The Dreaded Comma Dilemma…

by Cindy Bauer

I’ve dubbed this topic “the dreaded comma dilemma” from my experience while working for a daily newspaper. Trust me; I was confused at first as well. The late Kay White Miles was the publisher for many years and a close friend. She often had the final say in an article prior to publishing and thus, the “dilemma” begins. Leave it in or take it out?

We had a reporter who consistently put commas in everywhere. And Kay, inevitably, would mark her article to take out most of the commas. Thus the office joke - “the dreaded comma dilemma”.

When I attended school, we were taught to use a comma before the word “and”. However, I was taught at the newspaper that the “and” actually replaces the comma, thus the comma is not needed. I’ve found visual aids are often better when explaining something. Here’s an example:

The box contained some thread, needles, straight pins, and scissors.

The box contained some thread, needles, straight pins and scissors.

Technically, both are acceptable. However, if I were to edit your writing I would remove the comma before the “and”.

You can also use a comma to break up a sentence or indicate a “pause”. But be careful not to have a run-on sentence with too many commas. And keep in mind that a semi-colon might be the correct way to go. We’ll get into that in a minute. Here’s an example of using a comma to break up a sentence:

She climbed the stairs to the second floor and entered the room where she had last seen it, and wished there were an easier way to find it.

Notice I’ve left the comma in before the last “and”. This is not a sentence using description as the sample above. It’s a long sentence with more than one “and” so therefore, the comma before the last “and” is acceptable and helps to break up the sentence.

On to the subject of using a comma before the word “but”. This one is often a toughie for writers and better explained with another example for visual aid. You do not always put a comma before the word “but”.

What else could she do but give in?

There is another way you could get that to them sooner, but you’ll have to drive there instead.

When editing someone’s writing, I often run across improperly placed commas and semi-colons. When do you use the comma and when do you use a semi-colon instead? Commas are used between words in sentences where the remainder of the sentence is not a sentence, whereas semi-colons are used in place of a comma if the remainder of the sentence can be considered a sentence. So here’s another “visual aid” to help you understand better:

“Yes, he invited me to go, but I turned him down.”

“Yes, he invited me to go; I turned him down.”

Next time, providing I don’t forget again (LOL), we’ll discuss thesauruses.

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