Article of the Month
Commas:
The Traffic Cops of Meaning
c.
2004 by Alicia Rasley
An accomplished prose stylist is distinguished most quickly by her comma use. Most good readers can tell within a paragraph if this writer knows the basics of sentence construction and punctuation. Commas are like traffic signals within a sentence, functioning like periods within paragraph-- separating sentence elements as units of meaning. We read everything as a unit until we reach some form of punctuation. So in most cases (there are always exceptions), you'll want to group words into sentence elements, such as introductory phrases and clauses, parenthetical (interrupting) phrases, appositives (explanations or illustrations, usually of a noun).
While the "rules" are helpful, there's a good deal of flexibility in comma use. Where or whether a comma is placed can change how the reader understands the sentence. Get past the rules and concentrate on the meaning. Check out similar sentences when you're reading published books-- they've been edited and copy-edited, so the punctuation will be technically correct (though sometimes missing the nuance the writer intended!).
Everything in a sentence is built around the main clause, so it sometimes helps to take that out and isolate it so you know precisely what the sentence subject and predicate are.
For example (this is a clumsy sentence, just to show lots of different sentence elements!): (No commas first) In Sunnydale despite all her efforts the vampires' bloodlust coupled with the negligence of the authorities caused hundreds of deaths a year each one counting as a failure in Buffy's mind.
The main clause, stripped down, is The vampires' bloodlust caused hundreds of deaths a year. Everything else is a separate element. Not all necessarily must be set off by commas, but until we know the main clause, we're going to be guessing at where commas are needed for meaning.
In Sunnydale, (introductory phrase)
though she fought her hardest, (dependent clause)
the vampires' bloodlust, (main clause subject)
coupled with the negligence of the authorities, (adjectival participial phrase modifying the subject)
caused hundreds of deaths a year, (main clause predicate/verb plus direct object)
each one counting as a failure in Buffy's mind. (absolute phrase, an "almost clause", adjective modifying "deaths").
In Sunnydale, despite all her efforts, the vampires' bloodlust, coupled with the negligence of the authorities, caused hundreds of deaths a year, each one counting as a failure in Buffy's mind.
So isolate the main subject-verb clause, and then analyze from there.
Here are the most common comma issues, along with some guidelines.... again, it's the meaning that matters, so know the rules, but know your meaning too. Usually the rules and what creates the right meaning will coincide (that's why the rules evolved, because both readers and writers agree on the usual meaning). But don't go against the rules without good reason. :)
1) Introductory phrases are usually set off by a comma to make it clear what's the introductory phrase and what's the main clause.
In 1880, London citizens were paralyzed with fear because of Jack the Ripper.
Separate the intro phrase from the subject "London citizens" so that readers understand that "London" goes with "citizens" and not "1880"; it's not "In 1880 London, citizens were paralyzed...."
2) At the end of the sentence, there's more flexibility. Commas can clarify meaning, so use them if necessary.
"You are enjoying this little spot of torture, aren't you?" Spike said, sticking the poker back in the fire.
"Aren't you?" is a tag question,
and those are always set off by commas, as they are separate clauses. The
participial phrase "sticking..." is set off with a comma because it is
an action that goes along with his speech, not how he speaks-- that is,
it is a separate unit of additional meaning there. Now in Spike said
laughing I might leave off that comma because "laughing" is the way
he said it. But I might put the comma in there too, if I preferred the
rhythm that way. (With these flexible commas, you can sometimes vary the
rhythm by putting in or taking out a comma.)
3) "Direct address" means identifying the person the sentence is spoken to by name or title. Direct address is always set off by commas, no matter where it appears in the sentence. ("Set off" in the middle of the sentence means a comma before and a comma after.)
"I'm serious, Xander! Marry me, or I'll turn your metaphorical stones into actual stones," Anya said, "assuming you have any."
"You can't break me, you shameless hussy!" Spike growled, hurling the goddess back into the training room.
"Hey,
Blondie Ghost, thanks for the help." Gunn's high-five went right
through Spike's incorporeal hand.
4) Appositives are descriptors that tell more about a noun. A one-word appositive or a single name-appositive usually doesn't need a comma.
Angel looked particularly smashing in the color blue. (Blue is the appositive describing the word "color".)
Drusilla went looking for her lover William. (William is the name-appositive for "lover".)
But most appositives are set off with commas.
Buffy packed her usual weapons, wooden stakes, in her bag. (Wooden stakes is the appositive for "weapons".)
An
experienced watcher, Giles knew exactly the sort of haunts favored
by Grilsap demons.
5) Quotes and quote tags (she said) require special handling. If you attach a quote directly to a quote tag, then put a comma inside the close-quote.
"Now
don't tell me that wasn't fun," Spike said, turning an exultant game-face
to Angel and Buffy.
(BTW, question marks, exclamation
marks, and dashes at a quote's end function as punctuation-- don't need
a comma. "Now don't
tell me that wasn't fun!" Spike shouted.)
If the quote tag interrupts the speech, things get more complicated. Are you interrupting a sentence? Then comma both sides of the quote tag.
"Now, Dawn," Buffy said, "you promised to be nice to Angel."
But if there are two separate sentences, only one (usually the first) should be attached to the quote tag.
"Now,
Dawn, you promised to be nice," Buffy said. "Angel is only here to help.
Stop pretending to choke, or I'll ground you."
6) Complex and compound sentences (which have more than one clause-- subject plus predicate) very often use a comma to separate clauses.
Complex sentences have a dependent clause plus independent clause. A dependent clausehas a subject and predicate, but will be a sentence fragment if by itself as there's a "subordinating" or "dependent" conjunction that diminishes it, like although Willow never wanted to hurt anyone. There are many subordinating conjunctions, but some of the most common are although, since, because, if, after, until, as, when.
The rule of thumb is that dependent clauses -before- independent clause take a comma, while you usually don't need one when the dependent clause follows. (The reasoning is that the reader might get confused about where the main clause starts, but that's not usually a problem when the main clause comes first.)
Although Willow never wanted to hurt anyone, she was sometimes overwhelmed by the urge to exert her magical powers. (Leading dependent clause.)
Xander hadn't been able to look at Buffy since he found out that she'd been sleeping with Spike. (Trailing dependent clause.)
I tend to use a comma before a trailing dependent clause when I think it enhances the meaning of the particular sentence. That's more common with certain conjuctions, and certain situations... try the sentence both ways and see which works best for you. I notice I'll go with a comma more with a longer sentence or one with several modifiers.
After the concert, Wesley walked slowly by Fred's apartment again, though he knew she was in there with Gunn.
In this case, "slowly" and "again" are both adverbs modifying "walked", and "by Fred's apartment" and "after the concert" are a prepositional phrase acting as an adverb. (Adverbs tell how or where or when something is done-- the verb that is... how, where, and when did he walk?) With so many modifiers, I'd set off that final dependent clause so it doesn't get lost.
Compound sentences
have two independent clauses. Usually these are connected by a comma plus
a coordinating conjunction. The most common coordinating conjunctions are
and, but, so, or, then. These conjunctions "coordinate" because
they show the connection or relationship between the event or condition
in the first clause and the one in the second clause. For example, and
means "connected", but means "in conflict or in contrast", so
means "cause and effect", or means "alternatively", then
means
"sequentially in time or as a consequence".
(Independent clauses can
also be connected by a semicolon, though this should probably be rare.
But that's another article. :)
Unless the sentence is very short (Faith tried but she failed), go with a comma plus one of the conjunctions.
Angel would always be a part of her life, but maybe Spike could be too.
Lorne
pretended to be listening to her sing R-E-S-P-E-C-T, but really he was
wondering how he was going to tell Joss that WB had cancelled his frigging
show.
7) Parentheticals are comments or asides-- interruptions, usually-- which can be taken out without measurably changing the basic meaning. Parentheticals are almost always set off with a comma before and a comma after.
Either these vampire bikers were unaware that the Slayer lived in Sunnydale, or, more likely, her lethal challenge was part of the town's appeal. (More likely is the parenthetical.)
Lilah was, how shall I put it, a coldhearted bitch.
Cordelia spoke her mind, yeah, and I thought that was refreshing, not that she cared what I thought.
If the parenthetical is actually in parentheses, btw, there's usually no need for commas.
Andrew
tilted his head (another Spike-ian gesture) and listened for a demon
howl.
8) Items in a series are separated by commas. Don't pay attention to that journalistic rule that dispenses with "the terminal comma" before the and. That can confuse, and takes away a writer's flexibility.
First let's look at it that way and see what's wrong. With tears in her eyes, Buffy accepted the Best Slayer Trophy and said, "I wouldn't deserve this without the support of my vampire lovers, Xander and Willow."
Uh, Xander and Willow aren't her vampire lovers. Try it this way, the way book publishers require:
With tears in her eyes, Buffy accepted the Best Slayer Trophy and said, "I wouldn't deserve this without the support of my vampire lovers, Xander, and Willow." That makes it clear that she's thanking her vampire lovers and Xander and Willow.
Now see why it's important
to maintain the distinction created by the terminal comma. With
tears in her eyes, Buffy accepted the Best Slayer Trophy and said, "I wouldn't
deserve this without the support of my vampire lovers, Angel and Spike."
The
reader knows that Angel and Spike are the names of her vampire lovers.
That is, the lack of the terminal comma is what clues us in that
Angel and Spike are not items in a series, but rather the appositive
for the noun vampire lovers.
Just remember: Commas help
readers understand your meaning. Know what you mean, and punctuate accordingly.
:)
A fun grammar site: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/
Alicia
Rasley's writing articles can be found at www.rasley.com.
Alicia Rasley
is a 16-year member of Romance
Writers of America and Indiana
RWA, a writing teacher, and a RITA-award winning Regency author.
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