READER Version

Question: What’s the difference between a cat and a comma?

Answer: One has claws at the end of its paws, and the other is a pause at the end of a clause.

Like cats, commas are actually pretty complex, and people have strong feelings about them. Some people have too many, and some people avoid them. Whatever your feelings are about commas (or cats), knowing the rules and guidelines for comma usage is important. 

For example, correct comma placement can save lives:

       Let's eat Kitty.                                            Let's eat, Kitty.                              

Further, commas show who and what you’re actually talking about. The Oxford comma is technically optional, but look at what can happen when you leave it out.

 I love my cats, Freddie Mercury and Bob Ross.   

 I love my cats, Freddie Mercury, and Bob Ross.

While leaving out a comma can create funny jokes, it’s no joke if your instructor is telling you that you have run-on sentences (also known as a comma splice). Commas are not for splicing (and neither are cats). For example, this sentence might make your instructor one grumpy cat:

NO: I like cats, I have hundreds of them.

Cats need to know they are supported, and commas need that too, sometimes. If you have two complete sentences (even short ones like these), then you can’t use a comma without one of their FANBOYS to cheer them on. FANBOYS is an acronym that stands for the coordinating conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So. This would be the correct un-spliced version that would make everyone a happy kitty:

YES: I like cats, and I have hundreds of them.

Commas do many other things, too. For more detail on rules and practice go here.