How to Use Commas

The comma (,) is one of the most frequently used punctuation marks. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a comma as ‘A punctuation mark indicating a pause between parts of a sentence or separating items in a list'. The rules governing its use are relatively simple.

This article will set out these simple rules.

There are four uses for commas.

(1)Listing Comma

The listing comma is used in place of a conjunction to list items. For example, I like apples and oranges and bananas and pears can be written I like apples, oranges, bananas and pears. When the penultimate word in the sentence is followed by a comma this comma is known as the Oxford or serial commma. Oxford University Press use style of punctuation in their publications.

Oxford Comma
I like apples, oranges, bananas, and pears

(2)Joining Comma

The joining comma is used to combine two sentences into a single, longer sentence. It must be followed by one of the following conjunctions: but, and, or, while, yet.

For example, the following pairs of sentences may be combined:

Europe is small. Asia is large. =Europe is small, but Asia is large.
I like dogs. I like cats. =I like dogs, and I like cats.
She is a very talented player. She has not scored a goal. = She is a very talented player, yet she has not scored a goal.

(3)Gapping Comma

The gapping comma is used to avoid repetition. The following sentence can be written both ways. The second way uses a gapping comma to avoid repeating technologically advance countries.

Japan is one of the most developed countries in the world and Papua New Guinea, the least.

(4)Bracketing Comma

The bracketing comma is used to seperate a non-essential part of the sentence that adds additional information. If the information they enclose is removed, the sentence shoud still be grammatically correct.

For example, Margaret Thatcher, who died in 2013, was the first woman prime minister of the United Kingdom.

In the above sentence, the information enclosed in the bracketing commas is simply additional information which does not affect the meaning of the sentence.

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