![]() |
|||||||||||
10
Simple Rules for Using Commas |
|||||||||||
A Short History of Commas10 Simple RulesCommas in ActionTop 10 ReasonsComma QuizComma Project Home
Maguire Home Page |
Before we go any further, you need to know that the rules you are about to learn are based on what's in the AP Stylebook. In other words, these are the rules that most newspapers and many magazines follow, but they do not conform in every instance with the rules that, for example, English professors or scholarly journals may apply. The most important deviation occurs with items in a series. Keep in mind that in journalistic writing we are always concerned about saving space. As a result, your guiding principle will be that you should ONLY USE A COMMA IF YOU NEED TO. If none of these rules seems to apply, resist the temptation to add a comma just because “it felt like there needed to be one there.” It may also help for you to consider that commas are generally used in one of two ways. First, they can serve to help connect different parts of a sentence. In those cases, they appear singly. But they can also serve to place certain parts of the sentence into the background. In those cases, they appear in pairs. You may not understand the grammatical jargon that is used to state these rules. If you don't, click on the rule to see examples and a fuller explanation.
|
||||||||||