Lesson video

Hi, I'm Mr. Buckingham and I'm really pleased to be joining you today to teach you about comma rules.

These rules are really gonna help us to impress people with our writing.

So, let's get going.

This lesson is called "Comma Rules in Three Sentence Types," and it comes from our unit called "Simple, Compound, Adverbial "and Relative Complex Sentences." By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to use a comma for a range of purposes in three different sentence structures.

Now we're gonna learn some rules today for using commas, which many people don't know or don't use, so this is a great chance for you to really impress people with your writing.

Let's get going.

Here are today's keywords.

My turn, your turn, coordinating conjunction, comma, adverbial clause, subordinating conjunction.

And as usual, don't worry if these words seem a bit threatening.

We'll be learning all of them during this lesson, and by the end we'll be really confident with what they mean.

Here are their definitions.

A coordinating conjunction is a word that joins two main clauses to form a compound sentence.

A comma can have many uses.

We're gonna talk about two.

So in our lesson, a comma is a punctuation mark used before "but" or "or" coordinating conjunctions in a compound sentence.

And a comma is also used to separate the first adverbial clause from the second main clause in an adverbial complex sentence.

An adverbial clause is a type of subordinate clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction, which means that a subordinating conjunction is a word that starts an adverbial clause.

Here's our lesson outline for today.

We are going to be talking about comma rules in three sentence types.

We'll start with the rules for commas in compound sentences.

Then we'll look at the rule for commas in adverbial complex sentences.

And we'll finish by looking at different uses for commas.

Let's get going, thinking about commas in compound sentences.

Now, a compound sentence is made from at least two main clauses joined with a coordinating conjunction.

We have a main clause followed by a coordinating conjunction and there are three: and, or, and but.

Then, another main clause.

That makes a compound sentence.

So we have main, coordinating conjunction, main.

And remember what's special about those main clauses, their superpower is that they could each be a complete sentence on their own.

Let's listen to some compound sentences.

Each sentence has two main clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.

"Andeep crept nervously into the cave "and he beckoned the others to follow him.

"Jun tried to walk confidently, but his heart was racing.

"They could go deeper into the cave, "or they could decide to turn back." If we look at each of those, we'll see that they are all compound sentences.

Here we have a main clause.

"Andeep crouched nervously into the cave." That could be its own sentence.

Then we have a coordinating conjunction.

In this case, and.

Then we have a second main clause.

"He beckoned the others to follow him." Again, that could be its own sentence.

So we have main clause, coordinating conjunction, main clause.

And we can see it's the same here.

Main clause, coordinating conjunction, main clause.

And the same here.

Any compound sentence has at least two main clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.

So which of the following are found in a compound sentence? A coordinating conjunction, a subordinate clause, at least two main clauses, or a subordinating conjunction? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

We know that a compound sentence contains a coordinating conjunction, which is joining together at least two main clauses.

Great work.

Now there's a special rule for using commas in compound sentences, which many people don't know, so let's try and work it out.

Here are three sentences from before.

We have three compound sentences.

We have three coordinating conjunctions, but we have only two commas.

So here's the rule.

We use a comma before or and but in a compound sentence, but we don't use a comma before and.

We can see here our compound sentence.

We only use commas when we use the coordinating conjunctions or and but.

Notice how the comma comes after the first main clause and before the coordinating conjunction.

I'm going to show you how we can correct some mistakes using this rule.

Here are three compound sentences.

Let's see if we can work out what mistake has been made.

The first sentence says, "Jacob picked up his pencil, and he began to draw." The coordinating conjunction and has been used, but I see a comma in front of it so we need to get rid of that comma.

And now that's correct.

The second sentence says, "He worked carefully but he wasn't satisfied "with this particular picture." I can see the coordinating conjunction, but, and we know our rule is that should have a comma in front of it.

Let's add one in.

There we go.

The last sentence says, "He could start again or, he could give up." Now we know that the coordinating conjunction or needs a comma, but here it's been written after the coordinating conjunction.

It should go before.

Let's fix that.

There we go.

Right.

I wonder if you can have a go at fixing the mistakes in these three compound sentences.

Pause the video and use the rule to see if you can fix these mistakes.

Have a go.

Well done.

Let's check them together.

In the first one, we've used the coordinating conjunction, but.

That should have a comma in front of it.

In the second sentence, the coordinating conjunction or does need a comma, but it should go before the coordinating conjunction and not after.

And in the final sentence, we've used the coordinating conjunction and and we know the rule is we don't use a comma when we use and as a coordinating conjunction here.

So we should just cross out that comma and we've fixed the sentence.

Great work if you spotted those mistakes already.

Now, for our first task this lesson, I'm going to show you some compound sentences.

I want you to decide what's the most appropriate coordinating conjunction for each sentence and does it need a comma before it? Here are the sentences.

I want you to pause the video and add a coordinating conjunction in the gap.

And, if it should, put a comma in front of it.

Pause the video and have a go at that task.

Great effort.

Let's check those together.

"We could stay here for the night blank "we could look for a better campsite." I think we need or here and or uses a comma before it.

"Laura and Jen tried to pitch the tent blank "the ground was hopelessly boggy underfoot." I can see a contrast there that tells me I need the coordinating conjunction, but, and that uses a comma in front of it.

"Izzy gathered moss to make pillows.

"Aisha searched for sticks to build a fire." These two ideas build on each other.

This means we need and.

We don't use a comma in front of and.

"The children huddled around the flames blank "the warmth was not enough to keep them from shivering." This looks like another contrast to me.

Even though the children are huddling around the flames, it's not warm enough, so we need but, and we need a comma in front of it.

Really well done if you managed to follow those rules.

Now, we've looked at the comma rule in compound sentences.

Now we're going to have a look at the comma rule in adverbial complex sentences.

You might remember from the last lesson that an adverbial clause is a special type of subordinate clause.

What makes it special is it starts with a subordinating conjunction.

Those are words like as, when, so, and because.

Here are some examples of adverbial clauses.

"When it began to snow.

"As their hearts pounded.

"So they didn't get hurt.

"Because the light was growing dim." Now we know these are subordinate clauses because they wouldn't make sense on their own.

We know that they are adverbial subordinate clauses because they start with subordinating conjunctions, when, as, so, and because.

An adverbial complex sentence is made of a main clause and an adverbial clause.

Here's an example.

"The volcano rumbled violently "as the eruption grew near." We have a main clause there followed by a subordinate clause.

We know it's an adverbial clause because it starts with a subordinating conjunction, as.

So now we have an adverbial clause which follows the main clause.

We could do it the other way around.

"As the eruption grew near, the volcano rumbled violently." This time the adverbial clause has come first.

We can see it starts with a subordinating conjunction and it's followed, in this case, by the main clause.

True or false, an adverbial complex sentence must contain a subordinate clause.

Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

That's true.

, it must.

Now see which explanation you think is best to explain why that's true.

Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

The reason is that an adverbial clause is a type of subordinate clause.

It's a special type of subordinate clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction.

Now, let's check we've understood.

Which of these are at adverbial complex sentences? Remember, you are looking for a sentence that contains a subordinate clause, which would not make sense on its own, and that subordinate clause should start with a subordinating conjunction, which means we can call it an adverbial clause.

See if you can spot any in this list.

Pause the video and have a look.

Great effort.

We can see a is an adverbial complex sentence.

It starts with a subordinating conjunction, which makes this adverbial clause, "As the sun rose," that's followed by a main clause, "the children packed their tent away." An adverbial clause added to a main clause makes an adverbial complex sentence.

C is also an adverbial complex sentence.

This time we can see the subordinating conjunction because starting the adverbial clause, "because she had not slept." The main clause is, "Lucy was exhausted." We've added a main clause and an adverbial clause to make an adverbial complex sentence.

Really well done if you spotted those.

We learned a special rule for using commas in compound sentences.

There's also a special rule for using commas in adverbial complex sentences, which again, many people don't know.

Let's try and learn it.

Here's an example of an adverbial complex sentence.

"When it was time to go, "the children wearily laced up their heavy boots." I know this is adverbial complex sentence because it starts with a subordinating conjunction, when, which creates the adverbial clause, "When it was time to go," and it's followed by the main clause, "the children wearily laced up their heavy boots." Here's another adverbial complex sentence.

"They were walking up a steep hill "so they could admire the incredible views." Here I can see the subordinating conjunction, so, starting the adverbial clause, "so they could admire the incredible views." And we have the main clause, "They were walking up a steep hill." Now, you might have spotted that we have two adverbial complex sentences, but only one comma here.

When the adverbial clause comes first in a sentence, like in this example, we use a comma after the adverbial clause.

When the adverbial clause comes second, like in our second example, we do not put a comma before it.

Let's see that in a diagram.

When the main clause comes first, followed by the adverbial clause, we don't have a comma.

When the subordinate clause, in this case, an adverbial clause, comes first, we have a comma after the adverbial clause and before the main clause begins.

Now you decide.

Is a comma needed in the gap in each of these adverbial complex sentences? Pause the video and decide whether there should be a comma in the gap.

And remember, our rule is that if the adverbial clause comes first, it is followed by a comma.

If the adverbial clause comes second, there is no comma.

Have a go.

Great effort.

In the first sentence, we can see the subordinating conjunction, when, starting this adverbial clause, "When the lesson was over." The adverbial clause has come first, so we need a comma.

In the second sentence, the adverbial clause comes second, "when the lesson was over," so we don't have a comma here.

In the third sentence, the adverbial clause is "as the paint spilled over his work." It's come second so we don't need a comma.

But if we put that adverbial clause at the start of the sentence, like in sentence four, we need to put the comma at the end of the adverbial clause.

If you've already got the hang of that, you've done an amazing job.

Let's keep going.

Here's an adverbial complex sentence.

"The moon cast eerie shadows on the tent walls "as the children tried to sleep." There we've got the main clause, "The moon cast eerie shadows on the tent walls," and the adverbial clause, "as the children tried to sleep." The adverbial clause has come second.

But we could rewrite this sentence with the adverbial clause first.

"As the children tried to sleep, "the moon cast eerie shadows on the tent walls." Now that we've put the adverbial clause first, we've had to place the comma there.

Here's another adverbial complex sentence.

"Because the countryside was so quiet, "the children could hear insects chirping." We can see, because the adverbial clause came first, we've used a comma.

How could we rewrite this sentence with the adverbial clause second? And what would happen to the comma? Pause the video and try and work it out.

Well done.

It would look something like this.

"The children could hear insects chirping "because the countryside was so quiet." The adverbial clause is now second, so the comma has been removed.

Well done if you spotted that.

Now for our second task this lesson, I'd like you to try and rewrite each of my adverbial complex sentences with the adverbial clause in the opposite position.

And I need you to decide if you need a comma in your new version of the sentence.

Here are the sentences.

Remember, the opposite position means that if the adverbial clause came first, you are going to put it second.

If the adverbial clause came second, you are going to put it first.

And you'll need to decide if your new sentence needs a comma.

Pause the video and try and rewrite those sentences with or without a comma.

Let's go.

Fantastic effort.

Let's have a look together.

The first sentence should look like this.

"As he tossed and turned, "Jun could hear the babbling of a stream.

"Izzy struggled to get warm "because her sleeping bag was full of holes.

"Because she heard an owl hooting nearby, "Aisha woke up with a start.

"The temperature dropped significantly when it was dark.

"So that they didn't feel cold, "the children wore all of their clothes." Now let's check the commas.

In sentence one, the adverbial clause comes first, so it's followed by a comma.

In sentence two, the adverbial clause starts with because, the subordinating conjunction, and it comes second, we have no comma.

In sentence three, the adverbial clause is "because she heard an owl hooting nearby." It's come first, so it's followed by that comma.

In sentence four, the adverbial clause comes second, so we're not using a comma.

And finally in sentence five, the adverbial clause, "So that they didn't feel cold," has come first so it's followed by a comma.

Brilliant work if you spotted those three commas.

Now, we've learned about comma rules in compound sentences and in adverbial complex sentences.

Now we're going to think about some other ways commas can be used and you might have recognised some of these from previous lessons you've done.

So far, we have used commas in our lesson to separate clauses.

For instance, here we've used a comma to separate a main clause from another main clause in a compound sentence.

We've also used a comma to separate an adverbial clause from a main clause in an adverbial complex sentence.

In both these cases, the comma is showing us where one clause ends.

But commas are also used to separate adjectives in an expanded noun phrase.

And you'll remember that expanded noun phrase is a noun, a thing, or person, or a place, and that words that describe that noun and are connected to it.

For example, "A small, cramped tent with two entrances.

"Laura's tight, heavy boots.

"The steep, boggy hillside." You might notice that each of these sentences contains adjectives.

I wonder if you can spot them.

We've got small and cramped, separated by a comma.

We've got tight and heavy, separated by a comma.

We've got steep and boggy separated by a comma.

So when we have two adjectives in the expanded noun phrase, we use a comma between them.

But an expanded noun phrase isn't a sentence on its own.

It doesn't contain a verb.

It's a phrase, not a clause.

But we could put an expanded noun phrase into a compound sentence.

"We could take this gentle path, "or we could take the long, winding path over there." Now you might have spotted there are two commas in this sentence.

We've got one between long and winding to separate the two adjectives in that expanded noun phrase, "the long, winding path." We've got a second comma here to separate the two main clauses.

"We could take this gentle path, "or we could take the long, winding path over there." Where should the two commas be placed in this sentence? "We ate the tiny bitter berries we found in the hedgerow "but they did nothing to make us less hungry." Here are four possible places we could put the comma.

Pause the video and decide which two places should have a comma in them.

Have a go.

Great work.

A should have a comma because the comma here would separate tiny and bitter.

Two adjectives in the expanded noun phrase, "the tiny, bitter berries." There should also be a comma at C, because this separates the main clause, "We ate the tiny, bitter berries we found in the hedgerow," from the second main clause, "they did nothing to make us less hungry." And it comes before that coordinating conjunction.

But, here's how it would look.

"We ate the tiny, bitter berries we found in the hedgerow, "but they did nothing to make us less hungry," with a comma here and here.

Great job if you found those.

Commas can also be used to separate nouns in a list, and I'm sure you'll have seen this happen before.

Here's a sentence which contains a list of nouns.

"The children packed their tents, their boots "and their raincoats." Here's another, "Sam, Sophia, Jacob and Izzy "slept in one tent together." In the first sentence, we can see we have three noun phrases, their tent, their boots and their raincoats.

We've put a comma between the first two items in that list.

We don't have a comma, but for the and which separates the last two items in the list.

It's the same in the second sentence.

Sam, Sophia, Jacob and Izzy are all nouns.

We have a comma after Sam, a comma after Sophia, but no comma after Jacob, because we've used the word and between the last two items in our list.

That list of nouns could be placed in an adverbial complex sentence.

"As the children finally neared their destination, "their legs, arms, shoulders and backs "were aching intensely." And you can see there are three commas in this adverbial complex sentence.

We have these two commas to separate the nouns in our list.

And we have this comma to separate the adverbial clause from the main clause.

The adverbial clause starts with that subordinating conjunction, as.

"As the children finally neared their destination." And the main clause was "their legs, arms, "shoulders and backs were aching intensely." I'm going to show you three versions of the same sentence.

I want you to think which one uses commas correctly.

They all say, "When Jun arrived home, "his mom gave him a cup of tea a blanket and a warm hug." But which one uses commas correctly? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

It's C.

Here we can see we have a comma after the adverbial clause, "When Jun arrived home," and a comma after the first item in that list of three, "a cup of tea," comma, "a blanket and a warm hug." We don't have a comma before the and in that list of nouns.

For our final task this lesson, I want you to combine all that comma learning we've done so far in this lesson.

I want you to rewrite these sentences, including all the commas that are needed.

So you're going to have to look carefully.

Do these sentences start with an adverbial clause, which needs a comma after it? Do they contain a list of nouns or an expanded noun phrase that might need a comma? Maybe they contain a coordinating conjunction, but, or or, that needs a comma before it.

So pause the video and write each sentence again using all the correct commas.

Fantastic effort.

Let's add those commas in.

We can see in the first sentence, we need a comma just after pens, a list of three nouns, and we put a comma between the first two.

In the second sentence, we have two commas, one before the coordinating conjunction, but, to separate those two main clauses and one between the adjectives, calm and clear, in the expanded noun phrase, "calm, clear thinking." In number three, the adverbial clause, "because our teacher was leaving," has come first, so it's followed by a comma.

But we also need two commas in that list of four nouns, "chocolates," comma, "mugs," comma, "flowers and coffee." In number four, we have two commas again.

There's a comma between large and A4 because those are adjectives in our expanded noun phrase, "large, A4 envelopes." And we have a comma before the coordinating conjunction, or, to separate the two main clauses in that compound sentence.

Finally, sentence five has two commas.

One after the adverbial clause, "When the classroom was silent," and one between the two adjectives, dull and constant, in that expanded noun phrase.

So that sentence five is an adverbial complex sentence.

If you spotted all those commas, you've done an absolutely fantastic job.

We've covered a lot of stuff in this lesson, and you've done a great job if you've managed to get it locked into your brains like that.

So let's summarise all the amazing learning we've done in this lesson.

We learned that a comma is used before the coordinating conjunctions, but and or, in a compound sentence.

We learned that a comma is used after the adverbial clause in an adverbial complex sentence only when the adverbial clause comes first.

We learned that a comma is used to separate adjectives in an expanded noun phrase.

And that a comma is used to separate items in a list of nouns.

Well done for sticking with this lesson to the very end and making sure you've learned all these important comma rules.

They're gonna be really impressive to people who read your writing if you can use them really well.

I'd really like you to go and try our exit quiz now to test your knowledge, and I hope to see you again soon.