Commas, Commas, Commas!
Misplaced, misused, and missing commas are
the most frequent punctuation issue on the
ACT English Test. Luckily you only need to
know four big rules…
Introductory Phrases Interrupters
Commas & Intro Phrases
A comma MUST follow any non-essential, clarifying phrase placed in front of a full sentence.
Frightened by the loud noise the dog hid in the
closet.
When I returned from Europe I found all my
plants had withered.
Frustrated and angry the young man yelled at his
Commas & Intro Phrases
A comma MUST follow any non-essential, clarifying phrase placed in front of a full sentence.
Frightened by the loud noise, the dog hid in the
closet.
When I returned from Europe I found all my
plants had withered.
Frustrated and angry the young man yelled at his
Commas & Intro Phrases
A comma MUST follow any non-essential, clarifying phrase placed in front of a full sentence.
Frightened by the loud noise, the dog hid in the
closet.
When I returned from Europe, I found all my
plants had withered.
Frustrated and angry the young man yelled at his
Commas & Intro Phrases
A comma MUST follow any non-essential, clarifying phrase placed in front of a full sentence.
Frightened by the loud noise, the dog hid in the
closet.
When I returned from Europe, I found all my
plants had withered.
Frustrated and angry, the young man yelled at his
Commas & Interrupters
Commas must surround a word or phrase that is considered non-essential, clarifying information.
The dog frightened by the loud noise hid in the
closet.
The young man frustrated and angry yelled at his
little brother.
Karen decided of course to order the chocolate
Commas & Interrupters
Commas must surround a word or phrase that is considered non-essential, clarifying information.
The dog, frightened by the loud noise, hid in the
closet.
The young man frustrated and angry yelled at his
little brother.
Karen decided of course to order the chocolate
Commas & Interrupters
Commas must surround a word or phrase that is considered non-essential, clarifying information.
The dog, frightened by the loud noise, hid in the
closet.
The young man, frustrated and angry, yelled at his
little brother.
Karen decided of course to order the chocolate
Commas & Interrupters
Commas must surround a word or phrase that is considered non-essential, clarifying information.
The dog, frightened by the loud noise, hid in the
closet.
The young man, frustrated and angry, yelled at his
little brother.
Karen decided, of course, to order the chocolate
Commas & Compound Sentences
When two independent ideas are combined using a conjunction (FANBOYS), a comma MUST proceed the conjunction
FANBOYS = for / and / nor / but / or / yet / so
Nicole entered medical school for she was determined to help others.
Elliot looked forward to reading the book but he was disappointed when he finished.
Commas & Compound Sentences
When two independent ideas are combined using a conjunction (FANBOYS), a comma MUST proceed the conjunction
FANBOYS = for / and / nor / but / or / yet / so
Nicole entered medical school, for she was determined to help others.
Elliot looked forward to reading the book but he was disappointed when he finished.
Commas & Compound Sentences
When two independent ideas are combined using a conjunction (FANBOYS), a comma MUST proceed the conjunction
FANBOYS = for / and / nor / but / or / yet / so
Nicole entered medical school, for she was determined to help others.
Elliot looked forward to reading the book, but he was disappointed when he finished.
Commas & Compound Sentences
When two independent ideas are combined using a conjunction (FANBOYS), a comma MUST proceed the conjunction
FANBOYS = for / and / nor / but / or / yet / so
Nicole entered medical school, for she was determined to help others.
Elliot looked forward to reading the book, but he was disappointed when he finished.
Commas & Lists
Each item in a list of 3+ items must be
separated by a comma in order to
maintain clarity.
This includes a comma
before “and”!!
I ran to my car grabbed my purse and
returned to the store to pay for the shirt.
Mr. Farrell stated in his will that he would
Commas & Lists
Each item in a list of 3+ items must be
separated by a comma in order to
maintain clarity.
This includes a comma
before “and”!!
I ran to my car,
grabbed my purse
, and
returned to the store
to pay for the shirt.
Mr. Farrell stated in his will that he would
Commas & Lists
Each item in a list of 3+ items must be
separated by a comma in order to
maintain clarity.
This includes a comma
before “and”!!
I ran to my car,
grabbed my purse
, and
returned to the store
to pay for the shirt.
Mr. Farrell stated in his will that he would
give 1 million dollars to Mrs. Pierce,
Alex
, and