Essential, but Is It Important?
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Essential, but Is It Important?
Commas are tricky little devils. Anyone who wants to use them correctly will at some point encounter the terms essential and nonessential. The rule is that so-called essential elements should not be enclosed in commas. Conversely, nonessential elements require commas fore and aft.
By “elements” we mean clauses, phrases, and even single words. Today we will focus on the difference between essential and nonessential clauses (a clause always contains a subject and verb).
Consider this sentence: People who stay out in the sun too long get a bad case of sunburn. Note the lack of commas. That’s because the clause who stay out in the sun too long is essential. Without it the sentence is silly: People get a bad case of sunburn.
Look at what happens if we fence off the essential clause with commas: People, who stay out in the sun too long, get a bad case of sunburn. The commas isolate people from the clause that explains which people we are talking about. That’s as misguided as writing The book, I’m reading, is good.
Now look at this sentence: Barton Blain, who once threw a punch at the mayor, ate corn flakes for breakfast. Unlike people in the previous paragraph, Barton Blain is already specifically identified. That makes the clause who once threw a punch at the mayor nonessential, requiring commas.
Do not be distracted by this usage of essential and nonessential. That Blain assaulted an elected official is certainly surprising, even alarming, but it is not essential in the grammatical sense; it is added information, and its removal would not alter the sentence’s basic point: that Blain had corn flakes for breakfast. Maybe the writer was being grimly humorous, or was trying to shock us, or—who knows? Our only concern here is that the writer correctly used commas to set off a nonessential clause.
So anyone who would master comma usage must realize that the terms essential and nonessential have nothing to do with values or ethics and everything to do with making a sentence say what its author intends.
Pop Quiz
Are the following sentences punctuated properly? Answers are at the end of the newsletter.
1. The carpenter, who fixed our floor, is the one I’d recommend.
2. I’m talking about Derek Jones who climbed Mount Whitney, not Derek Jones who swam the English Channel.
3. A ten-year-old girl, who doesn’t obey her parents, is headed for trouble.
Pop Quiz Answers
1. The carpenter who fixed our floor is the one I’d recommend. (remove commas)
2. I’m talking about Derek Jones who climbed Mount Whitney, not Derek Jones who swam the English Channel. (CORRECT)
3. A ten-year-old girl who doesn’t obey her parents is headed for trouble. (remove commas)
If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
This was a great tip on commas around words or phrases. My question is about commas in a list (“John put the juice, an apple and his mug into his bag.”) Does one use a comma before the word “and”? I learned from my father that the comma is *in place of* the word “and” but I have seen people do both (I think it’s more common these days to leave it out — which I think is correct). While I’m on the subject, right in my own sentence, I used “but” — and as well, I think that there should not be a comma before “but”, but I often see it (like just now!). Does it depend on whether one wants the reader to pause? Or is there an accepted rule for it?
Thanks so much!
Although the Associated Press would not put a comma before and in a list of three or more items, most other authorities recommend a comma there. We advise a comma before and in your sentence: “John put the juice, an apple, and his mug into his bag.”
As for your question about your other sentence, our rule 3b of Commas says, “In sentences where two independent clauses are joined by connectors such as and, or, but, etc., put a comma at the end of the first clause.” If the clauses are brief and closely related, the comma may be omitted. Therefore, your sentence should have a comma before the word “but.”
I would disagree with the certitude of 2 of your 3 corrections in the Pop Quiz sentences.
There need be nothing wrong with “The carpenter, who fixed our floor, is the one I’d recommend.” If a friend were looking for an artisan to teach his child a useful trade, and the applicants were a carpenter, a welder, and a plumber, you might say–based on how well he fixed your floor–“The carpenter, who (incidentally) fixed our floor, is the one (of the 3) I’d recommend.”
As for “A ten-year-old girl who doesn’t obey her parents is headed for trouble,” Jane Austen would almost certainly punctuate it as “A ten-year-old girl who doesn’t obey her parents, is headed for trouble.” That “Jane Austen comma,” inserted after a longish clause to make the reader pause and consider the very idea of an unruly girl, is practically de rigueur; and it’s evidence that commas should follow not rules but the nuances of art. There is a vast difference between “When he came in he sat down” (in one fluid movement) and “When he came in, he sat down” (which suggests that he came in, paused–hence the comma–saw there was no chair (an old interviewer’s trick) and sat down anyway on the floor).
The rules of comma usage have changed radically since Jane Austen was writing. There is no going back, and it makes no sense to compare early 19th century conventions to our own.
As for the quiz question about the carpenter: It is easy to invent scenarios, but what if the carpenter sentence stands alone, as it did in the quiz? Based strictly on the information in the sentence, there is really no choice but to omit commas. Otherwise the crux of the sentence is, “The carpenter is the one I recommend.”
I earned 9 out of 10, but when it comes to writing, I’m lost with the commas and often go wrong. When I read books written by famous authors; some hardly use commas where they are probably required, and some use them in huge numbers.
That is ENGLISH. And Americans and British are still not reconciled with their differences.
Is this incorrect usage of commas :
While, I did not do well in the report, I did very well in the exam and should pass this subject.
Do you need a comma after while?
Secondly in one of your blogs on commas it states that it is grammatically correct to put commas after the persons name is identified and on here it does not state its correct
eg
Are you referring to Hazel, the woman who wears too much make-up
There is no reason to place a comma after while in your first sentence.
Whether a comma is placed after a person’s name or not depends on the context. Let’s look at your example sentence:
Are you referring to Hazel, the woman who wears too much makeup? A comma is required here because Hazel is specifically identified and the woman who wears too much makeup is nonessential.
But you would not place a comma in My cousin Hazel wears too much makeup.
Which is correct? I look forward to meeting you as well. I look forward to meeting you, as well.
Thanks!
The comma is not necessary. Please see our Rules for Commas.