Comma Sense
Today’s Target/Goal
• I can review comma rules and apply them to
a variety of sentences.
Revising: Commas
• Your task
– Study the seven comma rules
– Read each sentence on the comma worksheet and
add commas using the comma rules
– Identify the rule being applied to each column
– Select two rules to practice with and write a
sentence for each rule at the bottom of the comma
worksheet
What’s wrong with this picture?
Revising: Comma Rules
• Rule 1 – First Things First
– Sentences often begin with a little something extra
– To show a word is extra, it is set off with a comma
after the word
• Sometimes that word is the name of the person to
whom you are talking
– Steven, I would like to buy a parakeet.
– Mary, would you marry me?
• Sometimes it is a word like well, oh, or however
– Well, I guess I’d like to try the escargots.
– No, I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last person on
Earth.
– Sadly, he took his bassoon and went home.
Revising: Comma Rules
• Rule 2 – Starting Stuff
– Introductory phrases and clauses can be short, like “By
the way”, but they can also be long, sometimes even
longer than the main part of the sentence
• Longer clauses are called dependent clauses because they are
dependent on the rest of the sentence
– They need the rest of the sentence to make sense
• Some introductory words include if, when, while, although, after,
because
– Comma belongs after the introductory phrase/clause
• If you eat a lot of candy of any kind and never floss or brush
your teeth, your teeth may rot.
• While we watched Steven lunge for the aquarium toppling off
the table, we all held our breath.
• In the back of the refrigerator, a moldy jar of mayonnaise sat
beside a plate of greenish-looking pork chops.
• Although he denies it, I’m not at all surprised that Steven ate
your Jell-O.
Revising: Comma Rules
• Rule 3 – Interrupters
– When you add a word or phrase in the middle of the
sentence, interrupting the flow of the sentence, you
must surround it with commas
• Steven and his brother, the one who kind of smells, walked
to school on Monday.
• The most important things the astronauts took to the
moon, not counting a ton of powdered vegetables, was a
shiny roll of duct tape.
Revising: Comma Rules
• Rule 4 – Ending Stuff
– Stuff (word and phrases) you tack onto the end of a
sentence
• I want more ice cream, Mom.
• I want it now, by the way.
• Steven wanted the lobster in the window, the one with the
sumptuous tail.
Revising: Comma Rules
• Rule 5 – Lists and Lists
– Commas can serve as little dividers in lists
– Whenever you have a list (or a series) of items, you
need to separate them so they don’t run into one
another
• Steven liked sausage, sugary cereal, and prune tarts for
breakfast.
• Sue used her babysitting money to buy Lip Smackers
bubble gum, a purple wig, and Oreos.
Revising: Comma Rules
• Rule 6 – Compounds
– A compound sentence means there are two parts to
your sentence
• If you want to get fancy, you can call those “parts”
independent clauses because each part of the sentence
could stand on its own
– Join the two independent clauses with a coordinating
conjunction (FANBOYS = For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet,
So)
• George ate an enchilada, and Julian gobbled up four tacos.
• Turkeys are not exactly known for their great brain power,
and nobody thinks that worms are likely to win
scholarships to Harvard.
Revising: Comma Rules
• Rule 7 – Side by Side
– When two adjectives occur side by side in a sentence,
they are called coordinate adjectives and should be
separated with a comma
• Steven loves playful, cuddly puppies.
• The lonely, dejected slug sat on a soggy bun.
– If the word and or or separates two adjectives, then
no comma is needed
• Steven loves playful and cuddly puppies.
• The lonely and dejected slug sat on a soggy bun.