Commas & Introductory Phrases

A comma is a punctuation mark (,) used to indicate a pause between parts of a sentence or to separate items in a list.

You should use a comma after an introductory phrase to separate it from the main clause of the sentence.

"After dinner, we went for a walk."

An introductory phrase is a group of words that provides context or background information for the main part of the sentence.

The comma should go after 'starts': 'Before the game starts, we need to warm up.'

Commas are used in a list to separate items, making it clear that each item is distinct.

"I bought apples, oranges, bananas, and grapes."

A compound sentence is a sentence that contains at least two independent clauses joined by a conjunction.

You use a comma before the conjunction (like 'and', 'but', 'or') that connects the independent clauses.

"I wanted to go for a walk, but it started to rain."