When to use semicolon

A comma (pronounced “cah-muh”) is a punctuation mark that provides pauses in reading and speaking by separating parts of a sentence.

You’ll find examples of commas in all sorts of sentences below.

• It’s raining, so let’s grab our umbrellas.
• I want to go home, but I have to finish soccer practice first.

• When the cat meows like that, it means he’s hungry.
• I love playing hockey; however, I need to study this weekend.
• Oh no, the concert was canceled.
• This class, which Howie didn’t even want to take, is really hard.
• My neighbor, Mr.

  Patel, borrowed our lawnmower.

• We toured Stanford, UCLA, and Cal Berkeley on our college trip.
• Bill’s cool, friendly cousin is in town.
• “Let’s climb higher,” said Jacob.
• What do you mean, Melissa?

Commas provide a nice pause in a sentence, but you can’t just throw a comma wherever you want.

Understanding comma rules can help you figure out when and how to use commas properly.

When you're writing a simple sentence, you're using only one