[MUSIC PLAYING] - Hello, everyone. Today I'm focusing on the most misused punctuation mark in the English language, the comma. In this episode of Level Up, I'll provide 11 situations where you'll need to use a comma in this video. Oh, and stick around for the end of this segment for common comma mistakes to avoid. How's that for a tease? Now on to the commas. 

While a period ends a sentence, a comma indicates a smaller break. Some writers think of a comma as a soft pause, a punctuation mark that separates words, clauses, or ideas within a sentence. Let's look at the aforementioned 11 scenarios where a comma can be your best pal. 

One, commas with lists. When you have a list that contains more than two elements, use commas to separate them. Let's take a look at some incorrect and correct examples. Incorrect, "Julie loves ice cream books and kittens." Correct, "Julie loves ice cream, books, and kittens." Also correct, "Julie loves ice cream, books and kittens." 

Two, Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma. When you're listing three or more items, commas should separate each element of the list. However, the final comma, the one that comes before the end, is optional. 

This comma is called the Oxford comma, or the serial comma. Here's an example with a serial comma. "Simon needs bread, milk, and butter at the grocery store." Here's an example without a serial comma. "Simon needs bread, milk and butter at the grocery store." 

Whether or not to use the serial comma is a style choice. Many newspapers and trade books don't use it. You can decide for yourself whether to use it. Just be consistent. 

Commas with "but." Use a comma before the coordinating conjunction "but" if it is joining two independent clauses. Here's an incorrect and correct example in practice. Incorrect, "Cleo is a good singer but she's an even better dancer." Correct, "Cleo is a good singer, but she's an even better dancer." If "but" is not joining two independent clauses, leave the comma out. 

Commas with and. When correcting a comma splice by adding "and," that is, when joining two independent clauses with and as a coordinating conjunction, put the comma before "and." When you have a list that contains only two items, don't use a comma before the "and." 

In practice, the comma rule looks like this. Incorrect, "My dog Charlie is cute, and smart." Correct, "My dog Charlie is cute and smart." 

Avoiding comma splices. When you want to join two independent clauses, you need a conjunction or a semicolon. A comma alone isn't strong enough to join them. This kind of mistake is called a comma splice. 

Here's an example of a comma splice. "We were out of milk, I went to the store." You can fix a comma splice by adding a conjunction or changing the comma to a semicolon. Here are two correct adjustments to the previous comma splice. 

"We were out of milk, so I went to the store." "We were out of milk; I went to the store." And if you're still hung up on what to do, you can simply write the two independent clauses as separate sentences. "We were out of milk. I went to the store." 

Commas with relative clauses. A clause that is nonrestrictive offers extra information about something you've mentioned in a sentence, but that information is inessential for identifying the thing you're talking about. Nonrestrictive clauses are usually introduced by "which" or "who," and should be set off by commas. 

Here's an example. "Posey's cafe, which Chester recommended, is a fantastic restaurant." A clause that is restrictive adds information that is necessary in order to identify whatever it's referring to. Restrictive clauses are often introduced by "that" or "who," and should never be set off by commas. 

Here's an incorrect and correct example. Incorrect, "The cafe, that Chester recommended, is a fantastic restaurant." Correct, "The cafe that Chester recommended is a fantastic restaurant." 

The clause "that Chester recommended" is essential information in the sentences above. If you removed it, there would be no way to tell which restaurant you're talking about. 

Commas with appositives. An appositive is a noun or noun-phrase that refers to the same thing as another noun in the same sentence. Often, the appositive provides additional information about the noun or helps to distinguish it in some way. If you could remove the appositive without changing the meaning of a sentence, it is said to be non-essential and should be set off with commas. If the appositive is necessary, it is said to be essential and should not be set off with commas. Here's an example of non-essential appositives. 

"My partner, Angela, is a wonderful cook." And here's an example of essential appositives. "Edgar Allen Poe's poem, 'The Raven' is a classic." 

Commas with introductory phrases. A comma normally follows a participle phrase that introduces a sentence. Here's two examples. 

"Grabbing her umbrella, Kate raced out of the house. Confused by her sister's sudden change in mood, Jill stayed quiet." When an adverbial phrase begins a sentence, it's often followed by a comma. 

But it doesn't have to be, especially if it's short. As a rule of thumb, if the phrase is longer than about four words, use a comma. You can also use a comma after a shorter phrase when you want it to emphasize it, or add a pause for literary effect. 

Here's a few examples. "After the show, Cleo will be signing autographs." "Behind the building, there is enough space to park two limousines." But if there's a chance of misreading the sentence, use the comma. 

Incorrect, "Before eating the family said grace." Correct, "Before eating, the family said grace." Big difference. 

Commas with dates. When writing a date in month-day-year format, set off the year with commas. Here's an example. "July 4, 1776 was an important day in American history." 

Commas with coordinate adjectives. When multiple adjectives modify a noun to an equal degree, they're said to be coordinated and should be separated by commas. One way to tell whether the adjectives are coordinating is to try switching the order of them. 

If the sentence still sounds natural, the adjectives are coordinate. For example, "The sweet, overpowering aroma of cinnamon buns filled the kitchen." The overpowering, sweet aroma of cinnamon buns filled the kitchen." 

If multiple adjectives are used but are not coordinate, that is, if one of them is more closely related to the noun being modified than the others, and thus they sound unnatural if the order is changed, don't separate them with a comma. Incorrect, "The little adorable child was eating ice cream." Correct, "The adorable little child was eating ice cream." 

Commas with interrupters or parenthetical elements. Interrupters are little thoughts that pop up in the middle of a sentence to show emotion, tone, or emphasis. A parenthetical element is a phrase that adds extra information to the sentence, but could be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence. Both interruptors and parenthetical elements should be set off with commas. 

Incorrect, "The weather I was happy to see was beginning to clear." Correct, "The weather, I was happy to see, was beginning to clear." Truth be told, we barely scratched the surface on the rules of commas. For more guidance and examples, visit the Grammarly blog for an even deeper dive. 

That's all for this comma-critical episode of Level Up. Check out more of our videos on YouTube to uplevel your writing and communication skills. And if you're in need of writing and communication assistance, visit grammarly.com to download the tool that helps with all your writing needs. Thanks for watching. 

[MUSIC PLAYING] 

Commas! 

[LAUGHTER]