Rules for Using Commas

Review Independent Clause: Can stand alone. It has a complete thought. It can be a sentence. Dependent Clause: Can NOT stand alone. It is related to the independent clause with which it shares a sentence.

Rule #1 Use a comma before any conjunction that links 2 independent clauses. and, but, for, or nor, so yet Example: “I went for a walk in the rain, and I stopped for coffee.”

Rule #2 Use a comma after a dependent clause that starts a sentence. Example: “When I went running, I saw a duck.”

Rule #3 Use commas to offset appositives (What we call “Set Aparts”) from the rest of the sentence. Example: “The car, with the racing stripe, sped down the street.”

Rule #4 Use commas to separate items in a series. Example: “ I saw a duck, a magician, and a store when I went running.”

Rule #5 Use a comma after introductory adverbs (Predicate Expanders) Example: “Finally, I went running.”

Rule #6 Use a comma when attributing quotes Example: Janie said, “I like chocolate ice- cream.”

Rule #7 Use a comma to separate each element in an address Example: “I live at 123 New Street, Upper Town, PA., 12345.”

Rule #8 Use a comma to separate the elements in a full date Example: “January 30, 2015, is the last day of the school week.”

Rule #9 Use a comma when the first word of the sentence is freestanding “yes” or “no.” Example: “Yes, I was the one who saw the car accident.”

Rule #10 Use a comma when directly addressing someone or something in a sentence Example: “Jasper, did you make that mess?”

Rule #11 Use a comma between two adjectives that modify the same noun. Example: “ I saw the big, mean dog that lives down the street.”

Rule #12 Use a comma to offset negation in a sentence Example: “ I saw a dog, not a cat, when I went walking.”