Comma Helper

If your writing has a number of errors in comma usage, you are probably violating one of these four rules for the use of the comma. Compare your sentences, and try to determine which rule applies to your own sentences:

1. Place commas after each item in a series, including the item before the and: e.g., I read the assignment, took notes, made an outline, wrote a rough draft, and met with my Writing Fellow before writing the final draft.

2. Place a comma before a coordinating conjunction that joins independent clauses (remember coordinating conjunctions by using the acronym fanboys [for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so]; remember an independent clause could stand alone as a sentence): e.g., I worked on the assignment for at least sixteen hours, but I still was not happy with the final draft.

3. Place a comma after an introductory subordinate clause and after a long introductory phrase: e.g., (introductory subordinate clause) Even if I work on this assignment for the next six weeks, I still will not have enough time to do it well. (long introductory phrase) For at least the past several decades, students have had to work very hard to become good writers.

4. Place commas before and after any part of the sentence that is parenthetical: e.g., I, however, do not believe that John Steinbeck, author of The Grapes of Wrath, was the greatest American author.