Commas,

How to use them.

Commas group words that belong together and separate words that do not belong together.

Commas: Place Markers in Numbers

Commas are used to distinguish number places (hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.).

The lottery is up to $110,000.

Commas: Cities, States and Countries

• When the state or country is listed after the city, it is separated by a pair of

commas.

Denver, Colorado, is the capital of Colorado.

Commas: Month, Day, and Year• When the month, day, and year are written out within a sentence,

the year is separated by a pair of commas. When only the month and date or the month and year are given, do not use a comma.

•We’ll meet March 6 to interview the last candidates.•We’ll meet in March 2005 to celebrate.•We’ll meet March 6, 2005, to celebrate.

Commas: Letter Greetings and Closings

• Commas are used after the greeting and closing in a letter.

Dear Jane,How are you? I am fine.

Sincerely,

Bob

Commas: Items in a Series

• Items in a series can be nouns, verbs, phrases and clauses.• The commas before the and is optional. However, most writers

continue to use a commas before the and to help keep the meaning clear.

My nieces, nephews, and cousins are a noisy bunch.They laugh, chase, and swing from the chandelier at

family gatherings.Every time we get together, my mother threatens to

hang them by their toes, feed them to the chickens, or stop feeding them so many cookies.

Commas: Extra Information• Commas group extra information.

Introductory information: By the way, Charles said he would be late.

Appositives: Aaron, the neighbor’s son, is already driving.

Nonrestrictive information: Charles, by the way, said he would be late.

“Tagged-on” words: You’re coming along, aren’t you?

Commas: Commas with Quotations

After Quotation: “Books are good enough in their way, but they are a mighty bloodless substitute for life,” Robert Louis Stevenson once said.

Before Quotation: Robert Louis Stevenson once said, “Books are good enough in their way, but they are a mighty bloodless substitute for life.”

Split Quotation: “Books are good enough in their way,” Robert Louis Stevenson once said, “but they are a mighty bloodless substitute for life.”

No CommasDO NOT separate the subject from the verb with a single comma.• NO: How the Broncos blew it in the playoffs and missed their chance at the

Superbowl, is a mystery to their fans.• YES: How the Broncos blew it in the playoffs and missed their chance at the

Superbowl is a mystery to their fans.• NO: Kwanzaa which was created in 1966 in the wake of the Watts riots, is an

annual celebration of African-American heritage.• YES: Kwanzaa, which was created in 1966 in the wake of the Watts riots,

is an annual celebration of African-American heritage. (Kwanzaa is the subject. The relative clause, which is italicized, is nonrestrictive or extra material, which can be separated from the verb.)

No CommasDO NOT separate the verb from its object or subject with a single comma (except in the case of split direct quotations).

• NO: The seven principals of Kwanzaa are, unity, self-determination, collective work, and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.

• YES: The seven principals of Kwanzaa are unity, self-determination, collective work, and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.

• NO: Over 13 million Americans celebrate at least in some way, the seven-day celebration.

• YES: Over 13 million Americans celebrate, at least in some way, the seven-day celebration.

No CommasDO NOT separate the final adjective from the word it modifies.

• NO: She put on her cheeriest, most familiar, hat to go to the meeting.• YES: She put on her cheeriest, most familiar

hat to go to the meeting.