ShmoopTube

00:04

[Dino and Coop singing]

00:13

So you already know that commas separate items in a list. [Guy holding a shopping list]

00:17

That's pretty helpful for when you're at the store buying butter, beef, and bread…

00:20

…rather than a big lump of butter beef bread. [Guy looks excited next to a Butterbeefbread stand]

00:22

But commas do a lot more than just protect you from grocery store-related catastrophes.

00:26

One of their main uses is to separate introductory elements. [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

00:29

Sometimes our sentence will have a main independent clause…

00:32

…but we have some other information, whether a clause, a phrase, or some words, that we [Two post-it notes, one saying main independent clause and the other showing the types of other info]

00:36

want to add to the sentence.

00:38

Rather than trying to stick it all together with some duct tape… [Duct tape between the two post-its]

00:40

…we just put a comma between the introductory element and the main independent clause.

00:44

Boom!

00:44

Problem solved.

00:45

These introductory elements can come in lots of different forms. [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

00:48

They might be a prepositional phrase, which is a phrase that begins with…you guessed [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

00:52

it…a preposition.

00:53

Something like: "At night, owls hoot." [Owl in a tree at night]

00:55

"At night" is a prepositional phrase that tells us something about when owls hoot… [The moon]

01:00

…so we separate it from the rest of the sentence with a comma. [Comma is shown with an arrow]

01:02

Good news for the sentence, bad news for anyone who needs to get up early tomorrow. [Guy is woken up by the hooting owl]

01:06

Infinitive phrases, aka phrases built around the infinitive form of a verb…follow similar [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

01:11

rules

01:12

…as do participle phrases, aka phrases built around the participle form of a verb. [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

01:17

We can identify the infinitive form of a verb by the fact that the verb follows the word [Robber carrying a TV away]

01:21

"to," as in "to flee"… [Police car appears and the robber drops the TV and runs away]

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…while a participle uses the "ing" form of the verb, as in "fleeing." [Police officer is waiting for the robber]

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So we can say, "To flee the owls, the man sought refuge in the basement" or we could [Man walking out of his bedroom]

01:33

say, "Fleeing the owls, the man sought refuge in the basement"… [Man walking down the stairs]

01:36

…but either way, we definitely separate that introductory element from the rest with

01:41

a comma.

01:42

Man, these owls are really wrecking this poor dude's sleep schedule…we guess they find [Guy sleeping on the couch]

01:45

it…a hoot.

01:47

Hehe.

01:48

Anyway, the exact same thing works if our introductory element is a subordinate clause,

01:52

aka a clause that depends on the main clause.

01:54

So when we have a sentence like "Even though he escaped the owls, the man didn't get a

01:59

wink of sleep"…

02:00

…we're back in Comma Town. [Sign saying welcome to Comma Town with commas dancing in the background]

02:02

Which is nowhere nearly as comfortable as Sleep City.

02:05

There are a few other places commas come in handy.

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For introductory words, like, "Hi, nice to be here"… [Girl opening the door]

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…or when someone's being addressed directly, like, "Emily, have you met my pet tiger?"… [Pet tiger in the girls house]

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…and also, with tag questions, like, "we can leave now, right?" [Girls look scared]

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The better you understand the uses of commas, the more adept you'll at using the English

02:21

language!

02:22

And the less likely your family will be to get mad at you for your shopping decisions,

02:26

even if you cook that butter beef bread beautifully. [Family look grossed out by the butter beef bread]

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