 Readers use punctuation to tell them when to:  Stop  Pause or slow down  Join for a connection  Yield (pay attention)  Which punctuation fits each description?  Hyphens  Semicolons  Colons  Periods  Commas

 Use Commas To:  Separate two independent clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction WRONG: Her grandfather grew up on the island of Sicily, her grandmother grew up near Rome. RIGHT: Her grandfather grew up on the island of Sicily, and her grandmother grew up near Rome.

 Use Commas To:  Begin long introductory clauses and phrases WRONG: With all of this Italian-blood running through her veins Kristen made Italy a part of her everyday lifestyle. RIGHT: With all of this Italian-blood running through her veins, Kristen made Italy a part of her everyday lifestyle.

 Use Commas To:  Set off nonessential clauses, phrases and modifiers from the rest of the sentence  Nonessential means the phrase is not absolutely necessary to understand the sentence. The information in the nonessential phrase is incidental and can be removed from the sentence without confusion. The feature writing course, which is taught on Tuesdays and Thursdays, is the only course left that the student must take in order to fulfill her degree requirements. The team that wore brown and gold won the game.

 Use Commas To:  Separate items in a series Her father, brother, sister and mother.  Separate coordinate adjectives: When adjectives are interchangeable and you can insert ‘and’ between the adjectives, use a comma. The trip to Argentina was an exhilarating, upbeat adventure. The trip to Argentina was an exhilarating South American experience.  Set off parenthetical expressions The snow, encrusted with a thin skin of ice, crunched lightly under her boots.

 Use Commas To:  When the absence of a pause can cause confusion and when phrases are confusing without the comma To Tom Hanks, Oscar is a familiar name. For the senator, going fishing for three hours is vacation enough.  To set off phrases that modify some part of the independent clause Kristen was always at the studio with her mom, emulating the older dancers.

 Do NOT Use Commas To:  Separate two independent clauses that are not joined by a conjunction: WRONG: Her mother is a dance teacher, she owns a dance studio. RIGHT: Her mother is a dance teacher, and she owns a dance studio.  Separate a compound predicate WRONG: The community events director plans these events, and mentors the interns. RIGHT: The community events director plans these events and mentors the interns.

 Do NOT Use Commas To:  Introduce a subordinate/dependent clause WRONG: Dance has kept from being incredibly competitive, because it is a recreational activity for her. RIGHT: Dance has kept her from being incredibly competitive because it is a recreational activity for her.  But, if clause is at the beginning of the sentence, a comma is needed RIGHT: Because dance is a recreational activity for her, it has kept her from being incredibly competitive.

 Do NOT Use Commas To:  Separate a subject from its predicate or object WRONG: Taking this class, will ensure your writing skills will improve. RIGHT: Taking this class will ensure your writing skills will improve.  To separate a noun from its reflexive WRONG: The student, herself, will teach this session today. RIGHT: The student herself will teach this session today.

 Do NOT Use Commas To:  Precede a partial quote The instructor says her students “are improving with every writing exercise.”  BUT, use a comma to precede a full quote The instructor said, “My students are improving with every writing exercise.”