Commas Introductory Material and Other Common Usages

Introductory Material  When a subordinate clause or phrase is at the beginning of a sentence, place a comma after it.

Subordinate Clauses  All clauses contain a subject and predicate.  Subordinate Clauses cannot stand alone and begin with a subordinating conjunction  Ex:  Once the secret was out, he lost all his street credit.

Phrases  There are two kinds of phrases that require commas if found at the beginning of sentences: 1. Prepositional Phrases – begin with a preposition, i.e. in, out, above, with, to, among Ex: In the morning, dad usually make a cup of coffee 2. Participial Phrases – verbs that end in - ing or – ed; used to describe nouns Ex: Running around the house, the toddler fell down onto the carpet.

Appositives  Used to give more information about a specific noun in a sentence  Ex:  My sister, a realtor, sold an expensive house.

Essential Vs. Non-Essential Material  Use commas to separate non-essential material  NO COMMAS for essential material

Essential Material  Ex:  The chair that sat in the corner of the room broke in half.  I ate the two cookies that tasted awful.

Non-Essential Material  Ex:  My best friend left for France, which was the worst thing she could ever do.  Kevin, who ran 50 miles this morning, gave me some important advice.

Participial Phrases at the end of sentences  Ex:  We skied down the hill, hoping not to hit a tree.  The king claimed all, conquered only by his greed.

Compound Sentences  Two Independent Clauses separated by a comma and conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, so  Ex:  She swam 100 miles, but she never made it.

Not Compound Sentence  EX:  She swam 100 miles but never made it.  but never made it – missing the subject “she”