Seven Deadly Sins of Writing - Confusing Commas

Commas - which rule is it again?

Welcome to this discussion on The Seven Deadly Sins of Writing, as we continue our journey through the most common errors penned. It may surprise you to hear that commas are often one of the more confusing punctuation marks - with the exception of the dreaded semicolon, of course. It's possible the confusion stems from there being so many rules related to their use. So, let's clarify the basics.

       Rule 1.  ITEMS IN A SERIES
When you have a list of items or a series, simply add a comma between the items. Like in these examples:

List of items -   I want to take peaches, oranges, and grapes on our picnic today.
Series of clauses -  Jonathan gave me his word that he would be on time for school, that he would play nicely with his friends, and that he would not cheat on his exam.
Series of phrases -  Mom looked in her nightstand, on the bathroom counter, and on her head for her missing glasses.

       Rule 2.  SEPARATE INDEPENDENT CLAUSES
This comma rule is generally used with coordinating conjunctions: and, or, but, yet, for, nor, so. It will also contain two complete ideas, known as - you guessed it, independent clauses.

Here are a couple of examples:
       He ran down a dirt path, and then he tripped over a downed branch.
       We can go to dinner with our friends, or we can go out to eat alone.
Notice that the comma always precedes the coordinating conjunction.

       Rule 3. AFTER AN INTRODUCTORY PHRASE OR CLAUSE
This rule is phrased ‘introductory’ because the comma will be used to divide an ‘introduction’ from the ‘main idea’ of the sentence.

Like so: Rounding a bend in the canyon, we came upon a field of daisies.

       Rule 4. RESTRICTIVE / NONRESTRICTIVE SEPARATION OF CLAUSES
There are two types of clauses that can be inserted into a sentence: restrictive and nonrestrictive. A restrictive clause is an essential part of the sentence while a nonrestrictive clause is essentially a fill in or unnecessary addition to the sentence. Only nonrestrictive clauses are set apart by commas. Both types of clauses may begin with a relative pronoun: who, whom, whose, that, which. A relative pronoun simply refers to the noun/pronoun that precedes it.  This rule one can be trickier to comprehend, so let's look at a couple examples to make it a little easier to grasp.

Nonrestrictive - separated by the commas - whose is the relative pronoun of Belinda Carter.
       Belinda Carter, whose books you like, will give a lecture next week.
What makes the clause nonrestrictive is it is almost like an afterthought and doesn’t have anything to do with her giving a lecture.

 Restrictive - no commas - who is the relative pronoun of lady.
       The lady who is standing by the university president is a well-known author.
Notice no commas, even though we have a relative pronoun referencing another pronoun. There is no unessential interruptions. It's all related to what the lady author is doing. No off-topic tangents. 

       Rule 5. APPOSITIVES
Continuing with nonrestrictive and restrictive usage, we come to appositives. Appositives offer nonessential information and will be separated with commas. Sentences without an appositive will have no commas. Let’s look at a couple of examples:

With an appositive - and commas      
       Brazil, the five-time champions, surprised everyone by losing the World Cup.      
       Luciano Pavarotti, the Italian tenor, is famous for his cooking.
With no appositive - and no commas
       The Italian tenor is famous for his cooking.

       Rule 6. DIRECT ADDRESS
When carrying on a conversation, have you ever said the person's name you were speaking to? You could be speaking to anyone around you, but because you said that person's name, you are now directly addressing that individual and no one else. That is called a direct address. When you write out a direct address, there is a comma offsetting that person's name.

Like so:
       John, I know you hear me speaking to you.
       If you can hear me, John, you need to let me know.
       Either answer me or I’m leaving, John.
You'd typically include quotation marks since it is someone speaking, which we will discuss next, but you'll find some authors forego the quotations.

       Rule 7. DIRECT QUOTATIONS
When we use direct quotations it’s meant to separate the narrative portion (in this case, the person speaking) from the dialogue (what they are saying). You'll see this often in most novels.

Here are some examples:
       Emily raged, “I never want to see you again!”
       Betty said, “I really love this new blouse.”
       “If you want me to come with you, you only need to ask,” Charles replied.
       “I really hate coming to concerts,” Joseph exclaimed, “because the music is always too loud.”

       Rule 8. DATES, ADDRESSES, NUMBERS, & TITLES
This comma rule is used generally to separate different parts and to make it easier to read.
Title - you put the comma between the name and the title.
       Amanda Landy, M.Ed., opened a daycare business with her degree.
Dates - don't put a comma between the month and day
       On September 8, 1965, Jennifer Barkley was born.
Address - don't put a comma between the street number and street name or between the state and zip code
       3275 Southwest Main Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 12345
Numbers - use a comma to separate numbers into groups of three from right to left.
       300
       3,000
       30,000
       300,000
       3,000,000

Now that you know how the basic rules of commas, maybe you'll be able to catch a few of the mistakes yourself, potentially creating a cleaner manuscript for your editor and a lower editing cost for you! We’ll continue our discussion of The Seven Deadly Sins of Writing next month with overused adverbs. Until then, if you can think of further examples of confusing commas or another deadly sin you’d like us to cover – let us know in the comments.

Write without fear. Edit without mercy.
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- Barbara, Copyeditor/Proofreader

~Art shared from DeviantArt by Marta Dahlig; The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath