Comma Rules 1-5 Review
1. When you have a series of three things or more, use commas to separate the
series into equal parts. Bob, John, and I went to the park on Sunday.
2. Use a comma to separate two adjectives when the word and can be inserted
between them. It was a dark, rainy night.
3. Use a comma when an –ly adjective is used with other adjectives. Ben has a
lovely, young girlfriend.
4. Use commas before or surrounding a name or title of the person being directly
address. Jason, would you like a cup of coffee? I told you before, Doctor, that I
don’t smoke.
5. Use a comma to separate the day of the moth from the year and another one after
the year. We don’t have school on February 14, 2014, so I am going to go skiing
at Tahoe.
Write a sentence for showing each of the grammar rules above.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Comma Rules 6-10
Rule 6
Use a comma to separate the city from the state and after the state in a sentence. If
you use the two-letter capitalized form of a state in a sentence, you do not need a
comma after the state.
I have lived in San Francisco, California, for 20 years.
I have lived in San Francisco, CA for 20 years.
Rule 7
Use commas to surround university degrees with names. Commas do not surround
Jr., Sr., II, III, and so forth.
Al Mooney, M.D., knew Sam Sunny Jr. and Charles Starr III.
Teresa Walton, Ph.D., will be speaking tonight at the Castro Theater.
Rule 8
Use commas to surround expressions that interrupt sentence flow.
I am, as you have probably noticed, very nervous about this.
The risk of terrorism is, in my opinion, very high at the Olympics this year.
Rule 9
When starting a sentence with a dependent clause, use a comma after it. However,
do not use a comma when the sentence starts with an independent clause followed
by a weak clause.
If you are not going to class today, I’ll get the handout for you.
I’ll get the handout for you if you are not going to class today.
Rule 10
Use a comma after phrases that are three words or longer at the beginning of a
sentence. If the phrase has fewer than three words, the comma is optional.
To apply for this job, you must have previous experience.
On February 14 many couples give each other candy or flowers.
OR
On February 14, many couples give each other candy or flowers.
Put commas I the following sentences. Some sentences may not need a comma.
1. While you're at the store please pick up milk bread eggs and orange juice.
2. Have you ever traveled to Orlando FL during the summer?
3. Rosalind Talbot Ph.D. has agreed to speak at the convention.
4. If you’d like to come along please let me know.
5. Zahara is as she mentioned before planning to call you tomorrow.
6. I can fix this hole in your jacket if you will get the needle and thread thimble
and scissors.
7. We have both a William Scott M.D. and William Scott VI listed in our town.
8. I know of no one as you might imagine who can afford that mansion.
9. You are I am sure telling the truth.
10.One of my uncle’s lives in Reno Nevada and the other one lives in Chicago
Illinois.
11.Cathy always rode her bike to school when she was a child.
12.Martin Luther King Jr. was a great man.
13.During the long wet weekend I watched a lot of TV.
14.On Tuesday afternoon Mayor Lee will visit the owners of Twitter.
15.Sue was happy to see Brain at the party. I however was very upset since we
only broke up three days earlier.