducing something.
And then, we have our subject and our verb
back here.
So, again, in some cases you may not need
to use a comma, it depends on the rule it
depends on the style book that perhaps you’re
using.
But, this is another situation where you may
see commas and you can use a comma in this
case too.
Okay, one more example.
This is a very common one and a very common
question, I think as well.
When you’re using adjective clauses.
So, for example, like relative clauses, I
think a lot of you know about.
These often begin with like “who,” “which,”
or “that,” which we’ll see in a second.
When we use “these” to introduce information
that is non-essential, so it’s not information
that is essential to know, to understand the
noun, we can offset that extra information
with commas.
So, in this case, we’ll use two commas here,
actually.
Let’s take a look at an example.
Here, “The movie ‘Inception,’ which
was hugely popular in 2010, is a sci-fi and
action movie.”
Okay, so, here, I’m talking about the movie,
“Inception,” that’s my noun here.
“The movie ‘Inception,’” here is this
extra information.
I’ve got a relative pronoun here, “which,”
and then, “was hugely popular in 2010,”
this is extra information about the movie,
“Inception.”
Then, I finish with, “is a sci-fi and action
movie.”
So, this extra information, “which was hugely
popular in 2010,” is set apart from the
sentence with commas.
If I remove this relative clause, the sentence
is correct.
“The movie ‘Inception’ is a sci-fi and
action movie.”
So, we can use relative clauses with extra
information and set them off with commas.
Doing this sounds much, much nicer or reads
much, much nicer.
This also kind of gives a hint to your reader
that it’s some extra information.
So, please set off your relative clauses,
your non-essential relative clauses with commas.
A great hint is when your clause begins with
“which” or “that,” a relative pronoun
here.
Let’s look at one more example.
“Her parents, who were greatly respected
in the community, both passed away last year.”
So, in this case, my relative clause is “who.”
I’m sorry.
My relative pronoun is “who,” and again,
this is extra information, “who were greatly
respected in the community.”
So, I’ve given some extra information about
her parents and I’ve set that off with commas.
If I remove this adjective clause, “Her
parents both passed away last year.”
The sentence is still correct but I’m giving
this extra information, I’m showing its extra
information and these little commas helped
in the sentence.
It sounds just nicer, it reads much nicer.
So, when you’re using an adjective clause
like these, a non-essential adjective clause,
you can set that off with commas.
So, those are three situations, three very
common situations where you may see commas
and when you can use commas.
So, please try to keep that in mind especially
about the first point we talked about.
Sometimes, people will try to use a comma
in one complete sentence.
They think it’s a compound sentence, but it’s
not actually compound.
So, if you’re confused, just slow down, take
a look at your sentence and ask yourself,
“Are there two separate complete ideas in
this sentence?”
If so and you’re using a coordinating conjunction,
you can use a comma there.
If there’s only one idea, one complete idea
in your sentence, then you don’t need to use
a comma.
So, please keep that in mind.
This one can be especially challenging even
for native speakers, actually.
So, this is just a quick introduction to a
few ways to use commas.
If you have any questions, please make sure
to let us know.
Of course, if you want to try to make a sentence
in the comments, please feel free to do that,
as well.
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Bye.