Revising and Editing

Reconsidering your ideas, examining your paragraphs, checking your style and grammar.

Commas and Verbs

Some students feel the need to put a comma between a subject and a verb or between a verb and its object. This usually happens when the sentence includes subordinate phrases and clauses.

Commas between the Subject and the Verb

Do not put commas between subjects and verbs. The connection between the subject and the verb should generally be uninterrupted.

Example:

	Buses without gum under the seats and trash in the aisles, can be hard to find in this city.
	Buses without gum under the seats and trash in the aisles can be hard to find in this city.

The second sentence is correct because there should be no separation between the subject Buses without gum under the seats and trash in the aisles and the verb can be.

Tip

Some students want to use the comma incorrectly when there is a restrictive element following the simple subject and before the verb. Remember that restrictive elements don’t use commas. If the element is nonrestrictive, it will have commas because of the nonrestrictive nature of the element, not because there needs to be a pause before the verb.

Commas between the Verb and Its Object

Commas don’t belong between verbs and objects either. Commas in this position also interrupt the flow of meaning in a sentence.

Example:

	Samantha explained to Mike, that the computer sometimes freezes.
	Samantha explained to Mike that the computer sometimes freezes.

The second sentence is correct because there should be no separation between the verb explained and its object that the computer sometimes freezes.

Source

Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.