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. Commas

Commas are used in two main ways:-
Note: Don’t put a
1. Commas separate items in a list. comma between
‘and’ and the last
Pam bought some milk, bread, tomatoes and cheese. item in the list.

2. Commas are used to add extra information to sentences.

The extra information is added between two commas if it is in the middle of the
sentence.
The mouse ran quickly across the garden.

chased by a hungry cat

The mouse, chased by a hungry cat, ran quickly across the garden.

The extra information only needs one comma if it is at the end or beginning of a
sentence.
The mouse ran across the garden, chased by a hungry cat.

Chased by a hungry cat, the mouse ran quickly across the garden.

Note: We don’t need to use commas when we use ‘that’.

The mouse that was chased by a hungry cat ran quickly across the garden.

Commas are also used with speech marks. This will be explained in the next section.

Speech Marks

Here are some rules for using speech marks:

 Speech marks are used to show what is said and are put at each end of a piece of
speech.
“This will show you how to use speech marks.”

 Any punctuation at the end of speech goes inside the speech marks.
“Do you use speech marks correctly in your writing?”
“I do now!”

 If the speech is in the middle or end of a sentence, put a comma before the
speech.

My teacher said, “Have you checked the punctuation in your writing?”

 If the sentence continues after the speech, put a comma inside the last speech
mark (unless there is already a question or exclamation mark).
“Yes I have,” I replied.

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