Essential Punctuation 02

Question: Can you simplify all those rules for the comma?

Answer: I can try. Although you might find it difficult to believe, punctuating with commas is NOT an exact science. People often ignore commas and no one is the wiser.

A couple of uses that you might forget are as follows:

Dates: “April 18, 1908, was the date of….” [Most people forget the comma after the year.]

Addresses: “She has lived at 33 Sycamore Street, Havertown, Pennsylvania, since ….” [Most people forget the comma after the state.]

Commas in series of three or more: “He ordered fishing tackle, bait and ammunition.” [You can put a comma before the “and” or not. Most people don’t. Just be consistent throughout. If you put the comma before the “and,” do the same throughout. If you do not put the comma before the “and” do the same throughout. The “Purists” will get you if you put a comma before the “and” in one case, but not in another.]

Commas in two-item series: “He was a tall, portly man.”[If you can substitute an “and” for the comma, then the comma is needed “He was a tall, (and) portly man." You can also test the two-item series by mentally adding a third item in the series, which tells you that you need the comma in the two-item series: “He was a tall, portly (and well-dressed) man.”]

Compound sentences. The rule says that you should put a comma before the coordinate conjunction in a long compound sentence, but it is not necessary in a short compound sentence.

The coordinate conjunctions are “and,” “or,” “nor,” “for,” “but,” “yet” and “so.” An example of a compound sentence is the following:“He arrived at the station early, and he had to wait for the train.” [The arbitrary nature of this use of the comma is in the length of the sentence. You don’t need a comma in a short compound sentence. You should use a comma before the coordinate conjunction in a long compound sentence. What’s long and short? Matter of judgment. If the compound sentence is that long, putting the comma before the coordinate conjunction will give the reader a break before plowing through the last part of the sentence. Put the comma in or leave it out. Unless the compound sentence is very long, readers will never notice.]

[Don’t use the comma if the subject of the second sentence is missing: “He arrived at the station early and had to wait for the train.” No “…he had to wait.” ]

Review:

“April 18, 1908, was the date of….”

“She has lived at 33 Sycamore Street, Havertown, Pennsylvania, since ….”

“He ordered fishing tackle, bait and ammunition” or “He ordered fishing tackle, bait, and ammunition.”

“He was a tall, [and] portly man.” or “He was a tall, portly [and well-dressed] man.”

“He arrived at the station early, and he had to wait for the train.” or “He arrived at the station early and he had to wait for the train.” Whether a compound sentence is long or short is a matter of judgment.

“He arrived at the station early and had to wait for the train.”

Next: Tomorrow, I will cover the three most frequent uses of the comma: after introductory expressions, around interrupters and before afterthoughts.