12 Uses, 11 Misuses
The comma (,) marks the slightest possible separation in ideas or grammatical construction—especially between words, phrases, and clauses.
452 Use a comma when you join two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction (such as “and,” “but,” “nor,” “or,” “so,” or “yet”).
• Two or three of the spectators were sniffling, and one was weeping loudly. (Stephen Crane)
• Dirk was going home to dinner, and I proposed to find a doctor. (W. Somerset Maugham)
• It was an unscheduled stop, and the platform of the small station was crowded with people. (Ayn Rand)
• It is true that the exact historical connections are often hard to establish, but a social context must always be presumed. (F. W. Bateson)
453 Use a comma after a transitional word or phrase (though not “and,” “but,” “for,” “so,” or “yet”), an introductory phrase (especially a long one), or a subordinate clause that precedes an independent clause.
• Nevertheless, the conditions behind the kitchen door were suitable for a pigsty. (George Orwell)
• Aside from that remark, all our conversation was about personalities. (Theodore H. White)
• Taking out the crumpled paper, I looked at the telephone number. (Ralph Ellison)
• For the most part, we come to works of art when the labels have already been pasted on. (Roger Shattuck)
454 Use a pair of commas to mark the beginning and end of a nonrestrictive phrase or clause—that is, either an appositive or a phrase or clause that gives incidental or descriptive information that isn’t essential to the meaning of the sentence.
• A sensitive person is one who, because he has corns himself, always treads on other people’s toes. (Oscar Wilde)
• He is, as we say, a creature of circumstance. (A. R. Orage)
• The indecencies and the double meanings of Sterne, if anything, intensify the solitude. (V. S. Pritchett)
• If, when he rose, the bench did not rise with him, the ale was understrength. (Frank Muir)
455 Use a comma to separate items in a series—including the next-to-last and last (but never before an ampersand).
• Archer was not such a simpleton as to be unaware that some women are vulgar, violent, and immodest according to Victorian conceptions of modesty. (George Bernard Shaw)
• I noticed that Wilde, Baudelaire, and Swinburne are stacked up beside Joyce as rivals in decadence and intellect. (Hart Crane)
• A steady stream of articles, letters, communications, documents, and committee reports flowed from his facile pen. (Henry Steele Commager)
• The air was foul with the stench of bilge, the reek of the untrimmed lamps, the exhalation of so many breaths, and the stale smell of warm bedding. (Frank Norris)
456 Use a comma to separate adjectives that each qualify a noun (or adverbs that each qualify an adjective) in parallel fashion—that is, when “and” could appear between the modifiers without changing the meaning of the sentence, or when you could reverse the modifiers’ order without affecting the meaning.
• The Brite brothers were ingenious, self-reliant men. (Erle Stanley Gardner)
• Every year I have stupid, lazy greenhorns to deal with. (Eugene O’Neill)
• No writer seems more hopelessly, inexpugnably preppy than Salinger. (Wilfrid Sheed)
• It was blindingly, glaringly hot. (Margaret Mitchell)
457 Use a comma to distinguish indirect from direct speech.
• And she said, “Please never look at me like that.” (Ernest Hemingway)
• “Tell me again,” she begged, moving over to one end of her boulder. (Dashiell Hammett)
• He took a breath and let it out and at last said, “No, I don’t mean that.” (Ray Bradbury)
• “There, sir,” said the butcher, “that’s how we do it in Leadenhall Market, asking your pardon.” (Patrick O’Brian)
458 Use commas to separate the parts of full dates and addresses, but (1) omit any comma before a zip code; (2) when writing just the month and the year, don’t separate them with a comma (July 2005); and (3) when writing the month, day, and year, omit the comma after the year if you’re using the date as an adjective (the November 20, 2006 meeting).
• Exactly fifty-two B-17s were available for service as late as May 1940. (David M. Kennedy)
• Lamon gained access to Pinkerton’s February 23, 1861 report, in which the detective recounted the name-leaking episode. (Michael J. Kline)
• The Wilsons managed to live and ride in comparative peace for about four years, until February 2, 1872, when the boys rode into Trinidad, and George Wilson began gambling at the Exchange Saloon. (J. Evetts Haley)
459 Use commas to separate thousands written numerically—but not strings of numbers that are not considered in thousands.
• Mostly out of laziness, I decide to start my low-wage life in the town nearest to where I actually live, Key West, Florida, which with a population of about 25,000 is elbowing its way up to the status of a genuine city. (Barbara Ehrenreich)
• The median net worth of black households in this country is $4,604, or just one-tenth the median net worth of white families—$44,408. The comparable figure for Hispanics is $5,345. (Carl T. Rowan)
• Here you’d find yourself on the wrong side—it’s they who stand for the individual and we just stand for Private 23987. (Graham Greene)
460 Use a comma to set off a name, word, or phrase used as a vocative.
• Mother, I have nothing particular to write about. (Walt Whitman to his mother)
• Look to your daughter, Archie. (Carl Sandburg to Archibald MacLeish)
• Are you well, dear Victoria? (Aldous Huxley to Victoria Ocampo)
• Listen, you contumacious rat, don’t throw your dreary tomes at me. (Alexander Woollcott to Ira Gershwin)
461 Use a comma before a direct question contained within another sentence.
• You begin to ask the question, Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that is two-thirds water? (Martin Luther King Jr.)
• As some of the children ask, we must ask, Why do people no longer suffice? (Sherry Turkle)
• We can pose the question, Where did these attitudes and behavior originate? (Cathy J. Cohen)
• The answer I like best to the query, What is ethology? is the charge given in Tinbergen’s questions: What is the function and history of each behavior pattern? How does it develop? What is the mechanism? (Peter H. Klopfer)
462 Use a comma before “etc.” and “et al.”—and equivalent phrases, such as “and so forth” and “and the like”—when they are the final items in a list, unless they follow only a single item.
• Foods rich in soluble fiber like oats, beans, barley, and many fruits and vegetables (apples, oranges, carrots, etc.) should make up one-quarter of your total fiber intake for the day. (Bonnie Taub-Dix)
• An analysis of the dramas of Ibsen, Shaw, Oscar Wilde, et al. wouldn’t necessarily lead one to suspect the fact. (William Morgan Hannon)
• The continent has been overrun by imposters of celebrities, writers, actors, and so forth. (Tennessee Williams)
• Jones et al. were of the opinion that the epidermal damage appeared more consistent with mechanical rather than chemical action. (Graham C. Kearn)
463 For informal letters, use a comma after the salutation.
• Dear Sir, . . . (Thomas Babington Macaulay to Henry S. Randall)
• Dear Noel, . . . (Alexander Woollcott to Noel Coward)
• Dear Ian, . . . (Raymond Chandler to Ian Fleming)
464 Don’t use a comma between a subject and its verb, except to set off a nonrestrictive phrase or clause.
Not this: Everything else on the farm, was destroyed.
But this: Everything else on the farm was destroyed.
Not this: The bowers and arbors in these villa gardens, are among the loveliest we’ve seen.
But this: The bowers and arbors in these villa gardens are among the loveliest we’ve seen.
Okay: The Vespa, somehow, was far more stable than I had expected and wonderfully easy to ride.
Better: The Vespa was somehow far more stable than I had expected and wonderfully easy to ride.
Or this: Somehow, the Vespa was far more stable than I had expected and wonderfully easy to ride.
An errant, or superfluous, or omitted comma may work great havoc.
—G. H. Vallins
Good English: How to Write It
465 Don’t use a comma between a verb and its object, except to set off a nonrestrictive phrase or clause.
Not this: Not wanting to make a scene, she released, grudgingly, her hold on the necklace.
But this: Not wanting to make a scene, she grudgingly released her hold on the necklace.
Not this: Just before he hit, at full speed, the rough stone wall of the pool, the All-American freestyler tucked his chin, swung his legs over his head, and flipped over.
But this: Just before he hit the rough stone wall of the pool at full speed, the All-American freestyler tucked his chin, swung his legs over his head, and flipped over.
Not this: Nobody thought it possible to thread, so perfectly, the needle the way Stockton could.
But this: Nobody thought it possible to so perfectly thread the needle the way Stockton could.
466 Don’t use a comma to set off a quotation that blends into the rest of the sentence.
Not this: Later on I would learn that my wife referred to me in public as, “a king-sized botfly.”
But this: Later on I would learn that my wife referred to me in public as “a king-sized botfly.”
Not this: A good invention in Canada and the northern part of the States is, “the picnic area.”
But this: A good invention in Canada and the northern part of the States is “the picnic area.”
Not this: Waving her rolling pin angrily, the baker chased the young boys down the alley, screaming at them to, “get lost.”
But this: Waving her rolling pin angrily, the baker chased the young boys down the alley, screaming at them to “get lost.”
467 Don’t use commas to set off an adverb thought to need emphasis.
Not this: Meanwhile, he worked, entirely, by himself.
But this: Meanwhile, he worked entirely by himself.
Not this: There was nothing else to do but release, squirming and thrashing, the cat cradled in her arms.
But this: There was nothing else to do but release the squirming and thrashing cat cradled in her arms.
468 Don’t use a comma in the second part of a compound predicate—that is, when a second verb has the same subject as an earlier one.
Not this: He hated sitting in the armchairs, but felt much more at ease in the kitchen chairs.
But this: He hated sitting in the armchairs but felt much more at ease in the kitchen chairs.
Not this: Mrs. Phancey insisted that the motel was defenseless, and said that we should screw down everything that could be screwed down.
But this: Mrs. Phancey insisted that the motel was defenseless and said that we should screw down everything that could be screwed down.
Not this: Then I felt afraid again, and resumed paddling furiously.
But this: Then I felt afraid again and resumed paddling furiously.
469 Don’t use a comma as if it were a strong mark—a period, a semicolon, a colon, or an em-dash—to splice together independent clauses.
Not this: It all came about in the most ordinary way, one evening, after the customary men’s meeting, the old man came home with a sorrowful countenance.
But this: It all came about in the most ordinary way. One evening, after the customary men’s meeting, the old man came home with a sorrowful countenance.
Or this: It all came about in the most ordinary way: one evening, after the customary men’s meeting, the old man came home with a sorrowful countenance.
Not this: He was trumpeting away with euphoria, however, there was little cause for it.
But this: He was trumpeting away with euphoria; however, there was little cause for it.
Or this: He was trumpeting away with euphoria; but there was little cause for it.
Or this: He was trumpeting away with euphoria—but there was little cause for it.
Misleading punctuation . . . introduces uncertainty as to an author’s meaning. And any oddities in punctuation divert the reader’s attention from the subject matter.
—Reginald O. Kapp
The Presentation of Technical Information
470 Generally, don’t use a comma after a sentence-starting conjunction.
Not this: But, too often, the people who talk this way go on to churn out the ancient formulas we have been listening to for a whole lifetime.
But this: But too often, the people who talk this way go on to churn out the ancient formulas we have been listening to for a whole lifetime.
Not this: And, you mustn’t think that he was a cold and unemotional man.
But this: And you mustn’t think that he was a cold and unemotional man.
471 Don’t omit a second comma after a word or phrase set off from the rest of the sentence by a preceding comma (unless the word or phrase ends the sentence).
Not this: In the autumn of 1540, six months after Coronado left Compostela several fragments of his little army were widely scattered throughout the interior of North America.
But this: In the autumn of 1540, six months after Coronado left Compostela, several fragments of his little army were widely scattered throughout the interior of North America.
Not this: A university, in a burst of ecumenism appoints a voodoo priest-in-residence.
But this: A university, in a burst of ecumenism, appoints a voodoo priest-in-residence.
Not this: In many industries, large and small development of new products has been severely slowed.
But this: In many industries, large and small, development of new products has been severely slowed.
472 Don’t use commas to set off a restrictive phrase, clause, or appositive—one that is essential to the meaning of the sentence.
Not this: Each of us agreed to give $50, to finance the first issue.
But this: Each of us agreed to give $50 to finance the first issue.
Not this: He briefly plunged into city affairs, with ardor and courage.
But this: He briefly plunged into city affairs with ardor and courage.
Not this: He told the truth in a powerful book, that was so true no publisher would take it.
But this: He told the truth in a powerful book that was so true no publisher would take it.
Not this: My daughter, Beulah, is more theatrical than her sisters.
But this: My daughter Beulah is more theatrical than her sisters.
Not this: To have characters tell their own story, on a stage, raises problems distinct from those involved in putting the story between the covers of a novel.
But this: To have characters tell their own story on a stage raises problems distinct from those involved in putting the story between the covers of a novel.
Not this: The words, that determine the subject matter of modern discussions of art, emerge fairly clearly in these statements.
But this: The words that determine the subject matter of modern discussions of art emerge fairly clearly in these statements.
Not this: The century, that gave us Shakespeare, witnessed some of the greatest epics in world history.
But this: The century that gave us Shakespeare witnessed some of the greatest epics in world history.
473 Don’t use commas around suffixes following names, such as Jr., Sr., III, Inc., and Ltd.
Not this: Sammy Davis, Jr.
But this: Sammy Davis Jr.
Not this: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
But this: Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
Not this: Davis Love, III
But this: Davis Love III
Not this: Penrose Books, Ltd.
But this: Penrose Books Ltd.
Not this: Forever 21, Inc.
But this: Forever 21 Inc.
474 Don’t use a comma to separate adjectives that are not coordinate—that is, when one or more of the adjectives form a unit with the noun they modify.
Not this: He wore a brown, fishing hat.
But this: He wore a brown fishing hat.
Not this: They lived in a brown, brick house.
But this: They lived in a brown brick house.
Not this: Hayden stayed in their upstairs, guest bedroom.
But this: Hayden stayed in their upstairs guest bedroom.