COMMAS—DAY ONE

Punctuate the Sentence Below:

A woman without her man is nothing

Use at least one comma and any other punctuation you see fit!

The Boys Tended to Write:A woman, without her man, is nothing.

The Girls Tended to Write:A woman: without her, man is nothing.

Commas convey meaning!

When a professor did this…

Comma Rule #1

Put a comma between two independent clauses, right before the conjunction.

Independent Clause, conjunction Independent Clause

The cafeteria offers lunch each day, but many students prefer to bring their own.

Alex came to class on time, and Sam thanked Mrs. Allio for not assigning homework over the weekend.

Comma Rule #2

When a dependent clause is in front of an independent clause, put a comma between them.

Dependent Clause, Independent Clause

Although I practiced my speech, I froze in front of the audience.

When Logan heard about the school cancellation on Sunday, he jumped for joy to express his excitement.

More Complex Cases Although Mike loves Chipotle and Buffalo Wild Wings, he doesn’t

eat out much, and he tries to eat mainly fruits and vegetables.

Dependent, Independent, conjunction Independent

I watched the super bowl but only cared about the commercials.

Independent followed by a phrase (no subject!)—not a clause (have subjects and verbs)

Joe gets very angry when he is hungry.

Independent dependent

When he is hungry, Joe gets very angry.

Dependent, independent

Practice Time

Determine the types of clauses on your worksheet and then apply the two comma rules!

COMMAS—DAY TWO

Comma Rule #3

When you directly address someone in a sentence, use a comma before their name.

Introductory Commas

Let’s eat Grandpa! (That’s just sick.)

Let’s eat, Grandpa! (Aww, that’s nice.)

Introductory Commas

Introductory Commas

Comma Rule #4

When formatting a list, make sure to separate the listed items with commas.

Formatting a List

Stacy’s favorite cities are New York, Chicago, and Nashville.

I had eggs, toast, and orange juice.

Don’t forget the much-debated oxford comma!

Practice

Let’s see how well you remember Friday’s rules and today’s new rules!