About commas

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

of commas

I have written earlier in this manual about why a liberal use of commas, especially while trying to show a pause of some kind, leads to rejection by agents and editors.

The Chicago Manual of Style, 17^th edition, 2017, has twenty pages devoted to commas. Other manuals have similar girth. To make comma rules easier to remember, I’ve boiled down Chicago’s twenty pages to a quick, essential list.

I. Commas nearly always are placed on both sides of an added thought or a name in a sentence. Remember, a simple sentence has one thought. Rule: Add a thought; add a comma. Or two commas if the thought doesn’t end with a period. Hardly anyone understands the rare exceptions to this rule, so forget about it.

Examples:

The boss entered the room.

The boss, Matt Green, entered the room.

The boss, who was supposed to be somewhere else, entered the room.

Yes, sir. [not: Yes sir.]

Yes, sir, boss.

II. Commas are used to separate three or more items or thoughts. The last thought or item is usually preceded by an and or an or. When not preceded by an or or and the author is implying more items are not going to be mentioned, at least in this sentence. Note here that, in fiction, commas should be used instead of brackets, parentheses and sometimes em dashes. Using an em dash highlights the phrase or clause and is the author’s choice. Brackets, em dashes, and parentheses do much the same thing as a comma. They all separate two or more thoughts.

Examples:

Kathy brought grapes, crackers, and cheese to the meeting.

Kathy might read from her blog, short story, or novel.

An exception occurs when the adjectives say much the same thing, or they refer to a cultural expression, such as: little bitty pretty one… Note: little and bitty are much the same but pretty is different and would normally merit a comma if not at the end of the list Not that song lyrics or titles follow the rules of fiction or any other norm. By the way, not putting an and between bitty and pretty implies there’s more to this gal or it didn’t match the beats. Good enough, right?

III. Commas are used between two items or adjectives modifying a noun unless the adjectives describe much the same thing.

Examples:

She is a productive, popular writer. Not using an and between the two adjectives implies there is more.

She is like an little bitty doll. Some authors might choose to place a hyphen between little and bitty but that is getting small.

On July 4, 1776, a nation was born.

He lives at 1234 Main St., Anywhere, USA.

IV. Dependent clauses after a main clause should not need a comma, unless the dependent clause is supplementary or parenthetical. There is a vast army of writers who get this wrong. Editors and agents usually don’t ding the writer for this.

Example:

We’ll agree to not talk politics at the meeting unless we have extra time. […unless we have extra time is the dependent clause.]

Example of a supplementary idea:

At last he arrived, after the vote was taken.

Example of a parenthetical idea:

He has a point, whether you agree or not.

V. Using that or which in a sentence. That has no comma before it and generally is used to start a restrictive clause. Along with that one might see or use who, whom or whose to introduce the restriction. Which does have a comma before it and is not usually the beginning of a restrictive thought.

Examples:

The chapter that was required, was informative.

The chapter, which was well written, was well received by the critique group.

Exception:

Who, whom & whose will merit commas if used in a nonrestrictive way. [Using & instead of and in the previous sentence shows a minor exception to commas in series. With the & you don’t need one.]

Example:

The writer, who was drunk while reading, nonetheless managed. [The clause starting with the word who, described the writer but did not restrict the subject of the sentence.]

VI. Clarity rules all comma usage when trying to figure out sense or whether to use or not use the normal rules.

Examples:

The writer, reading his scene, stopped and threw his pages into the circular file.

Writers reading their scenes should not stop even if they hate them.

VII. One doesn’t always have to put a comma after an opening adverbial phrase if it is completely clear without the comma.

Example:

Before the writing group stood a writer of great fame.

VIII. A comma should follow an introductory yes, no, okay, well, and similar words or phrases.

Examples:

Oh, you’re right.

Exception:

Oh my God! [If you use an exclamation point, the comma isn’t necessary, but you might as well not submit your manuscript.]

IX. Use a comma before or after a she said or she replied, etc.

She said, “that was the worst scene I’ve ever heard.”

“Was that the worst scene you’ve ever heard,” she asked?

She replied, “you’re just jealous.”

An exception occurs when using an indirect quote:

She said something to the effect that you were just jealous.

X. Commas are not usually used to connect independent clauses. Usually a semi-colon or period is used unless the clauses are very short and have the same subject. Why? Well, maybe the two clauses shouldn’t really be in one sentence.

Examples:

The car has a full tank: all we need is a place to go.

The car has a full tank. All we need is a place to go.

Okay, for those of you who are grammarians or are blessed with a photographic memory. You might say I forgot a bit, such as, appositves, antithetical clauses, attributive compounds, elliptical constructions… Stop. Stop. Remember, Jesus, basically boiled down the ten commandments to two. Love God. Love your neighbor.

Being profane, I’ll make this simpler. Regarding commas:

Separate the sentence thoughts and items with commas but always err on the side of clarity.