What is a comma?

Grammar Toolkit

Comma

Grammar Toolkit

Comma

A comma is the commonest punctuation mark. It shows a short pause to separate words and parts of sentences. Like all punctuation marks, commas

help people understand your writing.

The cat said my mum is howling and needs to be fed.

Who is hungry?

The cat, said my mum, is howling and needs to be fed.

Who is hungry now?

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Comma

Commas separate words in lists. The words might be nouns, adjectives or adverbs.

At the zoo we saw lions, bears, koalas and wombats. Koalas are stinky, smelly, scratchy beasts.

A comma also separates a word, phrase or clause at the beginning of a sentence from the rest of the sentence.

You do not need a comma before and for the last word in the list.

Sitting high in its tree, the koala gazed at the zoo’s visitors.

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Comma

Where do commas belong in these sentences?

Letitia stacked the plates by colour: orange,red, white,brown and yellow.When I heard the news last night,I was so excited.The ship slowly silently,carefully edged towards the dock.By the way,that shirt suits you.Nevertheless,I want you to try your best.

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Comma

• Punctuation helps others to understand our writing.

• A comma (,) is a separating punctuation mark. It shows a short pause.

• It separates:–words in lists (e.g. a long, smelly, hairy tail)– the beginning of sentences (e.g. In the hour

before lunchtime, we worked very hard.)

Grammar Toolkit

Comma

The End