Comma Rules 1. Items in a Series Use commas to separate items in a series. Mrs.

s. Deal loves chocolate candy, chocolate ice cream, chocolate shakes, and chocolate milk. (nouns) Yesterday Mrs. Deal worked, ran errands, and watched her son play baseball. (verbs) Mrs. Deals late night ice cream sundae was cold, sweet, gooey, and crunchy from the toppings. (adjectives) Today Mrs. Deal will teach all her classes, sit in a meeting, grab a bite to eat, and go watch her son play baseball again. (word groups in a series predicates) Mrs. Deal searched for some chocolate in the pantry, in the cabinet, and under the bed. (prepositions) WHEN THE ITEMS IN A SERIES ARE JOINED BY and, or, or nor, DO NOT USE COMMAS. 2. Compound Sentences Use a comma before AND, BUT, FOR, NOR, OR SO, or YET (FANBOYS) when it joins independent clauses. Mrs. Deal will eat chocolate ice cream, AND she will cover it will chocolate syrup. Mrs. Deal will eat vanilla ice cream, BUT she will have to put chocolate candies on top. Mrs. Deal needs to go on a diet, FOR she has eaten too much ice cream! 3. Interrupters Use commas to set off an expression that interrupts a sentence. Mrs. Deals favorite desserts, chocolate and more chocolate, cost her a ton of calories. Use commas to set off appositives and appositive phrases that are not necessary to the meaning of a sentence. (An appositive is a noun or pronoun or sometimes a phrase that describes another noun beside it) According to Mrs. Deal, our language arts teacher, chocolate is the best dessert ever. Our language arts teacher, Mrs. Deal, needs to run more than three miles every morning. Use commas to set off words used in direct address. Set off the name of the person you are speaking directly to. Mrs. Deal, please explain the assignment. Youre right, Mrs. Deal, commas are easy if you study.

4. Introductory Words, Phrases, and Clauses Use a comma after certain introductory elements. Use a comma after yes, no, or any mild exclamation such as well or why at the beginning of a sentence. Yes, you may have my Snickers bar. Why, its Mrs. Deal. Well, I think we should all enjoy some chocolate.

Use a comma after two or more introductory prepositional phrases. In the candy isle on the bottom shelf, Mrs. Deal discovered a new treat. Use a comma after an introductory adverb clause. After the movie is over, Mrs. Deal will have no more candy. 5. Conventional Uses Use commas to separate items in dates and addresses Mrs. Deal was born on January 13, 1970, in Shreveport, Louisiana. Saturday, October 6, is the Georgia Bulldog football game. Mrs. Deal works at 12805 Birmingham HWY, Milton, since 2012. Use a comma after the salutation of a personal letter and after the closing of any letter. Dear Grandma and Grandpa, Love, Dear Mrs. Deal, Sincerely,