Commas!!!! BIG PROBLEM! 6 magic rules


1) Put a comma before a change of subject (podmět)

E.g. Bob was grumpy, and it made life miserable for everyone.

Bob ate fish, and his doggy ate dog food.


2) NEVER put a comma before ‘that’, ‘if’ or ‘when’ even if there is a change of subject!


I think, that English punctuation is stupid. L

I do not know, if Bob is home. L

I got home, when Bob was having a fit. L


3) A comma is always possible before BUT and necessary before SINCE and AS when they are
conjunctions (spojky).

E.G. I was tired, but I continued working nonetheless.    ALE     Bob ate all the bananas but one.

I was tired, since/as I had been thinking in Czech all day.    ALE: I have been here since noon.


4) Put commas around non-defining clauses and participle clauses (přechodníky)!

E.G. Bob, who is my best friend, is coming to visit me.

Bob’s sisters, seeing that he was an idiot, decided to adopt another brother.


5) Put commas around (or after) editorial and organisational comments, time phrases (usually ;),
and after the hypothesis of a conditional sentence.

E.G. Unfortunately, Bob did not enjoy the trip.

The trip, in my opinion, was a waste of time.

In the early part of 2009, I was working for a publisher.

If I could, I would switch to a logical language like German.


6) lists

A, B, C(,)  and D


“Highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and
a dildo collector."



_____ He left the scene of the accident and tried to forget that it had happened.

_____ Oil which is lighter than water rises to the surface.

_____ Madame de Stael was an attractive gracious lady.

_____ Nice is a word with many meanings and some of them are contradictory.

_____ The contractor testified that the house was completed and that the work had been done
properly.

_____ Some people refuse to go to the zoo because of pity for creatures that must live in small
cages.

_____ Taxicabs that are dirty are illegal in some cities.

_____ The closet contained worn clothes old shoes and dirty hats.

_____ The uninvited guest wore a dark blue tweed suit.

_____ After surviving this ordeal the trapper felt relieved.

_____ Mark Twain's early novels I believe stand the test of time.

_____ December 7 1941 will never be forgotten.

_____ The field was safe enough wasn't it? „Question tag“

_____ Write the editor of the Atlantic 8 Arlington Street Boston Massachusetts 02116.

_____ He replied "I have no idea what you mean."

_____ After a good washing and grooming the pup looked like a new dog.

_____ Because of their opposition to institutions that force creatures to live in captivity some
people refuse to go to the zoo.

_____ Men who are bald are frequently the ones who are the most authoritative on the subject of
baldness.

_____ Vests which were once popular have been out of vogue for several years.

_____ As a celestial goddess she regulated the course of the heavenly bodies and controlled the
alternating seasons.

_____ I hope that someday he will learn how to be polite.