Reviewing How to Use Commas
SAWYER: You're in my light, sticks.
SHANNON: Lightsticks? What the hell is that?
SAWYER: Light, comma, sticks. As in those legs of yours.
(White Rabbit 1x05)
We all know what a comma is, right? A comma is a punctuation mark that separates parts of a sentence and usually shows where you should take a breath when reading. For example: Rousseau moved through the jungle, looked carefully around the Black Rock and spotted a man dangling from her trap. Yet this deceptively easy explanation can in reality be inordinately complicated. Sometimes I find myself using too many commas, not using enough and falling for the dreaded, but oh, so easy to use comma splice. (It's possible I've misused commas right here.) So I welcome members to set me straight and discuss their own comma hang-ups and questions. In the meantime, here are some examples on how to use and misuse commas.
1. Common Uses for Commas
a) Lists nouns, verbs, adjectives and clauses in a sentence:
Charlie rummaged through the magazines, toiletries and booze in Sawyer's stack.
Jin caught, cleaned, cooked and served the fish.
Nikki thought Paulo was dumb, arrogant and sexy.
Jack clamped the artery, sutured the wound, stitched up Boone’s leg, and collapsed in exhaustion.
Michael froze the gauge, Desmond wrung his hands, and Jin looked pensive.
b) Join two clauses together with a coordinating conjunction:
Sun lives in Seoul, and co-owns Paik Enterprises.
Ethan is Canadian, but he is also a liar.
Ben could cook a ham, or Juliet could bake some muffins.
Aaron was sick, so Claire took him to see Jack.
Because his car is cursed, Hurley doesn’t want his Camaro.
Since the museum was closed, Mr. Widmore went to the auction house.
Eko is a drug runner, while Yemi is a priest.
Examples are adapted from this the University of Victoria's online grammar course.
2. Punctuating Dialogue
a) All talking needs to be surrounded by quotation marks. Instead of using a period at the end of the speech, use a comma, if you are going to tell who is talking. The comma has to go inside the quotation marks.
“She was just swimming this morning and got caught in a riptide,” Jack explained. “We've been here 6 days and I never talked to her. Never said a word to her.”
b) If you use a question or exclamation mark, you don't need to change to a comma.
“You haven't found a hairbrush in there, have you?” Claire asked.
“The pregnant lady fell down!” Walt exclaimed.
c) If you have interrupted speech, to let the reader know who is speaking, a comma is needed before the break, and after the speaker's name.
“When the others find out the water's gone,” Locke said, “it's going to get ugly. And when they find out that someone pinched it, it's going to get uglier.”
Adapted from this Dialogue Punctuation Exercise.
3. Comma Splices
a) Comma splices incorrectly join two complete sentences with a comma.
Ben went to see Jacob, he needed to ask him how to move the island.
This sentence is incorrect because “Ben went to see Jacob” and “he needed to ask him how to move the island” are both complete sentences. A comma alone cannot join two sentences. To fix a comma splice, you can used a period, use a semicolon or add a conjunction.
Ben went to see Jacob. He needed to ask him how to move the island.
Ben went to see Jacob; he needed to ask him how to move the island.
Ben went to see Jacob, for he needed to ask him how to move the island.
Ben went to see Jacob because he needed to ask him how to move the island.
b) There are acceptable comma splices. If the independent clauses are very short, especially if the subject is the same for both clauses, then a comma splice is probably acceptable.
I came, I saw, I conquered.
When fairly short independent clauses express contrast, a comma splice is often the most effective way to punctuate the sentence. This is especially true if the first clause makes a negative statement, the second an affirmative one, or if the first clause is affirmative, and the second is negative (as in one form of question).
This is my father, that is my uncle.
Some people find living on the island easy, some find it excruciatingly difficult.
It's not a mango, it's a coconut.
We aren't living at the beach, we're living at the caves.
You heard the monster last night, didn't you?
Comma splices are also acceptable to use in dialogue as away to convey a person's casual cadence.
"Ben went to see Jacob, he needed to ask him how to move the island," wheezed Hurley.
Adapted from The Grammar Outlaw: The Comma Splice, AKA The Sentence Splicer and When Is a Comma Splice NOT an Error?
4. Resources
Eats,Shoots & Leaves: the Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
BBC Comma Quiz
Salon Article: Has Modern Life Killed the Semicolon?
SHANNON: Lightsticks? What the hell is that?
SAWYER: Light, comma, sticks. As in those legs of yours.
(White Rabbit 1x05)
We all know what a comma is, right? A comma is a punctuation mark that separates parts of a sentence and usually shows where you should take a breath when reading. For example: Rousseau moved through the jungle, looked carefully around the Black Rock and spotted a man dangling from her trap. Yet this deceptively easy explanation can in reality be inordinately complicated. Sometimes I find myself using too many commas, not using enough and falling for the dreaded, but oh, so easy to use comma splice. (It's possible I've misused commas right here.) So I welcome members to set me straight and discuss their own comma hang-ups and questions. In the meantime, here are some examples on how to use and misuse commas.
1. Common Uses for Commas
a) Lists nouns, verbs, adjectives and clauses in a sentence:
Charlie rummaged through the magazines, toiletries and booze in Sawyer's stack.
Jin caught, cleaned, cooked and served the fish.
Nikki thought Paulo was dumb, arrogant and sexy.
Jack clamped the artery, sutured the wound, stitched up Boone’s leg, and collapsed in exhaustion.
Michael froze the gauge, Desmond wrung his hands, and Jin looked pensive.
b) Join two clauses together with a coordinating conjunction:
Sun lives in Seoul, and co-owns Paik Enterprises.
Ethan is Canadian, but he is also a liar.
Ben could cook a ham, or Juliet could bake some muffins.
Aaron was sick, so Claire took him to see Jack.
Because his car is cursed, Hurley doesn’t want his Camaro.
Since the museum was closed, Mr. Widmore went to the auction house.
Eko is a drug runner, while Yemi is a priest.
Examples are adapted from this the University of Victoria's online grammar course.
2. Punctuating Dialogue
a) All talking needs to be surrounded by quotation marks. Instead of using a period at the end of the speech, use a comma, if you are going to tell who is talking. The comma has to go inside the quotation marks.
“She was just swimming this morning and got caught in a riptide,” Jack explained. “We've been here 6 days and I never talked to her. Never said a word to her.”
b) If you use a question or exclamation mark, you don't need to change to a comma.
“You haven't found a hairbrush in there, have you?” Claire asked.
“The pregnant lady fell down!” Walt exclaimed.
c) If you have interrupted speech, to let the reader know who is speaking, a comma is needed before the break, and after the speaker's name.
“When the others find out the water's gone,” Locke said, “it's going to get ugly. And when they find out that someone pinched it, it's going to get uglier.”
Adapted from this Dialogue Punctuation Exercise.
3. Comma Splices
a) Comma splices incorrectly join two complete sentences with a comma.
Ben went to see Jacob, he needed to ask him how to move the island.
This sentence is incorrect because “Ben went to see Jacob” and “he needed to ask him how to move the island” are both complete sentences. A comma alone cannot join two sentences. To fix a comma splice, you can used a period, use a semicolon or add a conjunction.
Ben went to see Jacob. He needed to ask him how to move the island.
Ben went to see Jacob; he needed to ask him how to move the island.
Ben went to see Jacob, for he needed to ask him how to move the island.
Ben went to see Jacob because he needed to ask him how to move the island.
b) There are acceptable comma splices. If the independent clauses are very short, especially if the subject is the same for both clauses, then a comma splice is probably acceptable.
I came, I saw, I conquered.
When fairly short independent clauses express contrast, a comma splice is often the most effective way to punctuate the sentence. This is especially true if the first clause makes a negative statement, the second an affirmative one, or if the first clause is affirmative, and the second is negative (as in one form of question).
This is my father, that is my uncle.
Some people find living on the island easy, some find it excruciatingly difficult.
It's not a mango, it's a coconut.
We aren't living at the beach, we're living at the caves.
You heard the monster last night, didn't you?
Comma splices are also acceptable to use in dialogue as away to convey a person's casual cadence.
"Ben went to see Jacob, he needed to ask him how to move the island," wheezed Hurley.
Adapted from The Grammar Outlaw: The Comma Splice, AKA The Sentence Splicer and When Is a Comma Splice NOT an Error?
4. Resources
Eats,Shoots & Leaves: the Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
BBC Comma Quiz
Salon Article: Has Modern Life Killed the Semicolon?