Punctuation Series: Pauses Part 1—Commas
https://teaspoon-consulting.com/articles/commas.html
Table of contents
Beth Battrick <beth@spoonfully.com>
Writer and editor @ Teaspoon Consulting
Punctuation is the set of marks that give depth, pace and force to our words. Much like the dynamics in written music, punctuation gives the reader the extra information they need to secure the tone of the text and deepen their understanding. The Punctuation series is a collection of articles detailing the use of particular punctuation types, to help you use these precision tools to their fullest advantage.
Pauses
Pauses are as critical to writing as silence is to rhythm. Without pauses to lend structure, the reader is standing in front of a firehose-like stream of information. Without pauses, the speaker is left with no room to inhale and ends up flopping on the floor like a landed fish. Pauses create space for the words to stand in.
In standard English punctuation systems, there are four primary pauses. In increasing order of pause length, they are: comma, semi-colon, colon and full stop (in US English: the period). This article will discuss the comma, and the next the semi-colon and colon; the final article in the pauses series will look at the full stop.
Commas
The comma is perhaps the most familiar punctuation mark in the English language. Certainly the most frequently used. I've used a whole bunch of them since we started this article and you probably haven't even noticed.
So when do you need a comma? Commas are the shortest pause and it's helpful to think of them as a fraction of a halt in the flow of the text. With this in mind, you can appreciate a lot of the comma's roles.
Commas are primarily used: * to mark a breath pause * to separate items in a list * to join an independent and dependent clause * for parenthetical asides.
Taking a breath
You may have been taught that a comma is a place to take a breath when reading aloud. This certainly isn't a bad piece of advice but it's not perfect either.
If you're reading text aloud, a comma—or any of the pauses, really—is usually a good sign that you've found a place to take a break. Try reading out a comma-containing piece of text without using the pause the comma provides and note how you lose the structure of the sentence (not to mention consciousness).
However, be wary: the inverse doesn't apply. If you have a block of text that's so long it needs a mid-way breath while reading aloud, or if reading aloud leads you to throw in natural pauses to help structure the meaning, those are not necessarily indicators that the written text needs a comma. It's worth your while to learn the ways of the comma and not just sprinkle them about in time with your inhalations.
Lists
Racking up bits, pause for thought
Use a comma to break up a list: it gives the reader/listener a chance to add each item to their mental construction of the sentence. Imagine they've got a mental basket and they're adding each item to the list to that basket as you go. Commas give them the space to do so.
For the bagel party, you'll need to bring smoked salmon, asparagus, parsley and bagels.
The list doesn't have to be single units, either. They can be whole concepts:
When they threw me out of the party they said I had soiled the pool, stained the couch and ruined the stereo.
WARNING: DANGEROUS COMMA USE
Now, let's talk controversy. The Oxford comma. If you thought something as tiny as a comma couldn't court controversy, you've not spent enough time on the Internet. The Oxford comma (or the serial comma, or the Harvard comma) is a comma thrown in after the second-last item on the list. So instead of:
Heads, shoulders, knees and toes.
You have:
Heads, shoulders, knees, and toes.
This is a matter on which most style guides have an opinion, so for heaven's sake, check before proceeding. Your style guide may have a very explicit stance on the matter, which you need to uphold. I quite like them, myself, although I quite see the argument that the conjunction serves the role of what would be the last comma.
As an amateur rule, non-academic publications in the US usually use it, while non-academic publications in the UK and Australia usually don't, unless its use helps clear up ambiguity and keeps the list tidy. For example, if there are items in your list that include conjunctions within them, an Oxford comma can keep it neat:
Bagel options include green eggs and ham, nuts and crackers, and peanut butter and jam.
Academic and scientific publications everywhere generally include it.
Adjective lists
When you're stringing together a long chain of adjectives leading up to a noun, use commas when you've got a few of the same type of adjective. Generally, adjectives are either coordinating (all the same type) or cumulative (all build up and modify the noun in different ways).
Cumulative adjectives can be a bit tricky, but you probably already understand intuitively: you can feel there's a difference between "a fine old wine" and "an old fine wine". The first is an old wine that is fine, the second is a fine wine that is old. Expanding on that, the first implies that there are loads of old wines that aren't fine, and so we need to specify this particular plonk by saying "a fine old wine"; the second implies there are plenty of fine wines on the market, but we're specifically looking for an old one.
On the other hand, if I say "a crunchy, tasty bagel", I'm saying there's a bagel here that has both the qualities of crunchiness and tastiness; I could just as easily say "a tasty, crunchy bagel". Those are coordinating adjectives.
Here's a string of cumulative adjectives describing the wine:
The spoiled fine old red wine splashed onto the carpet.
You can work backwards here and see that the adjectives are progressively modifying the wine. It's a red wine. It's a red wine that is old. It's an old red wine that is fine. It's a fine old red wine that is spoiled. They're accumulating: they're not coordinating; they don't need a comma between them.
The messy, shaggy, wet dog knocked over the wine.
Here's a string of coordinating adjectives. You'll see right away there's commas in there. (Note: no comma between the last adjective and the noun. I shouldn't even need to say it, but let's be clear about this.) You'll also see they're all pretty much equally qualifying the dog: the dog is wet and shaggy and messy. The dog is messy and wet and shaggy. The dog is shaggy and wet and messy. You can put an "and" between each adjective and you end up with the same meaning. You therefore need a comma.
If you're not sure whether your adjective string needs commas, see how it sounds with "and" between each adjective. If "and" sounds sensible (if cluttered), then you've probably got coordinating adjectives and they need commas. If saying "and" sounds a bit awkward (try it on the spoiled fine old red wine example above), then you're working with cumulative adjectives and you don't need commas.
Pauses between clauses
Now, this is the area of comma use that people are most likely to make mistakes, so I'm going to go into a bit of background stuff. That's right: I'm getting linguistic on y'all.
Know your clauses
Clauses are bits of a sentence. Sometimes a sentence is one clause:
I didn't eat your bagels.
Other sentences are made of clauses all joined up in various configurations.
I wouldn't eat your bagels: they're not gluten-free and you know I'm eating gluten-free at the moment.
There's at least three clauses in that example.
Clauses can be dependent or independent. Can your clause stand alone as a sentence? It's independent.
I didn't eat your bagels; they're not gluten-free.
There's two independent clauses: look, you can break that sentence into two sentences and it still makes sense.
I didn't eat your bagels. They're not gluten-free.
If your clause can't stand as a sentence on its own, then you've got a dependent clause right there. For example, if you take the sentence:
I wouldn't eat your bagels with any cheese or any sauce.
And try to break it into two sentences:
I wouldn't eat your bagels. With any cheese or any sauce.
That second sentence doesn't actually make a whole lot of sense. You need the first bit (with the bagels and the refusal and all) for the second to be meaningful. That's a dependent clause.
So that's dependent versus independent clauses. That's what we need to talk about here. How you're building your sentence determines whether and where to use a comma.
Dependent + independent
After I threw out the bagels, I locked Jim out.
Here we've got a dependent clause preceding an independent clause. The phrase "After I threw out the bagels" wouldn't make a whole lot of sense as a standalone sentence (generally). But tack an independent clause after it, and you've got a much more sensible sentence. You need that comma.
[Dependent clause] [comma] [Independent clause]
If your dependent clause comes after the independent clause, you don't need a comma at all and I would suggest removing it entirely:
I locked Jim out after I threw out the bagels.
[Independent clause] [nothing] [Dependent clause]
Independent + independent—Here be dragons
The biggest mistake people make with their commas is here: the fateful comma splice. When you tack two independent clauses together, they're not going to tolerate a mere comma. These babies are independent: give them the space they need by using a semi-colon.
I want to sit here, this is the chair closest to the bagels.
You can see straight away that those two clauses could do their own thing as sentences:
I want to sit here. This is the chair closest to the bagels.
So if you want them to hang together in the same sentence, you need to give them a bit more breathing room to stop them getting uppity about their forced collaboration. Two options: a comma plus conjunction, or a semi-colon.
I want to sit here; this is the chair closest to the bagels.
Or:
I want to sit here, since this is the chair closest to the bagels.
Choose your weapon:
[Independent clause] [semi-colon] [Independent clause]
Or:
[Independent clause] [comma plus conjunction] [Independent clause]
Dependent + dependent
HAH trick question! You're going to need an independent clause eventually, since you can't have a sentence without one. When that happens, use the dependent + independent rules, outlined above.
Parenthetical asides
If your sentence has a bit of bonus information, you may need to set it outside the stream of words to let the audience take it in as a tangent to the main activity of the sentence. Imagine reading the text aloud: you would ordinarily pause to change tone to indicate to the listener that you're adding some extra information. The commas show where you'll do that, as well as where you'll pause again to revert to your previous tone of voice.
My bagels, far better than we could have foreseen, were gone by morning.
Conclusion
Once you identify the comma's role as the shortest of the pauses, then you're ready to punctuate with supreme confidence. As ever, if you're working to a style guide, make sure you defer to its rulings.
Happy pausing!
Also....https://www.claire-chilton.com/blog/the-correct-use-of-a-comma-in-fiction
The illusive comma is a sneaky little punctuation that often sneaks into the wrong places, so I decided to write a guide on how to use a comma in fiction. Hopefully, it will help people understand the correct use of a comma in fiction. Commas have very strict rules, so there is a very clear right and wrong in using them.
Commas in fiction are used as sparingly as possible, but you need to ensure you aren’t creating a grammatical nightmare or a never-ending sentence at the same time. Often, the only commas we can ditch are the Oxford comma and prepositions.
Many new writers will misuse the comma, often using it too frequently. But, there are set rules on using commas. There are guidelines you can follow to ensure your commas are used correctly.
So let’s talk clauses and conjunctions:
That, Who and Which – Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Clauses
A restrictive clause is one that is necessary to identify the word it modifies. A restrictive clause is not offset with commas. A non-restrictive clause is additional information that requires a comma. So, you only use the comma to add additional information in this case.
Examples:
I went to London with the woman who lives next door. <= Identifies the woman, so it is a restrictive clause (no commas)
I went to London with Janet Smith, who lives next door. <= The clause modified by ‘who’ is additional information, so this is a non-restrictive clause (comma required)
With a restrictive clause, the relative pronoun (usually who or which) can be replaced with “that” or even omitted completely. If you can omit ‘who’ or ‘which’ in fiction, you should. It will remove wordiness and excess words from your prose. Wordiness and excess prose will complicate your sentences and make the book hard to read. A book should be easy to read. Readers should not have to work hard to read a book. That is the point of editing.
Examples:
The window which you smashed is over two hundred years old. <= Identifies the window, so it is a restrictive clause (no commas)
The window that you smashed is over two hundred years old. <= There is never a comma before “that” when it is used in this way.
The window you smashed is over two hundred years old. <= This is it without either restrictive or non-restrictive clauses.
These rules over-rule the conjunctions below and are based on the word the clause is modifying.
Commas with Dependent and Independent Clauses
Dependent and independent clauses together only need a comma to separate them eg:
She walked into the room, looking for Grant. Red is the independent clause (or a sentence on its own), blue is the dependent clause that cannot be a sentence on its own.
These can also be joined by a conjunction, instead of the comma. There are two kinds of conjunctions: Subordinate and coordinating conjunctions.
Subordinate Conjunctions with Independent Clauses
She walked into the room while looking for Grant. In this example ‘while’ is the subordinate conjunction. There are many subordinate conjunctions that can be used to join a dependent and independent clause. You only use a comma with a subordinate conjunction if the dependent clause is at the beginning of the sentence, for example:
While looking for Grant, she walked into the room. The subordinate conjunction is the green ‘while’, the dependent clause (not a sentence on its own) is blue and the independent clause (sentence on its own) is red.
Here is a list of the most common subordinate conjunctions:
- A after, although, as, as if, as long as, as much as, as soon as, as though
- B because, before, by the time
- E even if, even if, even though
- I if, if only, if when, if then, in order that, in case, inasmuch
- J just as
- L lest
- N now, now since, now that, now when
- O once, only if
- P provided, provided that
- R rather than
- S since, so that, supposing
- T than, that, though, till
- U unless, until
- W when, whenever, where, whereas, where if, wherever, which, while, who, whoever, why
In this case, the only time we need to use a comma with a subordinate conjunction is when the subordinate conjunction precedes the independent clause.
Subordinate Conjunctions with Two Independent Clauses
A subordinate conjunction can join two independent clauses without using a comma if they are not grammatically alike using: before, after, when, while etc.
Here are some examples:
Anne had a headache when she arrived at her flat. clause + clause
Anne called a taxi before she left her flat. clause + clause
The difference here is that the two independent clauses are describing different things, they are not similar. You could not (for example) use:
Ann called a taxi when she hailed a cab. <= It makes no sense.
Coordinating Conjunctions
The other kind of conjunction is called a coordinating conjunction. A coordinating conjunction can join a sentence with or without the use of a comma. Here is how to use a coordinating conjunction without a comma:
She walked into the room and looked for Grant. Because this is a dependent clause with an independent clause (a full sentence) there is no need for a comma. The ‘and’ (coordinating conjunction) separates the two, so the comma is not required.
However, you can separate two sentences with a coordinating conjunction too:
She walked into the room, and she looked for Grant. Because both of these are independent clauses (standalone sentences) the ‘and’ joining them needs a comma before it.
Here is a list of coordinating conjunctions. There are only seven: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
Prepositions
Prepositions are words like: with, in, upon, save, since… etc. There are many prepositions in the English Language and some may also be conjunctions, so that’s nice and confusing. But, the rules on prepositions are a fuzzy choice. The idea is that you’ll use a comma with one to make a sentence clear. So, sometimes they are necessary to make your sentence make sense. However, in modern fiction the idea is to use as few commas as possible, so ditch the Oxford comma and the preposition commas that you don’t need.
This is commas. The amount depend on the types of conjunctions and clauses you use in your sentences. There isn’t a limit, but it is wise to avoid the Oxford comma in fiction.
Hopefully this helps.
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