More on commas:

Hello All!

As requested, here is a bit more explanation on how to use a comma.

However, let’s first talk about punctuation in general. Basically, the idea of punctuation is to make a written text’s meaning clear and easy to understand for the reader. So, the purpose of a comma is to assist the reader in understanding what you, as the writer, want to tell them. I hope that when you look at it from this perspective, the whole “comma-thing” becomes more logical.

So, let’s start with the listing comma. A listing comma is used to separate items in a list. They help the reader understand that the items are separate and not one thing.

Here’s an example:

I am going to visit Mary, Jane and Jessica when I am in New Jersey.

The comma between Mary and Jane tells the reader that these are two separate people rather than one person called “Mary Jane”.

Not only the omission of a comma can confuse the reader, but also the use of a comma when it is not needed can change the meaning of a sentence. Here’s the well-known example Lynne Truss uses in her book on punctuation:

A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.

‘Why?’ asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

‘Well, I’m a panda’, he says, at the door. ‘Look it up.’

The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. ‘Panda: large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots, and leaves.‘

(Taken from Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eats,_Shoots_&_Leaves)

By adding a comma after the words “eats” and “shoots”, the reader understands that these are actions that are listed in subsequent order. Obviously, the words “shoots” and “leaves” are not verbs but nouns – which are what a panda usually eats.

A panda eats shoots and leaves.   

And that is what I am going to leave you with today! Next time, I’ll talk about something a little trickier with regard to commas.   

Have a good week!

Julia

References:

Truss, L., 2003, Eats, Shoots & Leaves, London: Profile Books, ISBN 1-86197-612-7