Commas
Comma Outlines
- Brief Outline
- Extended Outline
Comma Q & A
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Categories

Attribution Tags (1)
Introductory Subordinate Elements (1)
Linking Adverbs (1)
Nonrestrictives (2)

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Commas with Conjunctions Commas with Quotations

© CollegeCommas.com

Dates
USE THE COMMA:
✓ When There’s a Day in the Date
Expanded Insight: This Should Help You Memorize the Pattern
DON’T USE IT:
✗ To Separate a Month or Season from the Year
KNOWLEDGE CHECK:
1. Terminology
2. Definition
3. Usage
Other Pages

Sums
USE THE COMMA:
✓ With sums of more than one number class
DON’T USE IT:
✗ With remainders or numerical identifiers
KNOWLEDGE CHECK:
1. Identification
2. Usage
Other Pages

Attribution Tags
USE THE COMMA:
✓ With quotation attribution tags
✓ With source attribution tags
✓ With psychological attribution tags
DON’T USE IT:
✗ With tags that follow quoted question or exclamation marks
✗ With conjuncted attributions or running quotations
KNOWLEDGE CHECK:
1. Identify terms
2. Identify usage
Expanded Insight: How to maintain a sentence’s emphasis with attribution tags
Other Pages

Interjections
USE THE COMMA:
✓ With mild interjections
✓ With verbal pauses
KNOWLEDGE CHECK:
1. Definition
2. Identify Usage
3. Compose Usage
Other Pages

Linking Adverbs
USE THE COMMA:
✓ With linking adverbs
DON’T USE IT:
✗ After a coordinating conjunction that starts a sentence
Expanded Insight: Linking adverb or coordinating conjunction—what’s the difference?
KNOWLEDGE CHECK:
1. Identify terms
2. Identify usage
Other Pages

Nonrestrictives
Expanded Insight: What’s the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive information?
USE THE COMMA:
✓ With Professional name suffixes and nonrestrictive titles
✓ With nested location names
✓ With nonrestrictive appositives
✓ With nonrestrictive dependent clauses
✓ With descriptive reiterations
DON’T USE IT:
✗ With personal name suffixes or restrictive titles
✗ With restrictive appositives
✗ With restrictive dependent clauses
Expanded Insight: That or which?
KNOWLEDGE CHECK:
1. Definition
2. Terminology
3. Identification
4. Usage with proper name appositives
5. Usage with appositives in sentences
6. Usage with nonrestrictive dependent clauses
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Peripheral Remarks
USE THE COMMA:
✓ With short parenthetical comments
✓ With rhetorical or leading question tags
KNOWLEDGE CHECK:
1. Identify the usage
2. Compose the usage
3. Identify the usage
Expanded Insight: How to keep the real subject of a sentence in focus with the appendage comma
Other Pages

Vocatives
Expanded Insight: Vocawhat?
USE THE COMMA:
✓ In sentences
✓ In Salutations
DON’T USE IT:
✗ With verbal subjects or objects
KNOWLEDGE CHECK:
1. Definitions
2. Identification
3. Usage with salutations
4. Compose the usage
5. Identify in paragraphs
Other Pages

Coordinate Elements
USE THE COMMA:
✓ With coordinate words and phrases
Expanded Insight: Do you know how to identify coordinate modifiers?
✓ With independent clauses connected by a conjunction
Expanded Insight: Joining independent clauses without the structure comma
✓ With elements in a series
Expanded Insight: Is the final comma in a series necessary?
DON’T USE IT:
✗ With coordinate words or phrases connected by a conjunction
✗ To connect independent clauses without a conjunction
✗ With a series connected by conjunctions
KNOWLEDGE CHECK:
1. Identify terms
2. Identify usage with compound words
3. Identify multiple uses
Other Pages

Extended Outline
I. NUMBERS
Dates
Sums
II. APPENDAGES
Vocatives
Interjections
Peripheral Remarks
Linking Adverbs
Attribution Tags
Nonrestrictives
III. STRUCTURES
Coordinate Elements
Introductory Subordinate Elements
Ambiguous Elements
Antithetical Elements
Other Pages
- Back
- OUTLINES
- Brief outline of all commas
- Back

Brief Outline
I. NUMBER COMMA
II. APPENDAGE COMMA
III. STRUCTURE COMMA
Other Pages

Introductory Subordinate Elements
USE THE COMMA:
✓ With introductory dependent clauses and phrases
KNOWLEDGE CHECK:
1. Identify usage
Other Pages
- Back
- OUTLINES
- Brief outline of all commas
- Extended outline of all commas
- I. NUMBERS
- Dates
- Sums
- II. APPENDAGES
- Vocatives
- Interjections
- Peripheral Remarks
- Linking Adverbs
- Attribution Tags
- Nonrestrictives
- III. STRUCTURES
- Coordinate Elements
- Introductory Subordinate Elements
- Ambiguous Elements
- Antithetical Elements
- Back

Ambiguous Elements
USE THE COMMA:
✓ With detached modifiers
Expanded Insight: Be sure to know the difference between a detached modifier and a misplaced modifier
✓ With uncomon elliptical constructions
✓ With reduplicated words
✓ With potentially misleading sentences
DON’T USE IT:
✗ With common elliptical constructions
✗ With a reduplicated “that”
KNOWLEDGE CHECK:
1. Identify usage
Other Pages

Antithetical Elements
USE THE COMMA:
✓ With contrasting phrases and clauses
✓ With in-sentence revisions
KNOWLEDGE CHECK:
1. Identify Usage
Other Pages