Comma Long With Me

Few elements of punctuation are as daunting as the comma. When do I use it? Where do I put it? There are rules, and sometimes controversy (Oxford commas come to mind).

Reference this article on  8 basic uses of commas:  Commas (Eight Basic Uses)

This month, we will focus on independent clauses.

An independent clause is also called the main clause. It expresses a complete thought, and it can stand alone as a sentence. Its counterpart is a dependent clause, which cannot stand alone. Dependent and independent clauses can combine to make different types of sentences.

A clause is a phrase that contains a subject and a verb or verb phrase

Every complete sentence has an independent clause, but not every sentence contains a dependent clause.

reference: Independent Clause: What It Is Explained with Examples

 

Independent Clause plus a Dependent Clause:

Boomer, a cat who started life in the park, enjoys playing in my backyard.

The independent clause in this sentence is:

Boomer enjoys playing in my backyard.

This is a complete thought, with a subject (Boomer), a verb (enjoys), and an object phrase (in my backyard). As an independent clause, the above statement does not require a comma.

The following clause is dependent, because it cannot stand alone:

a cat who started life in the park

The dependent clause is almost a parenthetical description, used to provide a little ‘background’ info on Boomer, but not essential to the main clause. When you add the two clauses togther, you need to separate them with a comma (in this case, two commas, because the dependent clause is dropped into the middle of the independent clause:

Boomer, a cat who started life in the park, enjoys playing in my backyard.

Two Independent Clauses in one Sentence:

We can connect two independent clauses in a few different ways. The first method is to use a coordinating conjunction.

There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. You can remember these with the acronym FANBOYS.

Example:

The following two clauses are independent because they can each stand alone as a complete thought:

My dog is an Australian shepherd.

I don’t have any sheep for him to herd.

When combined, they need a comma and a conjunction (but) to connect them.

My dog is an Australian shepherd, but I don’t have any sheep for him to herd.

 

You don’t have to use a coordinating conjunction to connect independent clauses. You can also use certain punctuation marks. These are semicolons, em dashes, and colons.

When you use a semicolon, you do not include a coordinating conjunction. You can use a transitional word or phrase after the semicolon, like “however” or “as a result.” These are called independent markers.

Examples:

I used to live in Montreal; however, I am not fluent in French.

We discovered the thief—it was my next-door neighbor!

You don’t usually see colons separating independent clauses. The independent clauses must be closely related to use a colon. The emphasis should also be on the second clause.

  • The results of the study surprised us: the animals responded positively to the visual stimuli.

reference: Independent Clause: What It Is Explained with Examples

I hope you have enjoyed my TED talk!

4 thoughts on “Comma Long With Me”

Comments are closed.