Commas Part 6: When NOT to Use a Comma

Some people love commas; they sprinkle them like salt over their words. They put a comma wherever they might pause or take a breath. Other people hate commas, finding them unnecessary intrusions and feeling that they make the page look messy.

But there is somewhere in between, as we have seen in the past five posts about comma rules: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.

It is just as important to know where commas do not belong as where they do belong. And sometimes there is a gray area when it is up to you whether or not you want to use a comma. Yup — sometimes there is no correct “answer.”

Gray Areas

The issue of whether or not to put in a comma sometimes arises in a simple sentence, but more often it arises in a more complex and longer sentence.

Here is an example of a simple gray area:

Of course I will go with you. (It is really up to you whether or not to put a comma after of course.)

Here is a more complicated example of a gray area:

Monsters and ogres and make-believe animals and princes and princess — they are all here in this magical book, full of fantasy and mystery.

“I want to be both a doctor and a pilot when I grow up, ” said the little girl, without a second thought.

The commas placed before the final phrase in those sentences is really optional. The sentences are clear with or without the commas, and there is no rule for them.

When You Do Not Use a Comma

There are places where it is just plain incorrect to put a comma. In fact, there are quite a few of those places.

1.  Do not use a comma before a conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) if the words that follow the conjunction do not make a complete sentence.

• She is going to the baseball game and might then go to a dance class.
• She is going to the baseball game, and she might then go to a dance class.

In the second sentence above, the words following and make a complete sentence. The words in the first sentence do not.

2. Do not use a comma before or after parentheses unless there would be a comma there if there were no parentheses.

• Please turn to Chapter 5 (“The History of Paris”) in your textbook.
• Please turn to Chapter 5 (“The History of Paris”), which begins on page 600 of your textbook.

Both of those sentences are correct.

3. Do not put a comma between the subject and verb of a sentence unless there are words, a phrase, or a clause set off in commas between the subject and the verb. These sentences are all correct:

• My mother and her sisters are traveling to Europe together.
• My mother, along with her sisters, is traveling to Europe this summer.
• Louise, Anna, and Maria are all sisters.
• Lucas, my boyfriend, is really cute!

4. Do not put a comma between a verb and its object.

• He is baking a cake for his sister. (yes)
• He is baking, a cake for his sister. (no)

5. Do not put a comma between an adjective and the noun it modifies.

• This is an old, textbook that I am selling. (incorrect)
• This very pretty, dress belongs to my sister.
• The old, torn book is going into the trash. (There is often a comma between two adjectives that both describe the noun, but no comma between the last adjective and the noun.)

6. Do not put a comma between a noun or verb and a prepositional phrase that follows it. These sentences should not have commas!

• Please don’t put your feet, on the sofa.
• I am baking a cake, from my grandmother’s recipe book.

7. Do not use a comma — even if there is a rule that tells you to use one — if it causes confusion! Here is a sentence that uses an Oxford comma where the comma makes the sentence confusing:

• Alison, my sister, and I went out to lunch.

That sentence could be read two ways with the commas that are there. Alison could be your sister; therefore, two people went out to lunch. Or three people went out to lunch: Alison, your sister, and you. Leave out the Oxford comma if you mean that three people went. If Alison is your sister, the sentence is correct as it stands.

• Alison, my sister and I went out to lunch. (Three people went out to lunch.)

Next Week: The Comma Quiz – To Comma or Not to Comma