Grammar Tips: How to Use the Comma

Commas have a lot of different uses throughout the English language. Here are some basic guidelines that will help you to use commas correctly when combining complex sentences together. By considering the “weight” and “balance” of a sentence, it helps to determine where commas should and should not be placed.

First, you must understand what conjunctions and subordinates are and what their function is in English grammar. Conjunctions are linking words that connect phrases, clauses, or words in a sentence. Using the acronym “FANBOYS” will help you to remember what conjunctions are:

For
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So

Similarly, subordinates can connect two unequal clauses together. These include independent clauses that can stand alone as sentences because they contain a complete thought using a subject and a predicate. These also include dependent clauses, which are fragments that cannot stand alone as sentences because they do not express a complete thought. Below are commonly used subordinates:

Although
Because
Before
However
Unless
Even though

In complex sentences, subordinates can be considered to do the “heavy lifting” by themselves because they can carry the weight of two complete sentences on their own.

1) Consider the sentence:

• Jennifer loves playing chess even though she usually loses.

Both parts of the sentence, “Jennifer loves playing chess” and “she usually loses” are independent clauses that stand alone as complete sentences because they contain a subject and a predicate. Since the “weight” of each clause is evenly distributed on each side of the subordinate, there is no need for a comma.

2) Consider the sentence:

• Even though Jennifer loves to sing she never sings in front of other people.

The complete sentence of “Jennifer loves to sing she never sings in front of other people” is a lengthy and complex sentence. When written at the beginning of a sentence, the subordinate, “even though,” would not be able to carry the “weight” of the entire sentence. Therefore, by placing a comma after the first clause, it helps the subordinate to balance the “weight” of the sentence.

• Even though Jennifer loves to sing, she never sings in front of other people.

When a subordinate begins a sentence, the comma will always be placed after the first thought or the first complete sentence.

3) Consider the sentence:

• Jennifer was accepted into Johns Hopkins University and she is on the waitlist for Georgetown University.

In this sentence, the conjunction must balance the weight of two complete sentences or independent clauses. By placing a comma before the conjunction, it will help to balance out the “weight” of the two sentences.

• Jennifer was accepted into Johns Hopkins University, and she is on the waitlist for Georgetown University.

4) Consider the sentence:

• Jennifer is going to major in chemical engineering or aerospace engineering.

In this sentence the conjunction “or” joins the independent clause, “Jennifer is going to major in chemical engineering,” with the fragment sentence or the dependent clause, “aerospace engineering.” The conjunction does not need a comma because the “weight” of each clause is evenly distributed on each side of the conjunction.

Are you ready to use a comma?