Commas: Some common mistakes and how to fix them

As part of our efforts to detail some common misunderstandings we see on the editing side of the site, here are some sportswriting-based examples for the top categories of comma rules.

It can be tricky to pin down proper comma usage. There are a ton of guidelines about where and where not to insert a comma, and yet most of us were taught to plunk one down each time we took a breath. When it comes down to it, we can make a lot of comma calls based on personal choice, but there are some rules we should always follow.

Commas of Direct Address

Always use commas of direct address to separate the addressee (the person to whom the sentence is directed) from the rest of the sentence.

WRONG: Lace up your skates people.

CORRECT: Lace up your skates, people.

What are “skates people”?! We need the comma here to separate the addressee from the rest of the sentence. The same is true if we flip the sentence around.

WRONG: People lace up your skates.

CORRECT: People, lace up your skates.

And if the addressee appears in the middle of the sentence, we’ll need to nest it within two commas

WRONG: Lace up your skates people and get ready for a rough season

CORRECT: Lace up your skates, people, and get ready for a rough season.

More on commas in direct address from The Writing Resource.

Spotting and Correcting Comma Splices

Never use a comma to join two independent clauses. Instead, separate these standalone sentences with a period, a semicolon or, sometimes, an em-dash.

WRONG: Michael Jordan defined his era, Kobe Bryant was his era.

CORRECT: Michael Jordan defined his era. Kobe Bryant was his era.

CORRECT: Michael Jordan defined his era; Kobe Bryant was his era.

CORRECT: Michael Jordan defined his era—Kobe Bryant was his era.

Sometimes, though, we get a little excited about eradicating comma splices and start inserting semicolons, thinking these are handy Band-Aids. Keep in mind that apart from a few other uses, we generally want to employ semicolons to join two independent clauses.

WRONG: This year, he snagged a start at quarterback; a spot he has coveted since joining the team.

While the the clause before the semicolon is independent, the clause after it is not. We need an independent clause on either side of a semicolon, so we need to choose another type of punctuation. Here, we can swap in a comma or em-dash.

CORRECT: This year, he snagged a start at quarterback, a spot he has coveted since joining the team.

CORRECT: This year, he snagged a start at quarterback—a spot he has coveted since joining the team.

More on comma splices from Grammar Girl.

Commas and the Present Participle

Always separate a present-participle phrase from the rest of the sentence. An easy way to identify such a phrase is to look for the “-ing” form of a verb. Also note that this type of phrase is dependent rather than independent.

WRONG: The A’s will need him to continue this success in the postseason going toe-to-toe with some of the league’s best.

In the sentence above, “going toe-to-toe with some of the league’s best” is a present-participle phrase, so a comma should be used to separate it from the rest of the sentence (the independent clause).

CORRECT: The A’s will need him to continue this success in the postseason, going toe-to-toe with some of the league’s best.

The logic holds even when the present-participle phrase comes first:

WRONG: Going toe-to-toe with some of the league’s best he will need to continue this success in the postseason.

CORRECT: Going toe-to-toe with some of the league’s best, he will need to continue this success in the postseason.

When to Use a Comma Offset

Always use commas to separate a nonrestrictive appositive (a supplemental noun or noun phrase used to name or rename the preceding noun or noun phrase) from the rest of the sentence.

Let’s take a look at this sentence:

New England my favorite team was once interested in acquiring the young RB.

To determine if a noun or noun phrase is in fact supplemental—another word to think of is “helpful”—rather than essential to the sentence at hand, read the sentence without it. Excising “my favorite team” from the sentence below, we see it still makes sense.

New England, my favorite team, was once interested in acquiring the young RB.

Therefore, we can classify the phrase as a nonrestrictive appositive and use a pair of commas to offset it from the rest of the sentence.

CORRECT: New England, my favorite team, was once interested in acquiring the young RB.

But it can be just as easy to misuse a comma pair as it can be to forget it altogether. Nouns and noun phrases providing information essential to a sentence’s meaning and structure should not be offset by commas.

Consider this unfortunate sentence:

His team was looking to sign center, Brook Lopez, to a big contract at the time.

If we run the same test, skipping over the portion enclosed within commas, we see the meaning is obscured.

His team was looking to sign center, Brook Lopez, to a big contract at the time.

Here, the name is not only providing supplemental identification—it’s crucial to the sentence’s meaning and structure. Therefore, we need to remove the enclosing commas:

CORRECT: His team was looking to sign center Brook Lopez to a big contract at the time.

More on appositives from the University of Illinois’ Center for Writing Studies.

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Gracie Leavitt manages the editor training program at Bleacher Report.