Main content
Grammar
Course: Grammar > Unit 6
Lesson 2: Commas in space and timeCommas in space and time
Learn how to use commas when writing addresses (in space) and dates (in time).
Want to join the conversation?
Why isn't there a comma between October and 5th ? I mean David tells us that its incorrect to put a comma , but I am asking Why ? Why shouldn't there be a comma ? What makes it incorrect ? Don't they show different things like Month and Date ? I'm only guessing that since you don't pause when saying this , because its only natural , you don't put a comma(12 votes)
You're right there! We don't pause when we say this.
But, we put commas to avoid confusion. In Tuesday, October 5th, there's a comma because Tuesday and October are words. And while we say it, we pause there. But October 5th doesn't need this because they are different: a number and a word. So, no confusion.
Hope this helped and if I'm mistaken, please let me know. :)(29 votes)
Do you need to put a comma in this sentence?
Mix the sugar(,) and flour, which has the salt in it.
This is the first time me hearing a fullstop be called a period, is there a difference?(6 votes)- You don't need a comma if you have a list consisting of less than two things:
"Mix the sugar and flour, which has the salt in it"-✔️
"Mix the sugar, and flour, which has the salt in it"-❌
When the list contains more than two things, you do have to place at least one comma somewhere:
"I grabbed my pencil, eraser, and ruler"-✔️
"I grabbed my pencil eraser and ruler"-❌
There's no difference between a full stop and a period; some people just like to call it one or the other.(15 votes)
Does mastering commas in time and space make you a time wizard too?(9 votes)
Hey, Astrella! Yes, it does! David and Paige just forgot to mention such.(4 votes)
Would like to see more examples on where the commas go, in a long sentence. I tend to just write and not use commas because I don't know where they go. Thanks(3 votes)
I guess my question is this: what does a long sentence look like? What's it made of?
It might help to watch this one:
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/grammar/syntax/syntax/v/run-ons-and-comma-splices-syntax-khan-academy(9 votes)
- Where else can you put a comma?(4 votes)
- Whenever your sentence needs to be "paused".....As long as the comma you want to use has something on both the left and right.....(4 votes)
At2:26Paige did not put a comma between October and the 5th why is that?(2 votes)
Hi Gwenivere! Good question. I'd say in this case the rules of grammar follow the way that people would speak this sentence aloud in English. If someone asked me for the date, I would say "It's October 5th," with no pause between "October" and "5th." It seems to me there's a more natural pause between other elements, such as "Tuesday, October 5th, 2016." These are three separate pieces of information that come together to form the date. But we don't really pause to say something like "October, the 5th day." All that information comes to us at once. Let me know if that makes sense or if you have other questions!(6 votes)
- Space and time I don’t get where Time pops in(4 votes)
It is kind of confusing because, It's not like you can comma between every word. And I am thinking like where should I put the commas?(2 votes)
Yes. It can be confusing.
I suggest this.
Think of the idea you would like to express.
Speak that idea out loud.
Repeat it three times.
Notice where you pause as you speak to make yourself more clearly understood.
Write the words you have spoken without punctuating. Then go back and put commas wherever you paused, and a full stop at the end.
See if that doesn't help.(5 votes)
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso is a real place? the name doesn't sound real...(4 votes)
in what grade do you start commas [and who came up with commas](2 votes)
For your question about what grade you start learning commas in, it depends on what school you go to. The modern comma was from an Italian printer, Aldus Manutius.
Hope this answers your questions! :)(3 votes)
2:26
Video transcript
- [Voiceover] Hello, grammarians! Hello, Paige!
- [Voiceover] Hi, David. So today we're gonna be talking about commas in space and time because commas have basically
one function, which is-- - [Voiceover] Separating
parts of sentences. - [Voiceover] Separating
parts of sentences. And what's neat is that we can use commas to separate stuff out in space and separate stuff out in time. So I'm gonna handle space;
Paige is gonna do time. It's gonna be sweet. So first of all, one way
in which you can use commas to separate space is by
talking about addresses, people's physical addresses in space. So the fictitious private
detective, Nero Wolfe, one of my very favorites, is supposed to live at 454 West 35th Street in New York. So if I wanted to write
Mister Wolfe a letter, and I would write him a letter
because he hates talking on the phone, I would address it like so, separating all elements of
his address with commas. So Nero Wolfe, comma, 454 West 35th Street, comma, New York City, or just New York, comma, New York. And then I would put the zip
code, which I think is 10001, but I'm not sure if they had zip codes when those stories took
place, but it doesn't matter. You separate out all of these elements with commas. And this isn't just for writing addresses; this is for referring to any
point in space on the Planet. So if I wanted to tell you
the name of my favorite city on the Planet, I would say: "Ouagadougou", comma, "Burkina Faso." Real place. I've never been there. I would like to go someday. And that is how you use commas in space. Paige, how are commas used in time? - [Voiceover] So commas are used in dates. - [Voiceover] OK. - [Voiceover] So, I could say: on Tuesday, comma, October fifth, comma, 2010, comma, I ate a cricket. So, as you can see, we've
separated the day of the week from the day of the month, October fifth, from the year, 2010, and then separated all that
from the rest of the sentence: I ate a cricket. - [Voiceover] Because all of
this is like a prepositional phrase that is modifying the word ate. - [Voiceover] True. - [Voiceover] So we wanna
make sure that all of it is separated out from
the rest of the sentence; and we separate it out
using our friend, the comma. - [Voiceover] Of course. - [Voiceover] So if you
want to express a kind of complicated relationship
in time or in space, you wanna make sure a letter
gets to a very specific place, you wanna talk about a very specific city in a very specific
country, you use commas. You wanna talk about a very
specific time, you use commas. That's commas in space
and time, my grammarians. You can learn anything. David out. - [Voiceover] Paige out.