Brief Guide to Punctuation - Stockton College

18 COMMAS
reading, the commas are appropriate.
He sat in the puddle, waiting for his love to return.
She clapped her hands, thinking all was over.
I’m going to leave here running, walking is most too slow. *
The sentences below employ concluding parenthetical phrases:
they are asides, explanations, or afterthoughts.
The pie was evenly divided, along with the mashed potatoes.
Janey found the answer, having looked in every book on every
shelf.
In the example below, restrictive, nonrestrictive, and parenthetical
readings are all reasonable. It is your decision whether a
comma follows jailhouse.
Cutty was in the jailhouse drinking from an old tin cup.
Commas and contrasting wording
Words and phrases that provide contrasting details should be
set apart from the rest of the sentence by commas.
The musician’s first concern was for her instrument, not herself.
It made sense not to repair the leak, but rather to convert the
structure.
The water was deep, yet clear.