Commas Stop Cannibalism

Okay. I can’t keep it in any more. I’ve been trying to suppress my inner Grammar Queen – since I am an English teacher and all – but I can’t do it any more. I’m doing this because I love you.

A lot of people on the Internet really struggle with grammar, and there are a couple of areas in particular. Today we’re talking about commas because if I see one more comma just in the middle of a sentence for NO REASON I’m going to lose it.

(Note: I’m totally fine with people leaving out commas for style, especially when it’s apparent. Blog posts/Facebook/etc. aren’t essays being graded and I understand that. However, just having commas in for no particular reason is really, really annoying. Oh, and commas can completely change the meaning of a sentence!)

There are 6 rules in particular that we’re going to talk about today. There are a bunch of other rules, and they are about combining sentences and other randomness. I may make another post just about them because they are more complicated. Read this post, pin it so you can refer back if you forget, and please remember this going forward.

Use a comma or commas to separate an appositive (a noun immediately following another noun that renames the first noun).

Examples:

My hosting site, Blogger, is easy to use.

It is easy to use my hosting site, Blogger.

Note – do not set off the appositive if it is a blood relationship or close relationship that cannot change.

Examples:

My sister Emily goes to Boston University.

The movie was about Edward the Confessor.

Use a comma or commas to separate a noun that calls the name of the person or thing to which you are speaking.

Example:

Becca, have you seen Erin’s new blog post yet?

This is one way that commas change the sentence! What is the difference between, “Let’s eat Grandma!” and, “Let’s eat, Grandma!”? Cannibalism! 

Use a comma after introductory words and phrases. This rule also helps with combining sentences and the other 2 comma rules.

Examples:

Yes, you are reading a blog post about comma rules right now.

Once upon a time, there was blog post about commas.

Use commas to set off words inserted, but they’re not really needed. If you take these out, the meaning of the sentence does not change.

Examples:

Blogger, a website many bloggers use, is a Google website.

Use a comma or commas to separate the exact words of a speaker from the rest of the sentence.

Examples:

Becca said, “I love the sassy hair flip emoji.”

“I also love that emoji,” Kate replied, “but I’ve been using the heart eye emoji a lot recently.”

Use commas to separate three or more items in a series of words, phrases, or clauses.

Examples:

Bloggers should use social media sites like Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook.

She wrote her blog post, created images for it, scheduled it, and scheduled promotions for it.

Note – if you have the word “and” in between each item, you do not use commas.

Examples:

She wrote her blog post and created images for it and scheduled it.