Commas Between Adjectives

You have two adjectives together. Do you or don’t you put a comma between them? If they are coordinate adjectives, you do. This follows Zen Comma Rule P.

Zen Comma Rule P: Put a Comma between Coordinate Adjectives.

Definition of Coordinate Adjectives. Adjectives are coordinate if they meet two criteria: (1) You can place and between the two words, and the sentence means the same thing, and (2) You can reverse their order, and the sentence means the same thing.

Sample 1: We had a hot, dry summer.

Sample 1 has the adjectives hot and dry, both used to describe summer. If we add and between them and write We had a hot and dry summer, the sentence makes sense. It also makes sense if we reverse their order and write We had a dry, hot summer. The pair of adjectives meets both criteria, so we know they are coordinate and put a comma between them.

To native English speakers, the two revised sentences will sound like natural speech, and the two criteria are likely sufficient to identify coordinate adjectives. For a more technical explanation, we can examine the Royal Order of Adjectives.

An editor who loves commas

Do you need a comma with Who? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, depending on what who is doing in the sentence. These three sample sentences demonstrate when to use commas, or not to use commas, with who.

1. I am an editor, who is a person with the task of improving clarity in writing.
2. I am an editor who loves commas.
3. As an editor who loves commas, I put in all the required commas to reduce potential reader confusion.

Comma with WHO

Sentence 1, with a comma before who, has one message: I am an editor. And what is an editor? Editor is defined as a person with the task of improving clarity in writing. In this sentence, the clause beginning with who provides descriptive information about editors.

As a non-restrictive clause, this expression doesn’t tell which editor is being described, i.e., it doesn’t restrict the reader’s attention from a group of things to a single thing. Rather, it is providing a definition.

The comma here follows Zen Comma rule U: Use commas to separate non-restrictive clauses beginning with who.

No comma with WHO

You don’t need a comma with who if the word is starting a “restrictive clause.” A restrictive clause helps to indicate one thing from among similar things, i.e., which thing you are writing about.

Sentence 2, with no comma before who, describes a group of people called editors. Which one am I? How am I different from other editors? What type of editor am I? I am an editor who loves commas.

Who loves commas is required information to identify me from the rest of the editors. As a restrictive clause, who loves commas restricts the reader’s attention from all editors to one particular editor: me, in this case.

This is the same situation as in sentence 3. Again, who loves commas is required information to tell the reader which editor is being discussed.

With no commas before who, sentences 2 and 3 follow Zen Comma rule V: Don’t use commas to separate restrictive clauses beginning with who.

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Bumbo Is a Comma Fool

The Koan

On his first day at the Zen Comma School, Bumbo was happily putting commas in his first assignment. He wrote, “This school, is great, and, I will learn, a lot.”

The teacher looked over Bumbo’s shoulder and read the assignment. Then he hit Bumbo with a stick.

“Why did you hit me?” Bumbo cried.

His teacher replied, “Because you are a fool!”

The Lesson

Bumbo was a fool because he was using commas without understanding. He was using the “salt shaker” approach to comma…just sprinkle them in the sentences and hope that some of them will land in the right places. He knew that commas are important, so he used a lot of them. But he had no idea where to use them or why he was using them.

The Discussion

Bumbo was right that commas are very important. They help the reader understand the message of the sentence. Commas do this by separating (not joining!) individual components of the sentence, which helps the reader identify meaningful parts that together convey the meaning of the entire sentence. 

We put commas in to separate discrete components of the sentence, each of which has its own meaning. However, some parts must be joined because they are incomplete without another part. We don’t put a comma between them so that they will remain connected. 

Comma use follows very specific rules, each based on the principle that commas are tools for separating components of sentences. For example, Zen Comma Rule AJ states, “Don’t use a comma to separate the predicate from the subject.” When Bumbo put a comma a comma before “is,” he separated the predicate from the subject, “This school.” 

Fill your sentences with commas, if you must, but don’t do it like Bumbo. Don’t put in commas willy-nilly. Put them where they belong.

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Need help with commas? Get Zen Comma, an instructive reference guide on the 17 major uses and misuses of commas, available in PDF and Kindle formats. Read more about Zen Comma.

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Get the free e-book (PDF, 45 pages) or purchase the Kindle version ($0.99).

Smuggled Commas Missing

Commas can be confusing because they are used in so many ways. However, once you learn to use them, you need to make sure you use them consistently. This was the problem for a reporter of an animal smuggling story. (You can read the story here: http://news.yahoo.com/man-tried-247-animals-plane-165607848.html.)

The Comma Rule

The reporter had a problem with Zen Comma rule D: Put a comma before a coordinating conjunction that joins two sentences. As Zen Comma explains, when you join two complete sentences with the conjunctions and, but, yet, for, so, nor, or or, you need a comma before the conjunction.

Correct Comma Use

As you see in this example, the reporter knows how to follow this rule:

A judge has charged Abelovsky with attempted smuggling, and he faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

First independent clause (complete sentence): a judge has charged Abelovsky with attempted smuggling
Second independent clause (complete sentence): he faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted
Coordinating conjunction: and

As you can see, the reporter correctly used a comma before and.

Comma Error

However, the reporter missed it on this one:

Two of the animals were found dead and most of the others could have suffered the same fate due to a lack of oxygen if the suitcase had been placed in the plane’s cargo area.

First independent clause: two of the animals were found dead
Second independent clause: most of the others could have suffered the same fate due to a lack of oxygen if the suitcase had been placed in the plane’s cargo area
Coordinating conjunction: and

Here, the reporter forgot the comma before and.

Preventing Comma Errors

I know very well from experience that proofreading your own writing is challenging. You are likely to miss even very simple errors, as the reporter did here. This is the reason I recommend having someone else do your proofreading. (Yes, I do my own proofreading of these posts, and you are welcome to point out any errors.)

Of course, you have to know the comma rules first before you proofread.

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Need help with commas? Get Zen Comma, an instructive reference guide on the 17 major uses and misuses of commas, available in PDF and Kindle formats. Read more about Zen Comma.

Your Writing Companion: Our e-book with samples from each of our writing guides.
Get the free e-book (PDF, 45 pages) or purchase the Kindle version ($0.99).