ECHO: Rules For Commas

Rule 1:

In a series of 3 or more:

• words (go, went, and gone)
• phrases: (in a minute, in an hour, or in a month)
• clauses: (he went, he saw, and he conquered)

Rule 2:

After transitional words (TW), transitional phrases (TP), or long introductory phrases (-ing) of four or more words:

Rule 3:

When speaking to someone (direct address): Jerry, come home.

• Before direct address: Come home, Jerry.
• Around direct address: This time, Jerry, I won't take it.

Rule 4:

Around nonrestrictive appositives (words which rename a noun):

• Robert Frost, an outspoken man, was a speaker for New Englanders. (BUT NOT IF the appositive is short & necessary to understand the sentence.)
• The poet Robert Frost was a speaker for New Englanders. (usually, one or more adjectives will precede the appositive if commas are to be used.)

Rule 5:

When using interrupters or parenthetical expressions:

• I want cookies, not cake, for dinner.

Rule 6:

After the day of the month and year if followed by more words:

• May 13, 1980, was my birthday.

Rule 7:

After street address, after city, and after state (IF followed by more words)

• I have lived at 210 Oakwood, Clinton, Oklahoma, for three years.
• Go to the College at 7777 S. May, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73159. (No comma between state and ZIP.)

Rule 8:

When connecting Independent and Dependent Clauses:

	IC	(, and, but, or)	IC	(Option 1 Coordination / Subordination)
	IC	(NO COMMA)	DC	(Option 4 Coordination / Subordination)
(If) (Although) (Because)	DC	(,)	IC	(Option 5 Coordination / Subordination)

The word introducing the DC clause at the beginning of a sentence must be capitalized

Rule 9:

When you answer "Yes" or "No" in a sentence, use a comma:

• Yes, I will.
• No, there will be no test today.

Rule 10:

Use a comma around non-restrictive words and phrases in a sentence:

• Tom, who lives next door, works for IBM.
• The man who won the Oscar is the best actor of all.

Rule 11:

Use a comma when necessary to avoid confusing your reader:

• After eating the child fell asleep.
• After eating, the child fell asleep.