Perfect Punctuation: Our Comrade the Comma (Pt. 3)

Interested readers can find part 1 here and part 2 here.

Continuing our extrapolation of OWL's Quick Guide to Commas, we now find ourselves with the final five comma comments:

7. Use a comma near the end of a sentence to separate contrasted coordinate elements or to indicate a distinct pause or shift.

Pretty much anytime we use an "-ing" verb (a present progressive verb) near the end of a sentence, we should have a comma handy:

Cats love to loathe others, silently ridiculing their owners with spiteful feline thoughts.

Also, when we want to contrast something, a comma helps here too;

Cats tolerate their owners, not the other way around.

8. Use commas to set off phrases at the end of the sentence that refer back to the beginning or middle of the sentence. Such phrases are free modifiers that can be placed anywhere in the sentence without causing confusion.

The difference between free and bound modifiers is simple. If we have a clause that pertains to a specific person or noun in a sentence, we need to ensure that modifier stays nearby:

Incorrect: Robert the human glared at Ramble the cat, thinking many distrustful thoughts.

The above sentence relies on readers to guess as to who is having the distrustful thoughts. Our own experience tells us that cats are, by nature, not to be trusted; however, what if Ramble was secretly a human, dressed in a creative cat disguise? Then the situation becomes much more confusing. Instead, let us write it like this:

Robert the human glared at Ramble the cat, who was thinking distrustful thoughts.

Now it is plainly clear that Ramble is thinking the distrustful thoughts.

9. Use commas to set off all geographical names, items in dates (except the month and day), addresses (except the street number and name), and titles in names.

Tragically, this is where comma guides transform into comma rules. Here are the most important ones:

Addresses:
Sentence City, State, more sentence.

Sentence Street Address, City, State, more sentence.

Titles:
Name, Title, sentence.

For example: Ramble Cat, MD, was the first housecat to ever receive a medical degree.

10. Use a comma to shift between the main discourse and a quotation.

This one is easy:

Dr. Ramble Cat glanced at my charts and then, furrowing his fuzzy brow, said, "Meow meow meow meow. Meow."

11. Use commas wherever necessary to prevent possible confusion or misreading.

This last rule encompasses a lot of potential comma situations. Basically, it's important to remember that the comma, like any other piece of punctuation, is meant to help the reader, not trouble them. Commas serve very valuable and helpful purposes, but a writer can survive without them. The life without the comma, however, is full of misinterpretation and ambiguous phrasing.

Remember, the comma is not our enemy; it is our comrade.

Bradley Woodrum also writes for Homebody and Woman and Cubs Stats and is very careful with his commas.

Perfect Punctuation: Our Comrade the Comma (pt. 2)

I Googled "Comma Kitty" and got this image. Courtesy of Flickr.

In our previous romp through the oft-trodden Comma Land, we examined OWL's first three quick and easy comma rules:

1. Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.

2. Use commas after introductory a) clauses, b) phrases, or c) words that come before the main clause.

3. Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses, phrases, and words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Use one comma before to indicate the beginning of the pause and one at the end to indicate the end of the pause.

Now, let us continue this essential examination of practical punctuation with the next three rules:

Perfect Punctuation: Our Comrade the Comma

Perk up, Persian Cat, commas aren't so cruel!

Our readers will recall how I revealed, last December, the mysterious and troubling powers of the dash. Now, we shall continue this Perfect Punctuation series with many writers' greatest hurdle: the comma!

Countless people feel as though comma rules are endless and uncertain, arcane and imperfect. To these writers, I implore greater punctuation patience. Instead of surrendering to comma catastrophes, let's just learn a little at time. Today, we're going to start with three easy comma rules from OWL:

Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.

Many grammar-nerds such as myself refer to these coordinating conjunctions as the FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so! The beauty of coordinating conjunctions is that, when paired with a comma, they are as powerful as a period! So, I could say:

I love cats. They really don't care about me.

...Or...

I love cats, yet they really don't care about me.

However, if the subject is the same on both sides (i.e. you don't have two independent sentences) then a comma is unnecessary:

I love cats fur. I really like how they generally disdain human interaction.

...If we combine them...

I love cats fur and really like how they generally disdain human interaction.

You see? No comma needed. That comma + FANBOYS tells the reader to expect a new subject (i.e. a new sentence). The exception to this rule is if the subsequent sentence is sufficiently short, like: "I like my wife and she likes me."

As the sentences grow in complexity and length, the necessity of that clarifying comma increases.

Follow the jump and watch your knowledge grow!