1. The SIX Basic Comma Rules Thanks to a great book: The LEAST You Should Know about English

2. Comma Rule #1 The Serial…Comma, not Killer… The Serial…Comma, not Killer… Place a comma between items in a series as in the example below. I have my laptop, my pens, my pencils, and my MP3 Player in my backpack.

3. Comma Rule #2 The Coordinating Conjunction Comma... Place a comma before a coordinating conjunction that joins two independent clauses. The coordinating conjunctions are: and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet. The Coordinating Conjunction Comma... Place a comma before a coordinating conjunction that joins two independent clauses. The coordinating conjunctions are: and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet. For Example: The best place to take a vacation is Chicago, but the best place to take a honeymoon is Hawaii.

4. Comma Rule #3 The Introductory Word or Phrase comma… The Introductory Word or Phrase comma… Always place a comma after an introductory word or phrase. See below. John, what are you doing to my car? OR As I walked down the street, I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in years.

5. Comma Rule #4 The Interrupting Word/Phrase Comma… The Interrupting Word/Phrase Comma… Always place a comma before and after any word or phrase that can be removed from the sentence and still make sense. For Example: John, the teacher, wrote his name on the board. OR I ran down the street, though I didn’t have to, and fell down and hurt my crown.

6. Comma Rule #5 The Concluding Word/Phrase Comma… The Concluding Word/Phrase Comma… Always place a comma before any word or phrase that is just tagged on at the end of the sentence. See below. Is that you in the corner, John? OR I hadn’t seen John in years, though that didn’t make much difference in our friendship.

7. Comma Rule #6 The Catch-all Comma…use it… The Catch-all Comma…use it… to separate numbers more than four digits long (1,000,000), to separate city from state, (Paris, Texas), to separate month & year (August 15, 1980), before and after titles (James Smith, M.D., is no longer working here.), or to prevent confusion (To err is human; to forgive, divine.)

8. PRACTICE The male slaves unlike the women were not allowed to stay on the deck after they had been fed and made to dance. The male slaves unlike the women were not allowed to stay on the deck after they had been fed and made to dance.

9. PRACTICE It held a small wooden table a chair one bed and a straw mat on the dirt floor. It held a small wooden table a chair one bed and a straw mat on the dirt floor.

10. PRACTICE Polly you just do what Lena the head serving gal tells you to do. Polly you just do what Lena the head serving gal tells you to do.

11. PRACTICE Amari looked nervous so Polly tried to help whenever she thought Amari might not understand a command. Amari looked nervous so Polly tried to help whenever she thought Amari might not understand a command.

12. PRACTICE The back of her new housemaid uniform was ripped to shreds stained with her blood. The back of her new housemaid uniform was ripped to shreds stained with her blood.

13. PRACTICE We began reading Copper Sun on Friday January 10 2014. We began reading Copper Sun on Friday January 10 2014.