This
article is in two parts; Part I lists the uses from four sources and Part II
presents thoughts from three sources.
Source 1: The Little, Brown Handbook by H. Ramsey
Fowler, Little, Brown and Company,
1980
i. Use
the comma before a coordinating conjunction linking main clauses
note: some writers prefer to use a
semicolon.
ii.
Use the comma to set off introductory phrases and clauses
iii. Use the comma to set off non-restrictive
elements: clauses, phrases, appositives
iv. Use the comma to set off parenthetical
expressions
v. Use the comma to set off yes and no,
words of direct addresses and mild interjections
vi. Use the comma to set off absolute phrases
vii. Use the comma to set off phrases
expressing contrast
viii.
Use the comma between words, phrases, and clauses forming a series and between
coordinate adjectives not linked by
conjunctions
Note: This is from source 2:
Notice that the comma is usually put before ‘and’ and the last item.
Some writers
disagree with this.
This is from
source 3:
Michael Swan says in his
Practical English Grammar: … they are often not used
between the last two items.
ix. Use the comma according to convention in
dates, addresses, place names, and long
numbers
x. Use the comma with quotations according
to standard practice.
xi. Use the comma to prevent misreading
e.g. Soon after, she left town for
good. (for clarity)
The students who can, usually give
money to the United Fund.
(to avoid a sense of
incompleteness)
xii. (a) Don’t use the comma to separate a
subject from its verb nor a verb or a preposition
from
its subject, unless the words between them require punctuation
e.g. American, who are preoccupied with
football, baseball, basketball, and hockey,
have not developed a strong
interest in professional soccer.
Source 4:
One exception to these rules is that a comma
may come between
S and V when there might
otherwise be momentary confusion,
as for instance through two
occurrences of the same word:
What his name is, is of no interest to me.
Whatever she does, does not concern me.
What one person may think of,
another may not.
Rarely, a comma may also come at the point
of gapping (cf 13.92f)
in an elliptical clause:
Rock aspires to recognition as
art, and new classical music, to a larger following.
But more commonly no punctuation is used:
One bedroom was very large,
and the other quite small.
“Finally, a comma is placed
between a subject-verb sequence and a direct object in
indirect speech (cf App.III.21).
xii.
(b) Ordinarily, don’t use the comma with words or phrases joined by coordinating
conjunctions
e.g. The sale of handguns, and other weapons
is increasing alarmingly
©
Don’t set off restrictive elements
e.g. Hawthorne’s work, The Scarlet
Letter, was the first major novel.
(The title is essential to
distinguish the novel from the rest of his work.)
(d) Don’t use the comma before the first
or after the last item in a series unless a rule
requires it
e.g. The three TV networks, ABC, CBS, and
NBC, compete constantly for
viewers.
(e) Don’t set off indirect quotations or a
single word quoted word unless it is a
non-restrictive appositive
e.g. To make something happen, repeat the
magician’s word, “abracadabra.”
Source 2: A Comprehensive English Grammar by C.E.
Eckersley and J.M. Eckersley,
Longman, 1976
“Your common sense and the desire to make
your meaning clear
will often tell you where
a pause is needed, …”
1.
To
mark off direct speech.
Source 3: Practical English Usage by Michael Swan
Source 4: A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language by Quirk et al,
Longman
i. If three or more clauses are
coordinated but only the last is preceded by and or or,
commas (or semicolons) are
required between the clauses, including the last pair
(Appendix III.6)
e.g. Prices fell, interest rates fell, and
the employment figures rose.
The comma in such instances is
termed a SERIAL COMMA.
ii. III.8
(a) We sometimes have a choice between asyndetic
coordination (without a
coordinator), in which
case a serial comma is required, and syndetic
coordination (with a
coordinator), in which case a comma is
not required.
The most frequent
occasions when this choice is available involve the
coordination of
premodifying adjectives or adverbs. Thus, for adjectives we
may choose between [1]
and [1a]:
He walked with long, slow
strides.
[1]
He walked with long and slow
strides.
[2]
If we wished to add
further coordinated adjectives to [1], we need to place a
comma after each
adjective except the last:
He walked with long, slow, steady, deliberate
strides. [1a]
If we wish to add further
adjectives to the syndetic coordination in [2], we
generally insert and before the last adjective in the
series as in [2a]:
He walked with long, slow, steady(,) and
deliberate strides. [2a]
(Such
provision [1 – 2a] applies to adverbs as well)
(b) “The asyndetic
coordination of [1] should be distinguished from the
hypotactic
relationship of adjectives in [5], cf 13.2:
I noticed a large rear bench. [‘a
rear bench that was large] [5]
Since large and rear are not
coordinated in [5], we cannot of course insert
either and or a comma between the adjectives.
Similarly, if we wish to
indicate not that the
strides were both long and slow as in [1] and [2],
but that they were slow
strides which were long, we omit punctuation and
conjunctions, as in [6]:
He walked with long slow strides.
© If we coordinate a series of three or more
units, we normally omit the
conjunction and or or before all but
the last unit. We of course insert serial
commas before all the
units except that there is a choice as to whether to
insert or omit the
comma before the conjunction. AmE generally favours
the insertion of the
comma, while AmE journalistic style favours its
omission; in BrE,
usage is divided.:
Dogs, cats(,) and other animals can
recognize friends by smell alone.
Changes in human biological history
is slow, steady(,) and progressive.
In the next two sentences we
see examples of the use of the serial comma in
listing, irrespective
of the linguistic status of the items listed. Again the
comma before the last
item is optional, provided by and:
She bought eggs, butter, cheese,
rice(,) and coffee.
He wrote down 73, 12, 41, 9, 7(,) and
13, and added them up.
Note: what has been said of the inclusive
conjunction and applies to the
exclusive
conjunction or (as in to or from town; by, with (,) or to a
person; butter,
eggs(,) or fruit.
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