'Get It Right' - Part 2 - Using the Humble Comma

Too Much or Too Little

When I'm marking my students' work the humble comma seems to cause an awful lot of problems. I spend an inordinate amount of time putting in commas where they are needed or changing them into full stops or semi-colons. It's bizarre that something so small could cause so much trouble.

When to Use a Comma

So how do you decide when to use a comma? Are there any rules?

One of the most common uses of the comma is to divide up bits of a sentence that are logically separate from one another. The best thing to do is to read your sentence and ask yourself if you could take out any sections and still end up with a sentence that makes perfect sense.

Separating Names from the Body of the Sentence

Here's a sentence which needs a comma between a name and the rest of the sentence:

John, I'm going out now.

What would happen if you took away the word John? Would the sentence still work without it?

You'd be left with this:

I'm going out now.

I think you'll agree that makes a perfectly good sentence all by itself, so you need to have a comma to separate John from the rest of the sentence.

When You Can't Separate a Name from the Rest of the Sentence

Take a look at this sentence:

John is going out now.

Can you get rid of the word John? Definitely not! You'd be left with:

Is going out now.

That's not a proper sentence! So it would be meaningless to write:

John, is going out now.

John is the person who is doing something in the sentence, so the word John needs to be connected to the rest of the sentence.

This may sound rather obvious, but you'd be surprised how often writers break up the logic of a sentence by shoving commas in strange places like that, especially if the sentence is a long one.

I hope you feel clearer about that particular rule on commas. There are lots more uses of the comma, but that's enough for now.

Tomorrow I'll look at a grammar problem. Why not e-mail me if you have something you'd like me to explain? My address is: gale.barker@tesco.net. I'd be delighted to hear from you.