Comma VS. Semicolon By: Emily and Kennedy

The comma and semicolon are both punctuation marks that indicate a pause, but they are used at different times.

Use a comma… After every item in a series except the last. These items might include nouns, verbs, phrases, or other parts of a sentence.  Example: The dog barked, jumped, and rolled over. (verbs)  Timmy, Tommy, Tristan, and Trevor went home. (nouns)  Rebecca ran down the hill, across the bridge, and into town. (phrases)

Use a comma… When two or more adjectives precede a noun. Use a comma after everyone except the last one.  Example: The forlorn, hungry dog followed him home.  *****When two adjectives are used to express a single idea, commas are not used.  Example: We bought a shiny red wagon for my little brother.

Use a comma… To separate an introductory word, clause, or phrase from the rest of the sentence.  Example: No, I don’t like spinach.  There are, I believe, two choices.

Use a comma… To set off a noun of direct address or appositives. (Appositives: are words that are placed immediately after other words to make those other words clearer and more definite)  Noun of Direct Address: Come over here, Julie, to get the homework you missed.  Appositive: Mrs. Smith, my neighbor, is in Florida.

Use a comma… When writing the date. Put a comma in-between the day of the week and the month, and in- between day of the month and the year.  Wednesday, March 6 th, 2013

Use a comma… Before conjunctions such as but, because, so, etc.  Example: Samantha excels at drawing, but also math.

Use a semicolon… To connect two independent clauses.  Instead of saying: The ice cream truck man drove by my house today. He had a weird mustache.  You can can say: The ice cream truck man drove by my house today; he had a weird mustache.  Using a semicolon is almost like expanding onto the previous statement.

Answer a question to get a candy. Test Your Skills!

Put a comma(s) in the following sentence: Suzanne washed her face brushed her teeth and put her pajamas on. Suzanne washed her face, brushed her teeth, and put her pajamas on.

Fill in the blank with a comma, or a semicolon: She saw the car__ it had stalled. She saw the car; it had stalled

Put commas in the following date: Thursday September 17 th 1996 Thursday, September 17, 1996

Add a commas(s) to the following sentence: Lucy had a bright yellow dress on. Trick question: no commas need to be added to this sentence, because the adjectives in the sentence are expressed as a single idea.

Put a comma in the following sentence. Yes Kieran did the science project. Yes, Kieran did the science project.

Is the semicolon and comma use in the following sentence right or wrong? When dinosaurs agree on something, they’ll often high five one another; dinosaurs are all about high fives. Right!

Say a sentence that contains one or more commas. Say a sentence that contains a semicolon.

The End