1. Appositives (comma usage) An appositive is a word or phrase that explains or describes a preceding noun.

2. Example: His latest book, China Off Limits, is a best seller.

3. Exercise We expect our assistant Mr. Lloyd to be on time every day. Claude Monet the impressionist painter was French. One street in town Park Drive is closed for a crafts fair. I ordered a birthday cake for my cousin Moira.

4. The month and date are set off by commas when they follow the day of the week Your taxes are due on Tuesday, April 15, at midnight

5. The year is set off by commas when it follows the month and date. Kitty was married on May 1, 1997, and has two sons. However, a comma is not used between the month and year when the date is omitted. I graduated in June 2001

6. The state is set off by commas when it follows the name of a city.

7. We left Houston, Texas, and drove to Rapid City, South Dakota.

8. When expressing a complete address in a sentence format, separate each line of the address with a comma.

9. I work at Longo and Sons, 149 Shrub Drive, Tampa, Florida 33612

10. Exercise February 1996 is the date on which Amelia Aponte began teaching at our school.

11. Arturo Tozzi conducted the orchestra on Saturday January 5 at 8 p.m.

12. Jermaine has been living at 6 Glen Oaks Road Parkersburg West Virginia

13. Direct Address Direct address occurs when the person being communicated with is called by name or title. Names and titles are set off by commas. When a direct address occurs at the beginning or end of a sentence, only one comma is used to set it off

14. Your presence is requested, Colleen. I believe, sir, you are correct Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated.

15. Exercise Captain the soldiers are awaiting your orders.

16. I am late Deb because my car would not start.

17. Please spend the weekend with us Uncle Bob.

18. Let’s eat Grandpa