Let’s eat, grandma.

“Let’s eat grandma!” Or “Let’s eat, grandma.”? This week, we are going to focus on a key punctuation mark: comma. Commas (,) generally reflect pauses in speech, but it is not always that simple. Here are 8 ways you can use commas in your writing.

1. clauses connected with “and”, “but”, etc.

You put a comma before “and”, “but”, “or”, “yet”, “so” and “for” in compound sentences unless they are very short. Compare:

• She was studying hard for her IELTS exam, but most of her friends were on vacation. (long)
• She was at home but her friends were on vacation. (short)

2. after “if” clauses

When you begin a sentence with a clause containing an “if”, “when”, “because” or suchlike, a comma is necessary. Compare:

• If you go to the gym, you’ll lose weight.
• You’ll lose weight if you go to the gym.
• When John gets angry, nobody can stop him.
• Nobody can stop John when he gets angry.

3. unusual word order

If words or expressions are put in unusual places or interrupt the normal progression of a sentence, we usually separate them off by commas.

• My father, however, did not agree.
• Our team, believe it or not, almost defeated Argentina!

4. adjective

After “to be”, commas are always used between adjectives:

• The goalkeeper is tall, dark and handsome.

But commas are sometimes dropped between short adjectives.

• a tall(,) dark(,) handsome person.

Commas cannot be dropped when adjectives refer to different parts of something.

• a green, red and gold carpet (NOT a green red … )
• concrete, glass and plastic buildings

5. lists

We can use commas to separate items in a series or list.

• He speaks Farsi, English, Arabic, Spanish and German.

6. direct speech

A comma is generally used between a reporting expression and a piece of direct speech.

• He said, ‘There’s no way we can help her’.

7. numbers

Commas are used to divide large numbers into groups of three figures, by separating off the thousands and millions.

6,435                7,456,189

8. discourse markers

Discourse markers are generally followed by a comma.

• In my opinion, the way we treat animals should change.
• Apart from the soup, I thought the meal was excellent.
• To sum up, it is best to learn how to use ‘comma’ by reading English texts and paying attention to how it is used in standard English.