I mean, wow, who would have guessed? Use a comma to separate items in a sequence. The cheetah, the fastest land animal, can reach speeds of seventy miles per hour. Any phrases that interrupt the sentence’s flow to provide information that the sentence could do without should have a comma on both sides. Use a comma to set apart an appositive or an interrupting word or phrase.Īn appositive is a word or phrase that repeats the preceding noun in different words, generally to amplify meaning. This project, which took her weeks to complete, is the best in the class. Finally, “that” is better for restrictive material and “which” is better for nonrestrictive material. Students often use commas to set apart material that should be restrictive, which leads to confusion. This is a useful test to see whether something is nonrestrictive: if a sentence would maintain its meaning without a certain phrase, then the phrase must be enclosed in commas. The sentence would not change in meaning if you omitted the material enclosed by the commas. This statement refers to all children as children who play well with friends, so it isn’t restrictive. Compare:Ĭhildren, who play well with friends, should be admired. The above statement refers only to children who play well with friends. Restrictive material narrows the meaning of the preceding noun:Ĭhildren who play well with friends should be admired. (Correct: Semicolon) Use a comma to set apart nonrestrictive material. I sat in my designated spot my brother sat beside me. I sat in my designated spot, and my brother sat beside me. I sat in my designated spot, my brother sat beside me. Joining two complete sentences with a comma is called a comma splice. You must join them either with a comma and a conjunction or with a semicolon, or you can make them two separate sentences. When you have two complete sentences-with two subjects and two verbs-you need more than a comma to separate them. Use a comma and a conjunction to join two independent clauses. When a dependent clause begins a sentence, a comma must follow it:īecause we jumped in the pool, we were soaked. If you were to say a dependent clause out loud, people would expect you to say more: Use a comma to join a dependent clause to an independent clause when the dependent clause is first.Ī dependent clause is a clause with a subject and verb that can’t stand alone because of its first word (often one of the words from the first list above). After the race came the victory lap.Īt night the stars come out. Running the race is the fulfillment of his dream. However, if you’re in doubt, use a comma. ![]() You can tell if you need a comma by whether you pause while reading the introductory element out loud. ![]() ![]() A comma is also sometimes optional after certain prepositional phrases. Such a case occurs if the introduction is serving as the subject of the sentence or if the sentence uses inverted word order. When a verb immediately follows an introductory element, however, don’t use a comma. She was free as a bird, flying through the colorful fields. Running through the meadow, she ignored the demands of school. Participles are often used with the above introductory words, but they can also stand alone. A participle is a verb ending in –ing that acts as an adjective. ![]() Finally, a comma is used to separate a participial phrase from an independent clause.
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