CapitalCommunityCollege

The English House of Commas

Thissetofslideswillillustratethemost
commonusesofoneofthemostcommon
punctuationmarks:

Usetheinformationiconandhyperlinks(thiscolor)tolinkto
sourcesoffurtherinformationintheGuidetoGrammarandWriting.

CapitalCommunityCollege

The English House of Commas

Useacommatosetofftheelementsofa
series(threeormorethings),includingthe
lasttwo.
MyfavoriteusesoftheInternetaresendingemail,surfingthe
Web,andusingchatrooms.
Youmayhavelearnedthatthiscommaisnotnecessary.
Sometimes,however,thelasttwoitemsinyourserieswill
glomintooneifyoudontusethesocalledserialcomma.

CapitalCommunityCollege

The English House of Commas

Useacommaandacoordinatingconjunction
(and,but,or,nor,for,yet,so)toseparatetwo
independentclauses.
Thepublicseemseagerforsomekindofguncontrol
legislation,butthecongressisobviouslytootimidtoenactany
trulyeffectivemeasures.
Ifthetwoindependentclausesarebriefandnicelybalanced,
thiscommamaybeomitted,butthecommaisalwayscorrect.
Ourteamisverygoodbuttheirteamisbetter.

The English House of Commas

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Useacommatosetoffintroductoryelements.
Anxiousabouttheupcomingwinter,settlersbegantobicker
amongthemselvesaboutsupplies.
Inthewinterof1644,nearlyhalfthesettlersdiedof
starvationorexposure.
Iftheintroductoryelementisbriefandthesentencecanbe
readeasilywithoutthecomma,itcanbeomitted.
In1649thesettlersabandonedtheirinitialoutpost.

The English House of Commas

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Useacommatoseparatecoordinateadjectives.
Coachesgrewwearyofrunningpracticesinthedrafty,dreary,
dilapidatedgymnasium.
Thedesignsforanexpensive,moderngymshouldmakethem
happy.
Ifyoucouldputabutoranandbetweentheadjectives,you
shouldputacommabetweenthem.
expensiveandmodern=expensive,modern....Butnota
littleandoldhouse.Alittleoldhousewouldbecorrect.

CapitalCommunityCollege

The English House of Commas

Useacommatosetoffelementsthatexpressa
contrastoraturninthesentence.
Thehousewascute,buttooexpensiveforthenewlyweds.
Theywerelookingforsomethingpractical,notluxurious

CapitalCommunityCollege

The English House of Commas

Useacommatosetoffstatesandcountries,
years(inafulldate),titles,etc.
TheconferencewasoriginallysetforGeneva,Switzerland,but
wasthenrescheduledforChicago,Illinois.
TheirweddingdatewassetforAugust5,2000,inthecollege
chapelinNewton,Massachusetts.
TashondaKlondike,ChairoftheWaysandMeansCommittee,
submittedthecommitteesfinalreport.

The English House of Commas

CapitalCommunityCollege

Useacommatosetoffquotedlanguage.
FrostspoemFireandIcebeginswiththelines,Some say
the world will end in fire, / Some say in ice.
Firewhenready,Gridley,theAdmiralsaid.
Wecantseeintothefuture,saidthePresident,butwehaveto
prepareforitnonetheless.

CapitalCommunityCollege

The English House of Commas

Useacommatosetoffparentheticalelements.
Thisisthemostdifficultruleincommausage.A
parentheticalelementisaddedinformation,
somethingthatcanberemovedfromasentence
withoutchangingtheessentialmeaningofthat
sentence.Decidingwhatisaddedinformation
andwhatisessentialissometimesdifficult.See
thenextslide.

The English House of Commas

CapitalCommunityCollege

Parentheticalelements:

Whenanappositivephrasecanberemovedfromasentence
withoutchangingitsmeaningormakingitambiguous:

RobertFrost,perhapsAmericasmostbelovedpoet,diedwhen
hewas88.
Anabsolutephraseistreatedasaparentheticalelement:
Frankly,itdoesntseemtomatter.
Anaddressedpersons(orpeoples)nameisalwaysparenthetical:
Iamwarningyou,goodcitizensofHartford,thisvoteiscrucial
tothefutureofourcity.

The English House of Commas

CapitalCommunityCollege

Onemoreparentheticalelement:
Aninterjectionistreatedasaparentheticalelement:
Excuseme,butthereare,ofcourse,manypointsofviewthat
wemustconsiderbeforevoting.

CapitalCommunityCollege

The English House of Commas

Onelastrule:Dontoverusecommas!Whena
commaisneeded,useit;otherwise,dowithout.
Reviewingtherulesofcommausagewillhelp
youunderstandthewaysentencesarebuilt
andthat,ultimately,willhelpyoubecomea
betterwriter.

This PowerPoint presentation was created by

Charles Darling, PhD

CapitalCommunityCollege

Professor of English and Webmaster

Capital Community College
Hartford, Connecticut
copyright November 1999