7 Cases for Inserting or Omitting Commas

Posted: April 29, 2013

[caption id="attachment_11301" align="alignright" width="300"]© Sébastien Garcia - Fotolia.com[/caption]The comma....one of the most important, and possibly overused, punctuation tools. There is probably no more though provoking punctuation mark, either. When do you use a comma? When should you omit commas? Below are some discussions to help us determine whether to use that comma, or pass on it.

Here are discussions of seven types of situations in which the presence or absence of a comma depends on various factors.

1. Word Function

Whether a comma follows a word sometimes depends on the function of the word. For example, when now is employed at the head of a sentence to refer to the present time, there’s no reason to separate it from the rest of the statement: “Now you know.”

But when now serves as an interjection to mark a transition or attract someone’s attention, it should be set off: “Now, have you had dinner?” (That same series of words could be used in a temporal sense, though: “Now have you had dinner?” suggests that the writer is impatient with the person the question is directed to.)

2. Before Because

A sentence such as “I didn’t want to go because I hadn’t enjoyed myself last time” implies that the writer is explaining that the lack of enjoyment isn’t a factor in reluctance to attend an event; the reason for the reluctance will presumably follow.

But if the meaning is opposite — if the lack of enjoyment is the reason for the reluctance to attend — a comma should precede because to signal that what follows the comma is a dependent clause: “I didn’t want to go, because I hadn’t enjoyed myself last time” Alternatively, the dependent clause can begin the sentence: “Because I hadn’t enjoyed myself last time, I didn’t want to go.”

Read the entire article 7 Cases for Inserting or Omitting Commas at DailyWritingTips.