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👋 The comma that turns toward you

One comma turns a name into a tap on the shoulder. Learn the yes, no, and name marks fifth grade actually tests.

5
lessons
~20 min
to learn
🗣️ Language
subject
Ages 6–12
level
Start the course →

What you’ll learn

  1. The comma that turns toward youHear the difference between talking about a name and talking to a name, and mark direct address with a comma.I don't know John and I don't know, John are different sentences. The comma turns the name toward the listener. Common Core's model is Is that you, Steve?
  2. Start, middle, or endPlace one comma or a pair of commas depending on whether the name sits at the start, middle, or end, including titles like sir and coach.Maya, the bus is here. The bus, Maya, is here. The bus is here, Maya. Coach and sir take the same seat as a given name.
  3. Yes and no stand at the doorSet off introductory yes, no, well, and oh with a comma, and see how No, sir stacks two rules.Yes, thank you. No, I do not. A lone Yes. needs no comma. No, sir, I didn't see her parks both the reaction and the title.
  4. The little question that hangs offSet off a tag question with a comma and build the tag by flipping the helper.It's true, isn't it? The statement stands, the tag checks, and the comma is the hinge. Yes, names, and tags are one family of extra pieces.
  5. When the name is doing a different jobRefuse a vocative comma when the name is the subject or part of a list, then go hunt the jobs in a real conversation.Maya walked needs no comma. Maya, Jordan, and Will is a list. The job decides the mark. Tonight, steal one spoken sentence and write it.

Questions this course answers

A teammate writes I don't know John when he means he cannot answer the question. What should he write?

The comma before John turns the name into direct address. Without it, John is the person the writer has never met.

In your own words, why does I don't know John mean something different from I don't know, John?

The words stay the same. The comma changes John's job from the person you have never met to the person you are answering.

Match each sentence to the job the comma is doing

A name you are talking to, a yes or no at the door, a tag clipped to the end, and a list of three names are four different jobs.

Choose the comma that belongs in this sentence.

Common Core's model is Yes, thank you. Yes is an introductory word, so it takes a comma, not a heavier mark.

Put these versions of the same news in order: name at the start, name in the middle, name at the end

The name can move. One comma follows it at the start, two wrap it in the middle, and one precedes it at the end.

Which sentence should NOT get a comma after the name?

Maya walked to the bus uses Maya as the subject. Purdue says not to split a subject from its verb.

Grounded in trusted sources

  • Common Core State Standards Initiative, English Language Arts Standards, Language, Grade 5, L.5.2.c, https://www.thecorestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/L/5/
  • Purdue OWL, Extended Rules for Using Commas, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/commas/extended_rules_for_commas.html
  • Purdue OWL, Commas: Quick Rules, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/commas/index.html
  • Towson University Online Writing Support, Commas, https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/comma.aspx
  • U.S. Air Force, The Tongue and Quill, Punctuation Usage Guide, via LibreTexts, https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Composition/Specialized_Composition/The_Tongue_and_Quill_(U.S._Air_Force)/25%3A_Punctuation/25.4%3A_Punctuation_Usage_Guide
  • LibreTexts, Butler Community College, Idea to Essay, 25.9 Using a Comma for Direct Addresses, https://human.libretexts.org/Courses/Butler_Community_College/Idea_to_Essay%3A_Collected_Strategies_and_Readings_for_the_College_Writer_4th_ed/06%3A_Writing_And_Editing_Sentences/6.03%3A_Commas/6.3.09%3A_Using_a_Comma_for_Direct_Addresses
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center, Commas, https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/commas/

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