Commas

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

We use commas to separate items in a list to make it clear that they are distinct items. For example: 'I like apples, oranges, and bananas.'

Commas can change the meaning of a sentence. For example, 'Let's eat, Grandma!' means to invite Grandma to eat, while 'Let's eat Grandma!' suggests eating Grandma!

In a list of three or more items, a comma is used before 'and' (known as the Oxford comma) to separate the last item. For example: 'I have a dog, a cat, and a rabbit.'

An address should be punctuated with commas to separate the city and state. For example: 'Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania'.

A compound sentence is made up of two independent clauses joined by a conjunction, often requiring a comma before the conjunction. For example: 'I wanted to go for a walk, but it started to rain.'

A comma should be used after an introductory phrase to separate it from the main clause. For example: 'After dinner, we went for a walk.'

A comma is used in direct address to separate the name of the person being spoken to from the rest of the sentence. For example: 'Can you help me, Sarah?'

When two or more adjectives describe the same noun, they should be separated by a comma if they can be joined by 'and'. For example: 'It was a long, tiring day.'

A non-restrictive clause adds extra information to a sentence but is not essential to its meaning. It is set off by commas. For example: 'My brother, who lives in New York, is visiting.'