When to use commas

When to use commas

We use commas in two main ways:

 

1. Commas separate the items in a list.
   Sometimes these items are real things.
   E.g. I need some pens, pencils, paper and a calculator before I start my class.
   I must buy some eggs, milk, sugar and tea.
   
   Sometimes these items are things you do, or places you go.
   E.g. Yesterday I went to work, played badminton, went to the pub and then went to bed.
   I'm going to spend my holiday walking on the beach, sleeping in the sun and reading my book.
   
   BEWARE!
   Always make sure you use and to separate the last two items in your list.
   Make sure that you don't use a comma before the word and at the end of your list.
   
   Don't use commas where you should use a full-stop. If the words could stand alone as a proper sentence then you need to put a full-stop or a joining word ('and', 'but' etc) in and not a comma.
   'Yesterday I went to work, I walked the dog, I went shopping and I washed the car.'
   This doesn't work as these could all stand alone as proper short sentences. If you want to write them as a list (for example, to show you were in a hurry, or that you had a lot to do) take out the 'I'.
   'Yesterday I went to work, walked the dog, went shopping and washed the car.'
   
   
   
   
2. Commas mark out the less important part of a sentence.
   This is a useful way to make your sentences more interesting by adding extra information.
   E.g. The car, which was parked by the light, had a dog in the back seat.
   This sentence is about the car and the dog, it's not about where the car was parked.
   
   Tony, his mum's favourite, was given chocolate cake for tea.
   This sentence is about Tony eating chocolate cake. We don't need 'his mum's favourite' for the sentence to make sense, it's extra information.
   
   Rajinda, the youngest in the family, is about to get married.
   This sentence is about Rajinda getting married, it's not about her position in the family.
   
   HOW CAN I CHECK?
   A quick way to check this second use of commas is to see if the sentence makes sense without the words between the commas.
   The first sentence -
   'The car, which was parked by the light, had a dog in the back seat.'
   would become
   'The car ____ had a dog in the back seat.'
   This sentence makes sense so the commas are in the right places.