Tutorial: Commas

Hello again, and welcome to the first in a series of grammar/editing tutorials. If you read my previous posts, you know how much I value editing in producing good writing. I hope this series helps you improve your editing skills and enables you to feel more confident with your finished work. As a first step in working towards that goal, I’ll start the series with the punctuation mark that trips up websites, blog posts, and professional articles–the comma! Below, I’ve written a paragraph from a hypothetical story that includes multiple comma errors, which we will discuss.

Marissa peeped around the corner where the new kitten lapped milk from a small dish. Marissa wished to pet the tiny adorable creature but the girl’s mother had gently warned her not to scare him into hiding. At only five years old Marissa couldn’t understand why her mother tormented her; she just wanted to hold him, and touch his soft fur. As Marissa and her mother drove home from the pet shelter earlier that day Marissa had gazed at him through the holes of a cardboard box shifting in her lap on the bumpy ride. Marissa’s mother lounging on the couch spoke softly from behind her saying, “You want to see Buttons?” Marissa looked around at her mother with the pout of innocent longing. Chuckling Marissa’s mother crept quietly into the room where Buttons still slurped. She gently grabbed him bringing him to Marissa who grinned eagerly. Marissa reached out to stroke the kitten, he mewed softly. She rubbed his ears, stroked his back and kissed his sweet face.

Comma Splice:

Do not join two stand-alone sentences with a comma. Use a semicolon, connect the clauses with a conjunction, or rewrite the sentences.

Wrong: Marissa reached out to stroke the kitten, he mewed softly.

Right: Marissa reached out to stroke the kitten; he mewed softly.

Lists:

Use commas to separate items in a list, and use one before “and.”

Wrong: She rubbed his ears, stroked his back and kissed his sweet face.

Right: She rubbed his ears, stroked his back, and kissed his sweet face.

Note–the comma before “and” is not always required, especially in journalism.

Adjectives:

Separate two adjectives describing the same noun with a comma.

Wrong: Marissa wished to pet the tiny adorable creature but the girl’s mother had gently warned her not to scare him into hiding.

Right: Marissa wished to pet the tiny, adorable creature, but the girl’s mother had gently warned her not to scare him into hiding.

Conjunctions:

When you connect two clauses that can stand alone using a conjunction (and, but, yet, so), use a comma.

Wrong: Marissa wished to pet the tiny adorable creature but the girl’s mother had gently warned her not to scare him into hiding.

Right: Marissa wished to pet the tiny, adorable creature, but the girl’s mother had gently warned her not to scare him into hiding.

If one of the phrases connected with a conjunction can’t stand alone, don’t use a comma.

Wrong: She just wanted to hold him, and touch his soft fur.

Right: She just wanted to hold him and touch his soft fur.

Phrases:

If a phrase in a sentence couldn’t stand alone, offset it with commas.

Wrong: At only five years old Marissa couldn’t understand why her mother tormented her.

Right: At only five years old, Marissa couldn’t understand why her mother tormented her.

Wrong: Chuckling Marissa’s mother crept quietly into the room where Buttons still slurped.

Right: Chuckling, Marissa’s mother crept quietly into the room where Buttons still slurped.

Relative Pronouns:

If a phrase begins with a relative pronoun (where, who, which, etc.), and the phrase can be omitted from the sentence without changing the meaning of it, offset it with commas. This can get confusing, so here’s a helpful resource.

Wrong: She gently grabbed him bringing him to Marissa who grinned eagerly.

Right: She gently grabbed him, bringing him to Marissa, who grinned eagerly.

Commas serve as the natural pauses we use as we speak or as we read something aloud. Sometimes, this rule is not foolproof; for example, in a long sentence, you might pause before saying “because,” yet you never put a comma before that word. However, for the most part, thinking of commas this way clarifies their purpose and usage.

The rules for commas I’ve laid out here don’t probe the entire subject, but for pragmatic reasons, I’ve provided the most common errors and their simple solutions. I will likely follow this entry in the future with part 2, but these are the basics. Here is the paragraph with every proper adjustment made:

Marissa peeped around the corner where the new kitten lapped milk from a small dish. Marissa wished to pet the tiny, adorable creature, but the girl’s mother had gently warned her not to scare him into hiding. At only five years old, Marissa couldn’t understand why her mother tormented her; she just wanted to hold him and touch his soft fur. As Marissa and her mother drove home from the pet shelter earlier that day, Marissa had gazed at him through the holes of a cardboard box, shifting in her lap on the bumpy ride. Marissa’s mother, lounging on the couch, spoke softly from behind her, saying, “You want to see Buttons?” Marissa looked around at her mother with the pout of innocent longing. Chuckling, Marissa’s mother crept quietly into the room where Buttons still slurped. She gently grabbed him, bringing him to Marissa, who grinned eagerly. Marissa reached out to stroke the kitten; he mewed softly. She rubbed his ears, stroked his back, and kissed his sweet face.

Reading the paragraph with the adjustments illuminates some repetitiveness in sentence structure, as the commas somewhat overload the text. In this light, you might think of perfect writing and editing skills as a pyramid. Building a pyramid requires a strong foundation. When you have a strong foundation of grammatical knowledge–such as understanding where commas should and shouldn’t be–you can edit your work for aesthetics.

Stay tuned for the next one!

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