Commas: What Are the Rules?

[Unimportant]

Yep: Colons are for lists (there are three types of people: good, bad, and ugly). Semi-colons are for separating two complete sentences that are merged together without a conjunction (I laughed; everyone else cringed). Who/that separates people from non-people (I'm people/who; mccardey is people/who; mccardey's dog is apparently people/who; my dog is not just that but That Effing Annoying Animal Why The Hell Do We Have Him).

These things can be used for characterization/effect.

 

[Trying To Be Good]

Yep: Colons are for lists (there are three types of people: good, bad, and ugly). Semi-colons are for separating two complete sentences that are merged together without a conjunction (I laughed; everyone else cringed). Who/that separates people from non-people (I'm people/who; mccardey is people/who; mccardey's dog is apparently people/who; my dog is not just that but That Effing Annoying Animal Why The Hell Do We Have Him).

These things can be used for characterization/effect.

So semi-colons are for comparing and contrasting sentences?

 

[Unimportant]

So semi-colons are for comparing and contrasting sentences?

Sort of but not totally; this is a good site that explains it way more muchly better than I could.

They've got other good stuff as well, and I reckon it's a site worth spending some time at. (Disclaimer: I am originally from Michigan but I never attended this particular university, nor do I have any affiliation or vested interest with them.)

 

[mccardey]

Sort of but not totally; this is a good site that explains it way more muchly better than I could.

Nice find!

 

[Unimportant]

Nice find!

I love it when people ask this stuff, because then I go googling this stuff, and I find these websites, and then I learn so much..... it's magic!

 

[Trying To Be Good]

Sort of but not totally; this is a good site that explains it way more muchly better than I could.

They've got other good stuff as well, and I reckon it's a site worth spending some time at. (Disclaimer: I am originally from Michigan but I never attended this particular university, nor do I have any affiliation or vested interest with them.)

So, this is reminding me of the semi-colon song. Watch the whole thing if you watch any of it at all.

 

[Maryn]

Don't you people sleep? Oh, right, half of you are on the other side of the planet. I see three punctuation errors in this example. (Ow, huh?)

Her eyes didn’t meet his own and her face darkened even more, at this point she was closer to looking sick or sunburned contains two errors.

First is rule number one, the FANBOYS comma for the conjunction and. If you put your finger over the FANBOYS word and you have two complete sentences (independent clauses) on either side of it, then you need a comma before the conjunction.

Her eyes didn’t meet his own[,] and her face darkened even more, at this point she was closer to looking sick or sunburned.

The second error is called a fused sentence, where you have two or more independent clauses joined in a single sentence without so much as a comma separating them (which would be a comma splice). The first sentence ends at the word more, where you need to start a new sentence.

Her eyes didn’t meet his own, and her face darkened even more. At this point she was closer to looking sick or sunburned.

The third error is rule number two, not so much as error as a preference for setting off introductory elements with a comma. As long as it's clear without a comma, the comma is optional. But me, I'd put it in.

Her eyes didn’t meet his own, and her face darkened even more. At this point, she was closer to looking sick or sunburned.

Does each of those make sense to you?

Maryn, decent at this stuff

 

[Trying To Be Good]

Don't you people sleep? Oh, right, half of you are on the other side of the planet. I see three punctuation errors in this example. (Ow, huh?)

Her eyes didn’t meet his own and her face darkened even more, at this point she was closer to looking sick or sunburned contains two errors.

First is rule number one, the FANBOYS comma for the conjunction and. If you put your finger over the FANBOYS word and you have two complete sentences (independent clauses) on either side of it, then you need a comma before the conjunction.

Hmmmmm, but I don't want to put a comma there mommmmmmmmmmmmm!

Straight up don't even understand what the comma would do. Like yeah; maybe those could both be sentences on their own, but it'll look weird to me.

The third error is rule number two, not so much as error as a preference for setting off introductory elements with a comma. As long as it's clear without a comma, the comma is optional. But me, I'd put it in.

Her eyes didn’t meet his own, and her face darkened even more. At this point, she was closer to looking sick or sunburned.

Does each of those make sense to you?

No, my reading comprehension is saying I've never see this before and this looks wrong. I'll have to flip through some books or read some, but this looks very off to me.

Her eyes didn't meet his own. Her face darkened even more; at this point, she was closer to looking sick or sunburned.
^
This one doesn't look as bad to me.

 

[Sage]

Hmmmmm, but I don't want to put a comma there mommmmmmmmmmmmm!

Straight up don't even understand what the comma would do. Like yeah; maybe those could both be sentences on their own, but it'll look weird to me.

No, my reading comprehension is saying I've never see this before and this looks wrong. I'll have to flip through some books or read some, but this looks very off to me.

Her eyes didn't meet his own. Her face darkened even more; at this point, she was closer to looking sick or sunburned.
^
This one doesn't look as bad to me.

There was nothing wrong with Maryn’s final example. There’s also nothing wrong with your rewrite (though some folks may not like the semi-colon). But Maryn used commas appropriately.

Your writing probably won’t feel natural if you’re going to avoid conjunctions completely. You can separate the two independent clauses into their own sentences, but you should know the rule. And if you do have two independent clauses separated by a conjunction, it would be incorrect to not have a comma.

It’s a very common sentence construction, no matter how “wrong” it looks to you. I guarantee books are full of all three examples Maryn pointed out.

 

[Trying To Be Good]

There was nothing wrong with Maryn’s final example. There’s also nothing wrong with your rewrite (though some folks may not like the semi-colon). But Maryn used commas appropriately.

Your writing probably won’t feel natural if you’re going to avoid conjunctions completely.

When did I say I was doing to do that? I'm trying to avoid having redness separated from the explanation for why there is redness or how red it is.

You can separate the two independent clauses into their own sentences, but you should know the rule. And if you do have two independent clauses separated by a conjunction, it would be incorrect to not have a comma.

I know how conjunctions work.

I didn't know that almost anything without a conjunction doesn't use a comma (Except for asides and introductions, and some other things like that).

It’s a very common sentence construction, no matter how “wrong” it looks to you. I guarantee books are full of all three examples Maryn pointed out.

Yes, it's two sentences with a comma each, very common. What I should've said is that it looks wrong, because the effect it has on the information that is contained within the two sentences.

The information is sorted somewhat like we're Europeans carving up Africa without care for where ethic groups live.

Like, we have the eyes and face in one sentence... and then we have what the face is doing in the other... It just looks a lot more natural to have the face be one sentence, and have the eyes be another.

I'm aware that I look like some bloke who gets upset every time "his stuff is touched" (And I likely am), but when I read this out loud or silently, the meaning is not quite what I want.

Which, I suppose, is proof that I need to understand this stuff a lot better. It's already hard enough to prevent misunderstandings as is.

 

[jayelmitchell]

If you’re Christopher Walken. Commas! Go! Where you, want them.

Thank you for this. I was in a rough mood until I read this comment, and now I'm smiling.

 

[Trying To Be Good]

Thank you for this. I was in a rough mood until I read this comment, and now I'm smiling.

Christopher Walken is not only a national treasure, but an international one too.

 

[Maryn]

Some time later... I am reminded... actor Michael Caine... nearly always groups... three words together.

 

[Jean P. R. Dubois]

I learned, everything I know, from, Bill Shatner's School of, bad acting