Punctuation

A collection of 138 posts

When to Place a Comma Before 'For'

As a preposition, do not place a comma in front of "for" unless using a particular sentence structure where commas are required.

When to Use a Comma Before 'Yet'

If the coordinating conjunction "yet" introduces an independent clause, place a comma in front of it.

Comma Usage Before 'Nor'

Place a comma before "nor" to join two independent clauses. Do not use it to join two subjects, two objects, or two verbs.

Subordinating Conjunctions And Comma Usage

When starting a sentence with a subordinating conjunction, use a comma to separate both clauses. In mid-sentence, the comma is unnecessary.

Comma Usage Before 'If Not'

When using "if not" as a conditional clause (for things that will possibily happen), add a comma after "if not" at the start of a sentence.

Comma Use with 'If necessary', 'If required', 'When needed', etc.

At the start of a sentence, use a comma after "if necessary", "if needed", "when required", "where needed", etc. Normally, we don't need a comma before "if necessary", "when needed", etc. in mid-sentence or at the end of the sentence.

Commas With 'Whether'

In the middle of a sentence, we do not typically use a comma before or after "whether".

Commas With 'Until'

If "until" or "till" comes at the start of the sentence, use a comma after the clause introduced by "until"—a clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb.