Commas Review

Commas are used to indicate a pause between parts of a sentence, to separate items in a list, and to clarify meaning.

A comma should be used before 'and' in a list of three or more items (Oxford comma), but it can be omitted in simpler lists.

I bought apples, oranges, and bananas.

A non-restrictive clause provides additional information that can be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence and is set off by commas.

My brother, who lives in New York, is visiting.

A comma should be used after an introductory phrase to separate it from the main clause.

After dinner, we went for a walk.

When writing dates, use a comma to separate the day from the year, e.g., 'May 20, 1927'.

John Smith, 123 Main St, Springfield, IL 62701.

Commas are used to separate the name of the person being addressed from the rest of the sentence.