As promised in my last article, I will discuss comma usage
in this week’s column. There are many, many uses for commas, but I will outline
some that are appropriate for academic writing.
1. Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or
clauses written in a series
After graduation, I
secured a job, bought a house, and married my sweetheart.
Last Saturday, I
attended a wedding, a graduation, and church.
2. Use commas to separate independent clauses (and, but,
for, or, nor, so, yet)
The demonstration was
over, but the crowd refused to leave.
The student explained
her absence, yet the instructor still did not accept her late coursework.
3. Use commas after introductory clauses (after, although,
as, because, if, since, when, while)
If you are sick,
report to the clinic.
Although the timetable
says we have class, today is a public holiday.
4. Use commas after common introductory phrases (participial
and infinitive, absolute, nonessential appositive, and long prepositional
phrase)
Having completed the
final exam, he left the classroom.
To get a seat in
community worship, you must come to the chapel before twelve o’clock.
5. Common introductory words should be followed by a comma
(yes, however, well)
Yes, the lecture will
be conducted at three o’clock on Thursday afternoon.
6. Use a pair of commas to set off clauses, phrases and
words that are NOT essential to the meaning of the sentence
The United States,
which is my home country, is located in North America.
I enjoy matooke,
however, I dislike posho.
7. Use commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives
that describe the same noun
He was a difficult,
stubborn student.
The powerful,
relentless rain soaked the students walking across campus.
8. Use commas when punctuating quotations
The student asked
their lecturer, “Will the final exam be difficult?”
“I will turn in my
coursework,” the student assured the lecturer, “before the due date.”
9. Use commas to set off all geographical names, items in
dates,, addresses, and titles in names
St. Louis, Missouri is
located in the middle of the United States.
Today is November 15,
2013.
Dr. Watuulo, Ph.D.,
will be the featured speaker at the conference.
One of the problems that students have is identifying if
clauses are essential or nonessential. Here are some tips:
·
If you leave out the clause, phrase, or word,
does the sentence make sense?
·
Does the clause, phrase, or word interrupt the
flow of words in the original sentence?
·
If you move the element to a different position
in the sentence, does the sentence still make sense?
If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions,
than the element is nonessential and should be set off with commas.
Essential (no commas) versus nonessential (commas)
Students who cheat
only harm themselves.
Daniel, who often
cheats, is just harming himself.
The student wearing
a black skirt is my daughter.
My daughter, who
attends UCU, is wearing a black skirt.
The candidate who
has the least money lost the election.
The Democratic
candidate, who has the least money, lost the election.
Adapted from Purdue Online Writing Lab
(owl.english.purdue.edu)
