Commas for Clarity

   
Index

        Sometimes we need a comma to let the reader know there is a pause in a particular place in a sentence. Without a pause the sentence would be misread. Look at the following sentences, for example:

            After eating the horses went out to pasture. (After eating the horses?)

            After eating, the horses went out to pasture.

            Soon after Miss Sweetcakes discovered that Reggie had been two-timing her. (Without a comma the reader expects something to be added to this sentence.)

            Soon after, Miss Sweetcakes discovered that Reggie had been two-timing her.

Compound Sentences

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Compound Sentences

Sometimes when we are writing or speaking, we may want to express two closely related ideas.  We might show the close relationship by "gluing" the two statements together into one longer sentence.  Here's an example:

I don't want to hear about your operation now, and I will not want to hear about it in the future.

There are two statements about the writer's lack of interest in the operation.  Each one could have been a separate sentence, but they are put together in one longer sentence since they are closely related.  Two related shorter sentences joined to form one longer sentence are called a compound sentence.

Here are some more examples of compound sentences:

Badapple was a politician, and he would do anything to get elected.

He made all kinds of promises, but he never kept them.

He would promise to lower your taxes, or he would promise to build a public works project in your town.

After the election the building project would be forgotten, and the taxes would be raised rather than lowered.

The Glue

We said above that a compound sentence was made by "gluing" two shorter sentences together.  If you look at the four sentences about Badapple the politician, you will easily recognize the "glue."  Each of these compound sentences contains two shorter sentences and a comma in front of a word like and, but, or or.  These words are conjunctions.  Conjunctions are words that join two sentence parts together.    Conjunctions can join words or phrases or clauses.  Conjunctions that join constructions of equal weight in a sentence are called coordination conjunctions.  There are only a few coordinating conjunctions:  and, but, so, or, nor, yet, for.

Since the flow of thought changes at the end of the first clause, we intuitively pause in speaking and mark that pause with a comma.

Interrupters

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Interrupters

When we speak, if anything interrupts the flow of thought within a sentence, we intuitively pause before and after the interrupter. In writing we signal that interrupter with commas.

EXAMPLES

My cousin figured it out.
My cousin, who is not a rocket scientist, figured it out.
My cousin, by the way, figured it out.
My cousin, nevertheless, figured it out.

Do not use commas to separate an expression that does not interrupt the flow of thought.

The man who first discovered gold in California died in poverty.

(“Who first discovered gold in California” is not an interrupter. If we take it out, the sentence is not clear.)

Sam Jackson, who first discovered gold in California, died in poverty.

Introductory Expressions

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Introductory Expressions

Anything that goes before the subject is introductory. In speaking we intuitively pause at the end of the introductory expression to let our listener know that there is a change in the flow of thought in the sentence. In writing, a comma marks that pause.

Introductory expressions are followed by a comma if
- they are five or more words long, or
- they have a verb form

EXAMPLES

Everything was fine

Before those people moved next door, everything was fine.
(The introductory expression is six words long, and it has a verb.)

In the first year of the marriage, everything was fine.
(The introductory expression has seven words.)


In the beginning everything was fine.
(The introductory expression has only three words and no verb, so it doesn't need a comma.)

Comma Rules

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What do commas really mean? We think of language as a series of sounds, but an important part of language is the pause between sounds. We pause briefly between words so that our words don’t run together. We make a longer pause at the end of a sentence to signal to our listeners that we are at the end of a thought.

We also pause within sentences to signal a change of the flow of thought within that sentence. Here are three structures that change the flow of thought within a sentence.

• Introductory expressions
• Interrupters
• Compound sentences

More about these structures coming.

They're Their There

They're -- a contraction of "they are"
They're always late.

Their -- a possessive pronoun
They never pay their fair share of the cost.

There -- an expletive (a word that stands in place for the subject)

There was too much hanky-panky going on.
There is a perfect example of incompetence.