The English House of Commas This set of slides will illustrate the most common uses of one of the most common punctuation marks:

Commas Use a comma to signal a pause or separation between parts of a sentence.

Commas Use commas to separate three or more items in a series. (Rule 1) Example: 1.Harold brought his hamster, his turtle, and his tarantula to school. 2.The hamster slept, ate a carrot stick, and then ran on his exercise wheel.

Commas 1.I love to eat brownies cookies and candy. 2.Matt went to the park played basketball rode his bike and walked home. 3.Sarah Jessica Parker and John skated at the park after school. 4.Our parrot talks whistles sings and dances.

Use a comma and a conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so) to join two sentences together. John and Susan went to the store, but they forgot to buy a gallon of milk. My favorite hockey team is the Predators, but they lost the game on Sunday.

1.Bicycle helmets are important and they protect us. 2.We are very tired. We can rest soon. 3.I’m ready for the race. Our team is the best.

Use a comma to separate adjectives.adjectives Coaches grew weary of running practices in the drafty, dreary, dilapidated gymnasium. The designs for an expensive, modern gym should make them happy.

Use a comma to separate adjectives.adjectives 1.Italy is a beautiful fascinating country. 2.That is a gorgeous soft purse. 3.Did you see the tall dark stranger.

Examples Add commas where needed. 1.Mary George and Flora rode the bus to school each day. 2.George and Flora studied math history and science together. 3.We watched the game and Sarah played in the sand box.

Homework p. 315 Ex. 3 (1-5) p.316 Ex. 4 (1-5) p. 317 Ex. 5 (1-5)