Comma

“ A like challenge of the second comma, if necessary, will elicit this answer: “Reader, if you think ‘men’ is the subject of ‘may,’ you are mistaken, and you must look for another meaning.”
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That the use of the commas in No. 4-2 is practically the same as their use in No. 3-1, may also be illustrated diagrammatically:
4-3. Boys like memay be courageous for principle’s sake.
4-3. Boyslike menmay be courageous for principle’s sake.
There is another and very important class of words whose sense relation is determined by the punctuation we have been considering. ”

“ LESSON LVIII. The Comma.
The Comma is a mark like this ,
When you come to a comma in reading, you must generally make a short pause. Sometimes you must use the falling inflection of the voice, when you come to a comma; and sometimes you must keep your voice suspended, as if some one had stopped you before you had read all that you intended. The general rule, when you come to a comma, is, to stop just long enough to count one.
Examples.
Diligence, industry, and proper improvement of time, are material duties of the young. ”

“ XIII. Words placed out of their natural position in the sentence are often followed by a comma.
(1) The object is usually placed after the verb; when placed at the beginning of the sentence, it should be separated from the subject by a comma, unless the meaning would otherwise be perfectly clear and be readily seized.
The proportions of belief and of unbelief in the human mind in such cases, no human judgment can determine. ”

“ So, in the first example under b, if it is desired to qualify the three adjectives by the phrase “in the highest degree,” the comma after witty must stand: “in the highest degree sublime, witty, or profound.” But if that phrase is intended to apply to sublime only, the pointing should be thus: “in the highest degree sublime, witty or profound.”
15. Phrases, clauses, and words, inverted, or otherwise not in their natural position, generally require to be set off by a comma.
Into this illustrious society, my friend was joyfully received.
When we quarrel with ourselves, we are sure to be losers. ”

“ Rule X. Verb Omitted.—When a verb, previously used, is omitted, a comma usually takes its place.
EXAMPLES.
“Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend.”—Bacon.
“Chaucer painted persons; Spenser, qualities.”
REMARKS.
1. When the comma takes the place of an omitted verb, the main clauses or numbers should be separated by semicolons.
2. Sometimes a comma does not take the place of an omitted verb; as, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.”—Bacon. ”

“ If the parenthetical expression is long and not very closely related to the rest of the sentence, dashes or marks of parenthesis are frequently used. Some writers use them even when the connection is somewhat close.
5. The comma is frequently used to separate the parts of a long compound predicate.
Pine torches have no glass to break, and are within the reach of any man
who can wield an ax.
6. A comma is often used to separate a subject with several modifiers, or with a long modifier, from the predicate verb. ”

“ In Sentence 40 “that” does not grow out of or coalesce with “is” as “that” grows out of and coalesces with “holds” in No. 39. The reader almost invariably pauses after “is” in such relations, as if to group into a whole what follows, such whole constituting the predicate of the sentence. The comma serves to show a grouping that is at once natural and helpful in reading, whether aloud or silently. This relation, with the need of the grouping, may be shown somewhat more clearly in a sentence where the use of the comma is quite unquestioned by good writers ”

“ RULE xiv.—Relative pronouns in the nominative or [the] objective case, are preceded by commas, when the clause which the relative connects [,] ends a sentence; as, 'Sweetness of temper is a quality, which reflects a lustre on every accomplishment'—B. Greenleaf.' Self [-] denial is the sacrifice [,] which virtue must make.' [—L. Murray.] The comma is omitted before the relative, when the verb which the antecedent governs, follows the relative clause; as, 'He that suffers by imposture, has too often his virtue more impaired than his fortune.'—Johnson. ”

“ The comma is placed between the words which it is intended to separate. When used in connection with quotation marks, it is always placed inside them.
“Honesty is the best policy,” as the proverb says. ”

“ It is not quite a full and definite statement, but it is much more than a mere amplification such as we might get by leaving out she hath every time after the first. In the former case we should use periods. In the latter we should use commas.
4. A comma is ordinarily used between the clauses of a compound sentence that are connected by a simple conjunction, but a semicolon may be used between clauses connected by conjunctive adverbs. Compare the following examples:
The play was neither edifying nor interesting to him, and he decided to change his plans. ”

“ LESSON 39. COMPOSITION—PARTICIPLES. +COMMA—RULE.—The Participle used as an adjective modifier, with the words belonging to it, is set off+ [Footnote: An expression in the body of a sentence is set off by two commas; at the beginning or at the end, by one comma.] +by the comma unless restrictive+.
+Explanation+.—A bird, lighting near my window, greeted me with a song. The bird sitting on the wall is a wren. Lighting describes without restricting; sitting restricts—limits the application of bird to a particular bird.
+Direction+.—Justify the punctuation of the participle phrases in Lesson 37. ”

“ The “Practical Grammar,” by S. W. Clark, A.M., published by A. S. Barnes & Co., New York, gives the following rule: {p78}
“A phrase or sentence used as the subject of a verb, requires a comma between it and the verb.”
Of course the examples under the rule exhibit a corresponding difference.
“To be totally indifferent to praise or censure is a real defect in character.”—Wilson.
“To do good to others, constitutes an important object of existence.”—Clark. ”

“ Or, if the two statements together form a unit of thought, combine them (1) by a comma plus a conjunction, (2) by a semicolon, or (3) by reducing one of the statements to a phrase or a subordinate clause.
Wrong: The town has two railroads, it was founded when oil was discovered. Right: The town has two railroads. It was founded when oil was discovered. Wrong: The speed of the car seemed slower than it really was, this was due, no doubt, to the absence of all noise. [Here are three commas. The reader cannot quickly discover which one marks the great division of thought.] ”

“ The Comma, or segment, is a small part of a clause cut off, and is properly the least constructive part of a compound sentence. A simple sentence is sometimes a whole period, sometimes a chief member, sometimes a half member, sometimes a segment, and sometimes perhaps even less. Hence it may require the period, the colon, the semicolon, the comma, or even no point, according to the manner in which it is used. A sentence whose relatives and adjuncts are all taken in a restrictive sense, may be considerably complex, and yet require no division by points ”

“ Ease, indulgence, luxury, sloth, are the sources of misery.
With the conjunction “and” before “sloth,” the comma after “sloth” would not be needed, as “and” and the comma before it would give notice of the ending of the group.
The value of a comma in No. 79 is unmistakable; but is such punctuation helpful when the subject clearly ends itself, either because of its manifest completeness or because there is no apparent relation between the last word of the subject and the predicate verb? ”

“ The exceptions to this rule are numerous. If the first and last words of a passage are related (for him the summer wind murmured) ; if the inverted phrase be brief, and can be read in close connection with what follows (in youth we have little sympathy with the misfortunes of age) ; or if the principal clause is itself inverted (In the center of the common rises a noble monument) ,—the comma is usually omitted. ”

“ It is a matter of whim, or worse, of economy.
In the next illustrative sentence (No. 18A) the new word is simply one that more nearly expresses the writer’s meaning. The comma before “or” is clearly required; but why put a comma after “easier”?
18A. It belongs in the lower, or, as it would be better to call it, the easier, grades of work.
The comma after “easier” acts with the comma before “or” to suspend what comes between “lower44” and “grades,” just as a similar group of words is suspended in Sentence 3-1. ”

“ When in a compound sentence the clauses have each a different nominative, but have only one verb, expressed in the first clause and understood in the others, the ellipsis, or place of the verb, should be supplied by a comma.
Example:—A wise man seeks to shine in himself, a fool to outshine others. ”

“ If such relation does not exist, then why should not a comma be used to notify the reader of the fact, as one was used in Sentence 1-1? The reason is, that marks are used to prevent wrong groupings which are easily made because of apparent, but wrong, relations. When the eye does not need a mark, the mark should be omitted, even though consistency in punctuation seems to call for it. ”

“ Or better: "A compound sentence is generally divided, by the comma, into its simple members."--Greenleaf and Fisk cor. "Simple sentences should in general be separated from one an other by the comma, unless a greater point is required; as, 'Youth is passing away, age is approaching, and death is near.'"--S. R. Hall cor. "V has always one uniform sound, which is that of f flattened, as in thieve from thief: thus v bears to f the same relation that b does to p, d to t, hard g to k, or z to s."--L. Murray and Fisk cor. ”

“ When ambition asserts the monstrous doctrine of millions made for individuals, their playthings, to be demolished at their caprice; is not the good man indignant?
The semicolon is doing now exactly what the comma did before; but, as commas have intruded into the clause to do the humble yet necessary work of marking two appositions, the original comma has to dignify its relatively more important office by converting itself into a semicolon. ”

“ It is not from wild beasts, but from untamed passions, that the greatest evils arise to human society.
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We think the omission of a comma after “is,” thus suspending the negative group beginning with “not,” is justified, if at all, by the fact that such a sentence is usually read without a pause after the verb; in other words, the language thus readily groups itself, and shows the meaning and the force of the negative intermediate group.
Not a few good writers use a comma before “not” in sentences like No. 86. ”

“ UNDER RULE VII.—WORDS IN APPOSITION. "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice," &c.—Hallock's Gram., p. 200.
[Formule.—Not proper, because no comma is here set after the pronoun We, with which the word people, which has adjuncts, is in apposition. But, according to Rule 7th, "Words in apposition, (especially if they have adjuncts,) are generally set off by the comma." Therefore, an other comma should be here inserted; thus, "We, the people of the United States," &c.] ”

“ When several nominatives are connected, some authors and printers put the comma only where the conjunction is omitted. W. Day separates them all, one from an other; but after the last, when this is singular before a plural verb, he inserts no point. Example: "Imagination is one of the principal ingredients which enter into the complex idea of genius; but judgment, memory, understanding, enthusiasm, and sensibility are also included."—Day's Punctuation, p. 52. If the points are to be put where the pauses naturally occur, here should be a comma after sensibility ”

“ In the latter case, the reader makes one day the name of the oak,—putting the two nouns in apposition as meaning one thing. In the Lord’s Prayer, it is not uncommon to see a comma after the words, kingdom, power, and glory; as, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.” Rhetorically, and to give force and emphasis to each expression, a pause in reading is necessary; but, grammatically, the comma is inaccurate.
Writers sometimes, and frequently proof-readers, blunder in the proper use of the exclamations, O and Oh. ”

“ Use the comma whenever for any reason there is any distinct pause in the sentence that is not otherwise indicated by punctuation, or whenever something clearly is omitted.
We want students, not boys who simply come to school. ”

“ EXCEPTION.—PARTICIPLES RESTRICTIVE. When a participle immediately follows its noun, and is taken in a restrictive sense, the comma should not be used before it; as,
"A man renown'd for repartee,
Will seldom scruple to make free
With friendship's finest feeling."—Cowper.
RULE XII.—ADVERBS. Adverbs, when they break the connexion of a simple sentence, or when they have not a close dependence on some particular word in the context, should, with their adjuncts, be set off by the comma ”

“ The comma is by far the most difficult of all the punctuation marks to use correctly. Usage varies greatly from time to time and among equally good writers and printers at the same time. Certain general rules may be stated and should be learned. Many cases, however, will arise in which the rules will be differently interpreted and differently applied by different people.
The comma is the least degree of separation possible of indication in print. Its business is to define the particles and minor clauses of a sentence. ”