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Advanced Comma Usage
Power Point and examples created by Ms.
Williams’s sophomores, 2015-2016, with
additional input from her 2016-2017 AP classes
Commas and Coordinating
Conjunctions
• Use a comma before a coordinating
conjunction when joining independent clauses
– Sid likes to go to school, but he likes the weekend.
• Do NOT use a comma when joining an
independent clause and a dependent clause
with a coordinating conjunction
– Commas are sort of fun but not on Wednesdays.
Introductory Phrases and Clauses
• Comma after an introductory phrase
– Before I came to school, I ate breakfast.
– When I walked into Villa Walsh, I saw my friends.
• Dependent, independent
• Exception: Omit comma after short adverb
clause or phrase if no danger of misreading
Does this contain an adverb clause?
• Where the wild things are is where I want to
be.
– NO! The first part is the subject of the sentence.
It does NOT need a comma because you should
never separate the subject from the verb.
Items in a Series
• Separate items in a series with commas
– Series = three or more items
– Use the oxford comma (comma before the “and”)
• Examples:
– I like to eat pizza, cupcakes, and hummus.
– Monica cried over math, Spanish, English, and
theology.
Items in a Series (Continued)
• Place semicolons between complex items in a
series, especially if the items have commas within
them.
– The students were from a variety of towns, including
Hillsborough, NJ; Frenchtown, NJ; Franklin, NJ;
Allentown, PA; and Sacramento, CA.
• Note: lists are sometimes introduced with colons.
Do this when using an independent clause to
introduce your list.
– The students were from a variety of towns:
Hillsborough, NJ; Frenchtown, NJ; Franklin, NJ;
Allentown, PA; and Sacramento, CA.
Adjectives: Coordinate vs. Cumulative
• Coordinate adjectives: adjectives that modify a
noun separately
– If the adjectives can be joined with an “and” and if
their order can be switched, then they are
coordinate.
– Use a comma between coordinate adjectives not
joined with “and”
• He is a happy, helpful person.
Adjectives: Coordinate vs. Cumulative
• Cumulative adjectives: adjectives that do not
modify the noun separately; they have a
cumulative effect
– If they are cumulative, they do not need a comma
• She was wearing a bright purple dress.
Coordinate or Cumulative?
• Big black car
– Coordinate; big, black car
• Seven deadly sins
– Cumulative; no commas
• White sandy beaches
– Coordinate; white, sandy beaches
• Peculiar musty odor
– Coordinate; peculiar, musty odor
• Concerning mold smell
– Cumulative
Restrictive & Nonrestrictive Elements
• Restrictive elements:
– Needed to determine meaning in sentence
– Changes meaning
– Do not set off with commas
• Nonrestrictive elements:
– Extra/additional information
– Doesn’t change meaning in a vital way
– Set off with commas on either side
Making a word group restrictive or
nonrestrictive changes the meaning.
• Example
– The girl dressed in blue won the competition.
– The girl, dressed in blue, won the competition.
– The giant panda born at the Bronx zoo lived to be
105.
– The giant panda, born at the Bronx zoo, lived to
be 105.
Types of Restrictive / Nonrestrictive
Clauses
• Adjective clauses
– Begin with a relative pronoun (who, whom, whose,
which, that) or relative adverb (where, when)
– Have a subject and a verb
– Modify nouns and pronouns
– “That” is restrictive; “which” is usually nonrestrictive
• Nonrestrictive
– Joe, who is a plumber, fixed my sink.
• Restrictive
– The girl who was fifteen minutes late last time was
late again.
Types of Restrictive / Nonrestrictive
Clauses
• Adjective phrases
– Prepositional or verb phrases functioning as
adjectives
• Nonrestrictive
– The kindergartners, dressed as grape-flavored
lollipops, danced in the parade.
• Restrictive
– The mom who had five children was tired.
Types of Restrictive / Nonrestrictive
Clauses
• Appositives
– A noun or noun phrase that renames a noun or
pronoun
• Nonrestrictive
– Farouk’s only book, The Firefly, won the Caldecott
medal in 1992.
• Restrictive
– Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is magnificent.
Transitional Expressions
• Bridges between sentences or parts of sentences
– Conjunctive adverbs (thumb words)
– Transitional phrases
• Comma after transitional expressions
– Exception: not needed when they blend smoothly or
call for little or no pause in reading
• Usually require commas on either side if located
in middle of sentence and not joining two
independent clauses
Conjunctive Adverbs:
Are these used correctly?
• Possession has elements of a mystery story,
however, it is also a romance.
– Possession has elements of a mystery story;
however, it is also a romance.
• Its elements of romance, however, are mixed
in with elements of mythology in a postmodern hodgepodge of sources.
– Correct!
Parenthetical Expressions and Absolute
Phrases
• Parenthetical Expressions
– Set off with commas on either side
– Provide supplemental information
• Absolute Phrase
– Noun followed by a participle
– Modifies whole sentence
– Set them off with commas
– Do not insert commas between noun and
participle in an absolute construction
Word Groups Expressing Contrast
• Contrasting part of sentence set off with
commas
– Ex: “not,” “never,” and “unlike”
Conventions
• Set off direct addresses with commas
– Ex: Well, Rea, I would love to go with you to the
picnic.
• Set off yes and no with commas
– Ex: No, the small loan of one million dollars is not
enough.
Conventions cont.
• Commas before interrogative tags
– Ex: You took out the trash, didn’t you?
• Mild interjections
– Ex: Oh, that was interesting. (Sarcasm)
– Oh, OK.
Direct Quotations:
Non-Embedded Quotes
• When you introduce your quote with a verb such
as “says,” “remarks,” “comments,” “asks,” “states,”
etc. WITHOUT following it with “that,” you have
an unembedded quote.
• Introduce it with a comma and a capital letter.
– Juliet laments, “Poor ropes, you are beguiled, / Both
you and I, for Romeo is exiled” (3.3.145-146).
• Your quote should be an independent clause.
What would you do with this
scenario?
• After she learns of Romeo’s banishment, Juliet
sympathizes with the ropes “Poor ropes, you
are beguiled, / Both you and I, for Romeo is
exiled” (3.3.145-146).
• After she learns of Romeo’s banishment, Juliet
sympathizes with the ropes: “Poor ropes, you
are beguiled, / Both you and I, for Romeo is
exiled” (3.3.145-146).
– When you are introducing a quote with an
independent clause, you need a colon.
• After she learns of Romeo’s banishment, Juliet
sympathizes with the ropes, “Poor ropes, you
are beguiled, / Both you and I, for Romeo is
exiled” (3.3.145-146).
– This is a comma splice!
EMBEDDED Quotes:
• Need a “that” after your verb, or need to be
integrated into the sentence in some way so that
they are not introduced directly after the verb
(or after a colon):
– Juliet laments that the ropes “are beguiled … for
Romeo is exiled” (3.3.145-146).
– No comma or capital letter at the beginning of an
EMBEDDED quote.
– Your quote may or may not need to be an
independent clause. CHECK your sentence structure!
Ending a Quote
• Any commas and periods come BEFORE the
close quote mark (when you are not including
a citation immediately afterward).
• Juliet laments that the ropes are “beguiled.”
• Juliet laments that the ropes are “beguiled,” as
they will never have the opportunity to
support Romeo’s weight when he climbs to
her window.
Ending a Quote
• If there is a citation after your quote, commas
and periods go after the citation.
– Juliet laments that the ropes are “beguiled” (3.3.145).
– Juliet laments that the ropes are “beguiled” (3.3.145),
as they will miss the opportunity to support Romeo’s
weight when he climbs to her window.
• The citation can also go at the end of the
sentence:
– Juliet laments that the ropes are “beguiled,” as they
will miss the opportunity to support Romeo’s weight
when he climbs to her window (3.3.145).
Miscellaneous Conventions
• In dates, set off the year with commas.
– July 4, 1776, was a monumental day in American history.
• If you only have month and the year with no day, no
comma:
– July 1776 was a monumental time in American history.
• Inverted dates have no commas:
– 25 February 2016 (MLA format for heading)
• Study personal titles, addresses, and numbers
• Use a comma to prevent confusion
Unnecessary Commas
• Do not use a comma to separate a verb from
its subject or object!
• Do not use a comma between an adjective
and a noun.
• Do not use a comma between an adverb and
an adjective.
Unnecessary Commas
• Do not use commas to set off mildly
parenthetical elements.
• Do not use a comma to set off a concluding
adverb clause that is essential to the meaning
of the sentence.
• Do not set off essential information with a
comma.
No Commas
• No Commas for Inverted Sentences
– At the bottom of the pile was Madison’s report.
Works Cited:
Hacker, Diana, and Sommers, Nancy. A Writer’s
Reference. New York: Bedford / St. Martin’s,
2011.