2.1.4
Commas 2
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Commas in Compound Sentences
We can use commas in compound sentences to break up the different clauses. This makes the sentences easier to read. Let's look at some examples...

James is hungry...
- James is hungry, but he cannot eat until later.

Jenny cannot dance...
- Jenny cannot dance, but she would love to learn.

The class has...
- The class has not yet started, so you should still have time to finish your coffee.

The lesson will start late...
- The lesson will start late, but please still be on time!

He is upset...
- He is upset he lost, yet he still wants to try again.
Using Commas for Parenthesis
We use parenthesis to add extra information to a sentence. Let's look at how we use commas to add information to sentences...

Sammy and Rosie
- The children, who were called Sammy and Rosie, liked reading.

King of the pond
- The frog, who was king of the pond, wore a crown.

Mother's bread
- The bread, which my mother bakes, is delicious.

Past sell-by date
- The food, which is past its sell-by date, has probably gone off!

Soldiers
- The toy soldiers, that I like to play with, have gone missing.
1Spelling
1.1Spelling
1.2Prefixes
1.3Suffixes
1.3.1Vowel Suffixes1.3.2Short Vowel Suffixes1.3.3Suffixes: '-ous'1.3.4Rules for Suffixes: '-ous'1.3.5Rules for Suffixes: '-ous' 21.3.6Suffixes: '-ly'1.3.7Suffixes: '-ation'1.3.8Suffixes: '-ation' 21.3.9Spelling: '-tion' Endings1.3.10Spelling: '-sion' Endings1.3.11Spelling: '-ssion' Endings1.3.12Spelling: '-cian' Endings1.3.13End of Topic Test - Suffixes1.3.14End of Topic Test - Spelling
1.4Making Words Plural
1.5Homophones
1.5.1Accept & Except1.5.2Affect & Effect1.5.3Ball & Bawl1.5.4Berry & Bury1.5.5Brake & Break1.5.6Fair & Fare1.5.7Grate & Great1.5.8Groan & Grown1.5.9Hear & Here1.5.10Heal, Heel & He'll1.5.11Knot & Not1.5.12Mail & Male1.5.13Main & Mane1.5.14Meat & Meet1.5.15Medal & Meddle1.5.16Missed & Mist1.5.17Peace & Piece1.5.18Plain & Plane1.5.19Rain & Reign & Rein1.5.20Scene & Seen1.5.21Weather & Whether1.5.22Whose & Who's1.5.23End of Topic Test - Homophones1.5.24End of Topic Test - Homophones 21.5.25End of Topic Test - Homophones 3
1.6Word Meanings
2Punctuation
2.1Punctuation
2.1.1Full Stops2.1.2Capital Letters2.1.3Commas2.1.4Commas 22.1.5Using Apostrophes with Regular Plurals2.1.6Using Apostrophes with Irregular Plurals2.1.7Question Marks & Exclamation Marks2.1.8Brackets2.1.9Dashes2.1.10Colon2.1.11Semi-Colon2.1.12Direct Speech2.1.13Indirect Speech2.1.14Hyphens2.1.15Ellipses2.1.16End of Topic Test - Punctuation2.1.17End of Topic Test - Punctuation 2
3Grammar
3.1Word Classes
3.2Conjunctions
3.3Writing Coherently
3.5Modal Verbs
3.6Phrasal Verbs
3.7Subjunctive Verbs
3.8Sentences
3.8.1Subject of a Sentence3.8.2Object of a Sentence3.8.3Main & Subordinate Clauses3.8.4Simple Sentences & Compound Sentences3.8.5Complex Sentences3.8.6Relative Clauses3.8.7Relative Clauses Without Relative Pronouns3.8.8Participle Clauses3.8.9Run-on Sentences3.8.10Sentence Functions3.8.11End of Topic Test - Sentences
3.9Tenses
3.10Adverbials
4Decoding Words
4.1Common Word Roots
4.2Common Prefixes
4.2.1For & Against4.2.2All & Same4.2.3Away & Far4.2.4Colour & Shape4.2.5Back & Down4.2.6Numbers4.2.7Across & Through4.2.8Life & Earth4.2.9Empty & Broken4.2.10Great & Greater4.2.11Hearing & Speaking4.2.12Apart & Together4.2.13Over & Under4.2.14In4.2.15Less & Smaller4.2.16Before & After4.2.17End of Topic Test - Common Prefixes 24.2.18End of Topic Test - Common Prefixes
5Reading & Writing
5.1Reading Formats
5.2Writing Formats
Jump to other topics
1Spelling
1.1Spelling
1.2Prefixes
1.3Suffixes
1.3.1Vowel Suffixes1.3.2Short Vowel Suffixes1.3.3Suffixes: '-ous'1.3.4Rules for Suffixes: '-ous'1.3.5Rules for Suffixes: '-ous' 21.3.6Suffixes: '-ly'1.3.7Suffixes: '-ation'1.3.8Suffixes: '-ation' 21.3.9Spelling: '-tion' Endings1.3.10Spelling: '-sion' Endings1.3.11Spelling: '-ssion' Endings1.3.12Spelling: '-cian' Endings1.3.13End of Topic Test - Suffixes1.3.14End of Topic Test - Spelling
1.4Making Words Plural
1.5Homophones
1.5.1Accept & Except1.5.2Affect & Effect1.5.3Ball & Bawl1.5.4Berry & Bury1.5.5Brake & Break1.5.6Fair & Fare1.5.7Grate & Great1.5.8Groan & Grown1.5.9Hear & Here1.5.10Heal, Heel & He'll1.5.11Knot & Not1.5.12Mail & Male1.5.13Main & Mane1.5.14Meat & Meet1.5.15Medal & Meddle1.5.16Missed & Mist1.5.17Peace & Piece1.5.18Plain & Plane1.5.19Rain & Reign & Rein1.5.20Scene & Seen1.5.21Weather & Whether1.5.22Whose & Who's1.5.23End of Topic Test - Homophones1.5.24End of Topic Test - Homophones 21.5.25End of Topic Test - Homophones 3
1.6Word Meanings
2Punctuation
2.1Punctuation
2.1.1Full Stops2.1.2Capital Letters2.1.3Commas2.1.4Commas 22.1.5Using Apostrophes with Regular Plurals2.1.6Using Apostrophes with Irregular Plurals2.1.7Question Marks & Exclamation Marks2.1.8Brackets2.1.9Dashes2.1.10Colon2.1.11Semi-Colon2.1.12Direct Speech2.1.13Indirect Speech2.1.14Hyphens2.1.15Ellipses2.1.16End of Topic Test - Punctuation2.1.17End of Topic Test - Punctuation 2
3Grammar
3.1Word Classes
3.2Conjunctions
3.3Writing Coherently
3.5Modal Verbs
3.6Phrasal Verbs
3.7Subjunctive Verbs
3.8Sentences
3.8.1Subject of a Sentence3.8.2Object of a Sentence3.8.3Main & Subordinate Clauses3.8.4Simple Sentences & Compound Sentences3.8.5Complex Sentences3.8.6Relative Clauses3.8.7Relative Clauses Without Relative Pronouns3.8.8Participle Clauses3.8.9Run-on Sentences3.8.10Sentence Functions3.8.11End of Topic Test - Sentences
3.9Tenses
3.10Adverbials
4Decoding Words
4.1Common Word Roots
4.2Common Prefixes
4.2.1For & Against4.2.2All & Same4.2.3Away & Far4.2.4Colour & Shape4.2.5Back & Down4.2.6Numbers4.2.7Across & Through4.2.8Life & Earth4.2.9Empty & Broken4.2.10Great & Greater4.2.11Hearing & Speaking4.2.12Apart & Together4.2.13Over & Under4.2.14In4.2.15Less & Smaller4.2.16Before & After4.2.17End of Topic Test - Common Prefixes 24.2.18End of Topic Test - Common Prefixes
5Reading & Writing
5.1Reading Formats
5.2Writing Formats
Practice questions on Commas 2
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1
- 2Which sentences use commas correctly?True / false
- 3Which sentence uses punctuation correctly?Multiple choice
- 4
- 5
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