How to use the comma in anger
There are four main ways we use commas; compounds, qualifiers, lists and exclamations. Now, before I start, I don’t claim to be an expert on this and I’m very much trying to give an accessible guide, not a learned discourse. I may have made some mistakes in here and I’ve written it from a UK not US perspective (though I’ve tried to keep it as international as possible). I hope this helps out a bit.
Compounds
Let’s start with compounds. The comma is used to bang together a couple of ideas. Often both parts could stand as a sentence in their own right.
He groaned, he cried, he died.
My hand stroked his face, my hip stroked against his thigh.
Each part of the two sentences above could stand alone as a sentence. Using a comma instead of having two sentences binds the actions together and makes for an easier read.
Note: Be very careful doing this. Don't just stick a comma between two unconnected sentences. This is known as a comma splice and isn't good form.
e.g. The project was doomed, I had to come up with a plan. (Wrong)
This is a pretty common mistake and needs to be watched for. A very similar error is the run on sentence, where you don't even slam a comma in
e.g. The project was doomed I had to come up with a plan.(Wrong)
If you really want to do this - slamming a semi-colon in can help or a connector such as , so
e.g The project was doomed; I had to come up with a plan.
The project was doomed, so I had to come up with a plan.
It is better to just leave them as two sentences in most cases though.
In the first sentence, writing it as, ‘He groaned. He cried. He died.’ actually has more dramatic impact. It is important to understand the drama created by the use of different forms of punctuation. Both ways are technically correct, yet they read differently.
Ok, lets look at another sort of compound. When you connect two independent clauses with a so, and, but, or, yet, for, etc – making a compound sentence
I’ve not finished that story yet, so I probably never will.
I’m tired of working, but I’m too poor to quit.
You can get more contentious sentences where there is a subtle difference in effect.
He wanted sex and she wanted cash.
He wanted sex, and she wanted cash.
That slight pause given by the comma in the second gives a definite emphasis on the second clause. Both are technically correct. Reading aloud is essential sometimes to fully appreciate the difference made by some commas.
Generally, where you have a connector such as and, or, but, etc, you don’t need a comma.
He sat up and gave the angel a hard look.
We nodded our heads but none of us really agreed with what he said.
You could say that you are a poet or an unutterable idiot.
(Note, with the last one, put the comma in after poet and the insult has WAY more bite.)
Never underestimate the link between commas and breathing. If you want to make something sound breathless, leave them out.
I grabbed my purse and my hat and my coat then changed my mind and got my other coat then remembered that I’d forgot the dog and the baby and realised it was Saturday and I didn’t have to go anywhere at all.
See what I mean?
There are all sorts of other cases to consider, but these are the main principles I think with compounds.
Qualifiers.
These are the commas between dependent and independent clauses. I know that starts all your barriers slamming down but it isn’t really that difficult. All it is talking about is that the parts are connected.
Once we’ve decided on the plot and the characters, then we’ll decide on the genre.
‘then we’ll decide on the genre’ doesn’t really stand on it’s own – so it’s dependent on the first part. It is separate information. You can get qualifiers that restrict the first part.
I wanted to eat a ton of smarties, but only the blue ones.
I’ll go to the pictures with you, if you keep your hands in your pockets this time.
They walked along the ceiling, after each taking a pink pill.
They can also represent a digression from the main thread.
He took off his trousers, a particularly garish red and lime green pair, and waved them out of the coach window.
John, fresh from his bath, walked into the lounge and shocked his mother’s sewing circle.
Even in this form they can be yet another direct qualification.
The most desirable, yet most distant, table in the place was occupied by a marmoset and his concubine.
In all these cases if you take out the middle bit the sentence would still make sense.
Note, if the inset bit IS directly relevant – don’t use commas.
The men who were dressed in red were sent into the library.
A girl whose hair was on fire was refused entrance to the club.
Again, the qualifier can come at the start (adverbial phrases – but don’t be scared by that)
From below, the demon could be heard singing Abba songs.
On his head, the gerbil started to tap dance.
Along the pier, a clown danced the tarantella with a pantomime horse.
Again there are exceptions to this
At sunrise the soldiers said their prayers and went over the top.
In the beginning there was the bucket.
On the stove the pot was bubbling.
You could use a comma in these, but it seems wrong. It is usually the case with a short beginning phrase that is strongly connected to the rest of the sentence. If in doubt, read it aloud. Quite often both ways are technically correct, so you have to assess the dramatic effect you are trying to achieve. (Yeah drama again. I’m a writer, not an editor. I LIKE drama.)
Ok, this next bit is a bit trickier to understand. If the beginning phrase is followed immediately by a verb – don’t use a comma. I’ll underline the verb.
From the building descended a well-built man wearing a pan on his head.
Outside the toilet ran a stream of pink water.
From the roof jumped a frog of gigantic proportions.
Other places not to use a comma are where it breaks apart the sentence
The dusty red book, lay unread on the table. (WRONG)
He whipped, the cream into a froth. (WRONG)
Another area that creates confusion is with names or other tags for characters. Separate the beggars out with commas.
Bring me the towel, Frank, and liquidise the kittens.
Comrades, the time for revolution was quarter of an hour ago.
Friends, Pickles, Ferrymen, lend me your oars.
Ok, the last is strictly speaking using the comma as a list, which I’ll get to later. It’s a multi-purpose comma.
Also you can do the same thing to specialise something from a general class to a specific instance of that class.
Her friend, Henry Fields, was the conductor of the local orchestra.
A cat, Fragrant Nellie, sat on the winner’s podium.
Where Henry Fields is a specific friend of hers and Fragrant Nellie is a cat. You got that though, didn’t you?
Lists
I’m not going to go into any great depth here. This is probably the least confusing use of commas. Separate the members of the list with a comma. Ok?
He entered the vast, silent, awe-inspiring library and farted.
Her coat was red, blue, pink, cerise and yellow but her knickers were missing.
Exclamations.
This isn’t a major use of the comma but people do tend to get mixed up over it. Use the comma to separate out the initial exclamation.
Oh, don’t tell me you forgot the baby again.
However, we must always remember to embezzle at least twenty percent.
Well, I think we got away with that Mr Fawkes.
Shit, I was supposed to do this in under a thousand words.
Ok, so there it is. My introductory guide to the comma. I’ve tried to approach it from a writer’s perspective rather than an academic one. For the purists, I know I’ve lumped totally distinct cases together. My treatment of adverbial phrases is almost criminal and I’ve not gone into the seven different types of sentence structure and how the phrases, complements, objects, subjects and so on fit together. This was in the interests of not sending people to sleep. ☺
Again, I don’t claim to be an expert in this, and apologise for any mistakes. I've put this together while doing ten other things and haven't had the time to think out the examples as well as I could have. Feel free to correct my howlers. Perhaps it is a starting point for discussing the comma that will help some people out. If so, I’m happy.
Chord
edit: poor compound example changed and note on comma splicing and run on sentences added.
