COMMA

1.      Comma (,)

a.      Use a comma to separate things in a list or series

This comma is often referred to as serial comma/Oxford comma. Observe the following example:

(1)   She went to the market to buy apples, mangos, and oranges.

(2)   She went to the market to buy apples, mangos and oranges.

Omission of the serial comma (i.e., the comma placed immediately before coordinating conjunction [usually and, or, or, nor]) is permitted as in sentence (2). Do not omit the serial coma if the sentence will confuse the readers as in sentence (3) below:

(3)   I would like thank my parents, SBY and Syahrini.

Without a comma before conjunction and, the sentence (3) may imply that the writer's parents are SBY and Syahrini.

However, observe the following example:

(4)   The top-grossing movies of all time are currently Avatar, Titanic and Lord of the Rings.

Leaving out a serial comma in sentence (4) does not result in any confusion.

Why do we use a serial comma?

·         It helps avoid ambiguity.

·         It matches the natural speech pattern of pausing before the last item in a series.

·         It makes the list easier to comprehend.

Why do we leave out a serial comma?

·         Sometimes, it does not help clarity.

·         It is redundant—the proceeding conjunction serves the same purpose as the comma does.

·         It takes up more space.

Most editors agree that the most important thing is to be consistent; you either use it, or leave it out every time.

b.      Use a comma to offset nonessential or nonrestrictive clause and appositive proper noun/noun phrase

(5)   Her father, who visited us last week, passed away.

(6)   Our President, SBY, is to visit Garut.

c.       Do not use a comma with a restrictive clause

(7)   Drivers who exceed the speed limit are reckless.

d.      Use a comma before conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so/FANBOYS) linking independent clauses in a compound sentence

(8)   Dolphins are friendly animals, and they are also intelligent.

(9)   It is nearly half past five, so we cannot reach town before dark.

You are not supposed to use comma without conjunction to separate two independent clauses. Joining two independent clauses with a comma is called a comma splice, and that is considered an error.

(10) *It is nearly half past five, we cannot reach town before dark (comma splice).

Joining two independent clauses without appropriate punctuation or conjunction is also deemed an error. This is what-so-called a run-on sentence.

(11) *It is nearly half past five we cannot reach town before dark (run-on sentence).

e.       To avoid a comma splice, you may use a period (.) and keep the two independent clauses separated

(12)  It is nearly half past five. We cannot reach town before dark.

f.       You may also use a semicolon (;) to avoid a comma splice

(13)  It is nearly half past five; we cannot reach town before dark.

g.      Another way to avoid a comma splice is to add a subordinating conjunction and turn one of the clauses dependent

(14)  Since it is nearly half past five; we cannot reach town before dark.

h.      Use a comma after an introductory participial phrase

(14)  Using a qualitative method, this study seeks to investigate the students' responses toward GBA application to teaching speaking.

(15)  Writing with perfect grammar, I got an A.

(16)  Annoyed by the noise, the teacher spoke sharply to the class.

(17)  Having finished the homework, she went to bed.

Note: the participial phrase modifies the subject, it functions as an adjectival.

(18)  *Writing with perfect grammar, the lecturer gave me an A.

Sentence (14) means that it was the writer (subject pronoun I) who wrote with perfect grammar, and sentence (18) means the lecturer wrote with perfect grammar.

i.        Use a comma after an introductory prepositional phrase

(19)  During his visit, SBY will stay at this hotel.

j.        Use a comma after an introductory adverbial phrase or adverbial clause

(20)  Quite surprisingly, I got an A for writing.

(21)  When I arrived home, my mother was sleeping.

k.      Use a comma to separate date and year

(22)  On April 19, 2013, the study was conducted.

l.        Do not use a comma when only the month and year appear

(23)  On April 2013, the study was conducted.

m.    Use a comma to separate author and year in parenthetical citation

(24)  (Suparman, 2010)

n.      Use a comma between groups of three digits in most numbers of 1,000 or more

(25)  The questionnaire was addressed to 2,500 people.

            EXCEPTION:

            Page number                                       1029

            Binary digits                                       00110010

            Serial number                                      2203702920

            Degree of temperature                                    1500 °F

            Acoustic frequency designations        2000 Hz

            Degrees of freedom                            F(24, 1000)

o.      Do not use a comma to separate the two parts of compound predicate

(26)  She looked gorgeous and walked like an angel.

p.      Do not use a comma to separate parts of measurement

(27)  8 years 2 months

(28)  3 min 40 s

q.      Use commas between two or more coordinate adjectives independently modifying a noun

(29)  A tall, dark, and handsome man

(30)  A tall, dark, handsome man

r.       Do not use commas between cumulative adjectives

(31)  A bright red rubber glove

NOTE:

·         Coordinate adjectives are adjectives that appear in sequence with one another to modify the same noun as in phrase (29) and phrase (30).

·         Cumulative adjectives are adjectives that build on one another and together modify a noun as in phrase (31). Bright modifies red; bright red modifies rubber; bright red rubber modifies glove.

·         The easiest way to distinguish between coordinate and cumulative adjectives is by doing the "and" test. If you can separate the adjectives with and as in phrase (29), you can separate them with commas as in phrase (30).

·         Cumulative adjectives cannot be separated with and as in phrase (32), thus you cannot separate them with commas as in phrase (33).

(32)  * A bright, red, and rubber glove

(33)  * A bright, red, rubber glove