CENTER FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

1. CENTER FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE Jennie Ariail, Ph.D. - Director Tom Smith, Ph.D. - Associate Director COMMAS • Commas, as other marks of punctuation, guide the reader. There are many rules for comma • use, and they change because language use is dynamic, never static. Currently, then the • following rules will help you be a more effective writer. • 1. Use commas to separate three or more items in a series. • Frequently the comma is omitted after the next-to-last item in newspapers or • magazines, but you are always correct to add the last comma. In fact, the comma • often prevents misreading. • Example: I will be so glad when this semester is over; I am taking biology, • physics, calculus, and advanced chemistry. • 2. Use commas between coordinate adjectives. • Adjectives are coordinate when each adjective modifies the noun separately. • Their order can be reversed, and the word and can be inserted between them. • They, also, are adjectives that do not give information about size, shape, age, • color, nationality, or religion. • Example: I will choose a kind, compassionate, and wise woman as my new physician. • 3. Use a comma to set off parenthetical expression. • A parenthetical expression is one that is read almost like an aside to the reader. It gives • additional, extra information. • I, on the other hand, failed gross anatomy. • 4. Use a comma to set off nouns of direct address. • Direct address simply means that a person is called by his or her name. • Please, Harriette, don’t forget that your best friend still needs you even though she • has moved many miles away. • Page 1 of 2

2. CENTER FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE Jennie Ariail, Ph.D. - Director Tom Smith, Ph.D. - Associate Director COMMAS • 5. Use a comma to set off contrasting elements. • Generally, a contrasting element is introduced by such words as not,unlike, never. • Example: I knew then that I was going to be a nurse, not a teacher. • 6. Use a comma to set off the text that identifies the speaker from the direct quotation. • Example: “This is the hardest course I have ever had,” Steve wrote to his parents. • 7. Use a comma in dates, addresses, long numbers and titles. • If only the month and the year are given, no comma is necessary. • On July 1, 1997, the Center for Academic Excellence opened. • Please send this letter to Rachel Sommers at 120 Loblolly Avenue, Asheville, North Carolina. • 700,000 • Gilbert Bradham, M.D., is the Dean of Students at the Medical University of South Carolina. • 8. Use a comma to prevent misreading when a word is omitted, repeated, or could be • mistakenly grouped with the words that follow. • This rule does give the writer some leeway in deciding where to place commas, but the comma • can be used only if the reader might misunderstand the sentence without it. It is a rarely used rule. • If you say you are ready to dance, dance. • Please note that this handout should be used in conjunction with other handouts on commas: • 1. Punctuating compound-complex sentences • 2. Comma Use with Introductory Material • 3. Comma Use with Nonrestrictive Material • Page 2 of 2