Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The comma is a valuable, useful punctuation device because it separates the structural elements of sentences into manageable segments. The rules provided here are those found in traditional handbooks; however, in certain rhetorical contexts and for specific purposes, these rules may be broken.

The following is a short guide to get you started using commas. This resource also includes sections with more detailed rules and examples.

Quick Guide to Commas

  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.
  4. Do not use commas to set off essential elements of the sentence, such as clauses beginning with that (relative clauses). That clauses after nouns are always essential. That clauses following a verb expressing mental action are always essential.
  5. Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses written in a series.
  6. Use commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun. Be sure never to add an extra comma between the final adjective and the noun itself or to use commas with non-coordinate adjectives.
  7. Use a comma near the end of a sentence to separate contrasted coordinate elements or to indicate a distinct pause or shift.
  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.
  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.
  10. Use a comma to shift between the main discourse and a quotation.
  11. Use commas wherever necessary to prevent possible confusion or misreading.

Resources

Communication

Campus

CLA Resources

People

Purdue OWL is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2024 by The On-Campus Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. This website collects and publishes the ideas of individuals who have contributed those ideas in their capacities as faculty-mentored student scholars. The materials collected here do not express the views of, or positions held by, Purdue University. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use. Privacy policy.