Spring Clean Your Commas

You need extra commas just like you need those old, dusty boxes in the attic. Learn more on today's episode of Grammar Minute!

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Saving the English language 60 seconds at a time.

Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and I am helping you get rid of extra commas.
The only place in a sentence where you really need a comma is where you would naturally pause for breath. That’s a very general rule, but it holds surprisingly true. In slightly more technical but still general terms, you usually need a comma wherever you introduce a new subject and verb, or where you’re outlining a list with three or more items.
There are lots of nuances to this, and I’ve made many, many past episodes about this. But there’s one specific comma you should always avoid: the comma splice. This is when you join two independent clauses—full sentences, basically—with just a comma. No period, no conjunction, no semicolon. Bad. Don’t do that. A comma cannot support the weight of two full sentences.
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