Punctuation One | Commas

Let's start with the comma. It is a very important punctuation mark. Even for it's small size, it is very important. A religion was split into two because of a comma. People die because of commas. To avoid such catastrophic consequences, you shall learn about commas. So what does this almighty comma look like?

, Like this. But smaller. Much smaller.

1. Listing

Yes, you use commas for lists. What? You've never heard of such a thing? Well, now you have and there is no going back.

Example: I bought apples, pears, cherries, and oranges from the store. The comma separates the items so you know what you purchased. What happens if there are no commas?

Example: I bought apples pears cherries and oranges from the store. It sure sounds you like bought some mutated fruits at the store. When you add commas, it allows for clarity. Reader know that you bought apples and pears but not apple pears (which is a thing!).

2. Separate adjectives.

Example: I have a funny awesome handsome boyfriend.

Sounds awkward yes? We can make it better! How so? With some commas!

Example: I have a funny, awesome, handsome boyfriend.

Oh yeah, that's right. He's funny and awesome and handsome. The commas allows the reader to separate that funny awesome handsome is not one adjective. Plus it adds emphasis that the boyfriend has many good qualities about him.

3. Join independent clauses.

Independent clauses are pretty much phrases that could stand as a sentence by itself. Or another definition is an independent clause is a complete thought. You've also got to add in a conjunction when joing two independent clauses. They are the FANBOYS, they gotta stick with those clauses like it's their idol. FANBOYS is an acronym that stands for: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.

Example: I went to the grocery store downtown, and I bought some mangoes. The conjunction, "and", is underlined.

However you can also omit the comma if your sentence is really short.

Example: He cooked and I cleaned.

4. Interrupter

It is what it's name implies, interruption. Basically you give additional information that branches off from the main subject of the sentence.

Example: Annie, the new girl in school, sat down next to me. The underlined text is the interrupter. Annie being the new girl has nothing whatsoever to do with sitting down. Thus the reason for comma usage.

You surround the interrupter with a comma on each side. Think of it as the comma likes to guard any extra information in a sentence.

Now that you know what commas are used for most of the time, here's something you should know. You don't actually have to use commas. Wait - what? Then what was the point of reading this? Commas are for the readers not the writers, meaning the author knows what they're saying and how to say it. The reader however does not, that's why there are commas.

Use your commas to clarify your syntax, sentence structure, whatever. Commas are meant to help the reader understand what you, the author, is trying to say. If you feel your work is a little hard to understand, try looking over it to see if some commas could help clarify it.