(Why the Oxford Comma—or Serial Comma—Is So Cool!)

The comma punctuation mark highlights a shorter, softer pause in a sentence than a full stop. It is a cue to take a quick breath when reading anything aloud, while the full stop represents a longer pause. Articles with too many unnecessary commas can be fragmented, but those with too few can leave you slightly breathless. These are some of the most important comma usage rules to be aware of for your articles or books.

Coordinate Conjunctions

Coordinate conjunctions are joiner words that connect two independent clauses in single sentences. And, but, for, nor, yet, or, and so (remember the FANBOYS acronym) are the coordinate conjunctions with which we can join independent clauses that could otherwise stand alone in separate sentences. You should always add a comma after coordinate conjunctions that join two independent clauses in sentences. Here are some examples of coordinate conjunction comma usage:

• “The sprinter ran fast, but he still lost the race.”
• “You can go to the cinema with me, or you can go to the beach on your own if you prefer.”
• “The man walked down the street, and then he brought a newspaper from the newsstand.”

Each of those examples includes two independent clauses that could stand alone as sentences. The coordinate conjunctions and, or, and but join the clauses into single sentences with their commas. Note that joining independent clauses with commas alone, without suitable coordinate conjunctions, is called the comma splice, which is something to avoid.

List Series

You should always include commas to separate different items in lists included within sentences. For example, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, violet, red, and green are the seven colors of the rainbow. An alternative to using commas is to add lists with bullet-point formatting, but you must always use commas for those within sentences.

However, UK and US English have different stylistic preferences for serial commas that separate the last two items in lists. The US English preference is to include a comma between the last two items in a list. This is not so much the case in UK English, which has a preference to exclude the serial comma between the last couple of list items. Choose whichever serial comma preference you prefer, but be consistent with usage.

Non-Restrictive Clauses

A non-restrictive clause is a non-essential part of a sentence that provides extra information (similar to brackets). Such clauses can be in the middle or at the end of a sentence. We should always add commas for setting off non-restrictive clauses, typically added with phrases like such as, otherwise, and which. These are some examples of non-restrictive clauses set off with commas:

• “There are many great historic attractions in Rome, such as the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Spanish Steps, and Castel Sant’Angelo.”
• “The video game, which I purchased from Steam, was grossly overrated.”
• “My pet dog, otherwise a Bulldog, barks like crazy.”

Dates

It is necessary to include commas for the US date format of MM-DD-YY. For example, the full date, June 6, 2025, should have a comma in between its day and year. This comma is necessary for separating two different numbers. However, a monthly date like June 2025 does not need to include a comma.

Coordinate Adjectives

Coordinate adjectives are two or more adjacent nouns for describing the same subject or noun. We should include commas in between coordinate adjectives within sentences. Here are a few examples of coordinate adjectives with commas included for them:

• “It was a cold, wet day in Glasgow.”
• “I took a holiday on a large, overcrowded cruise ship.”
• “Snooker is one of the dullest, least energetic sports to play.”

Quotations

It is a general rule to introduce short one-sentence quotations within paragraphs with commas. For example, the actor Matthew McConaughey is quoted as saying, “Life is a series of commas, not periods.” However, the AP Style guide advocates using colons for introducing quotes of two sentences or longer.

Commas are also used for closing quotes within sentences in American English. If you prefer to start a sentence with a quote and include attribution at the end, add a comma to the end of the quote before attributing the source. “Life is a series of commas, not periods,” said the actor  Matthew McConaughey.

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Transitional Phrases

Transitional phrases are phrases and words for connecting related ideas or showing contrasts at the beginning of sentences. Such phrases like however, so, nevertheless, consequently, as a result, for example, and thus can enhance the flow of articles or books when included. Always add commas after transitional phrases that start sentences, like in these examples:

• “So, who can tell me if we need to head north or south?”
• “Consequently, this vehicle won’t start.”
• “Nevertheless, Chelsea still won the match despite the bad start.”

Introductory Phrases

An introductory phrase is a set of words added before a sentence’s main clause. The purpose of most introductory phrases is to add extra context, more description, or set the stage for the main clauses in sentences. Infinitive, absolute, appositive, prepositional, and participial are the five main types of introductory phrases for starting sentences. Such phrases should always have commas that separate them from the main sentence clauses, as in these examples:

• “To move the rock, we’ll need a crane.”
• “An astonishingly colorful and vibrant show, the musical production was certainly worth watching.”
• “After bombing Pearl Harbor, the Japanese planes returned to their aircraft carriers.”

Direct Address

Direct address is a writing construct for the direct addressing of a person or group. Fictional books typically include more instances of direct address for character dialogue. When adding a direct address at the beginning of a sentence, you should add a comma after the noun. Add commas before and after directly addressed names added mid-sentence. These are some examples of comma usage for direct address:

• “Mr. Andrews, don’t forget the prior agreement we had.”
• “Billy, please answer the telephone.”
• “Dad, where did you put the door keys?”
• “Who knows, Dr. Smith, where your lost documents might be.”

Geographical Names

You must include commas for separating two connected geographical names. Connected geographical names are two parts of the same destination, such as city and country. Also, note that additional commas should be included after related geographical names in the middle of sentences. These are some geographical destinations with commas added to separate them:

• “The 1996 Olympic Games were held in Atlanta, Georgia.”
• “I took my vacation in Plymouth, Devon.”
• “I have lived in London, England, for many years.”

There are numerous other comma usage rules beyond those discussed here. However, the comma rules above are some of the most important ones that cover the most common usage scenarios. Remembering those rules will likely ensure more accurate comma placement in your articles, books, or other content.

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(How to Find Free-to-Use Images for Writing Projects.)

However, there’s a plethora of unique characters and symbols for maths, currency, punctuation, and diacritics (accent marks) that standard keyboards don’t have specific keys for entering. Here, we’ll look at how you can enter some of the more common and useful special characters in your articles for which there aren’t any specific input keys on standard keyboards.

The Most Common Special Characters Not Available on Standard Keyboards

Although standard keyboards are satisfactory for inputting standard punctuation marks, their mathematical, diacritic (accent mark), and currency character keys are limited. There are even some slightly more obscure punctuation marks standard keyboards don’t have keys for. 

So, most freelance writers will probably occasionally need to input some special characters or symbols not available on their keyboards. These are some of the more common and useful special characters that standard keyboards don’t have keys for entering:

• Em dash: —
• Yen (missing on English keyboards): ¥
• Section sign: §
• Fractions: ½, ¼, ¾, ⅔, etc
• Acute accent: é
• Euro (missing on US keyboards): €
• Grave accent: à
• Copyright: ©
• En dash: –
• Degrees (Fahrenheit or Celsius): °F °C
• Ellipse: …
• Card symbols: , , , and
• Manicule: ☛
• Registered trademark: ®
• Division and multiplication: ÷ and ×

An obvious shortcoming of standard keyboards is their lack of keys for diacritics accent marks like é and à. There are numerous common English words derived from French that have accent marks, such as café, résumé, déjà vu, cliché, and à la carte. Some people omit the accent marks from such words because there aren’t any specific keys for entering them.

Nor are there specific keys for basic multiplication, division, and fraction symbols. Some writers might improvise by entering the letter x or slash / for multiplication and division symbols rather than the correct ÷ and × signs. Standard keyboards are woefully inadequate for writing articles that cover mathematical topics.

There are also some useful punctuation marks omitted from standard keyboards, such as the em dash (—) and en dash (–). The em dash is an alternative to parenthesis used for the strongest possible break from a sentence. En dash is a punctuation mark used for numerical ranges or connections, such as 1914–1918, for example, that’s shorter than the em dash but longer than the hyphen. However, many people use the hyphen for ranges because there isn’t an en dash keyboard key.

Some legal secretaries might lament the fact that there isn’t an § character key on standard keyboards. The section sign (§) is a punctuation mark often needed for legal documentation and contracts. This mark is used for referencing sections in legal documents and is always followed by a number, such as “refer to §145 of document B” for example.

One interestingly obscure punctuation mark you can’t enter with standard keyboards is the interrobang. The interrobang (‽) is an exclamation and question mark wrapped into one. So, why not add interrobangs to some articles‽

Of course, there’s a limit to how many special character keys standard keyboards can include. It would be good to have additional keys for entering some of the more common special characters listed above, where possible. Nevertheless, there are alternative ways we can input such special characters into articles without specific keyboard keys for them.

Enter Special Characters With ASCII Codes

One way we can enter special characters and symbols not available on our keyboards is to input ASCII (Alt) codes for them. ASCII is an encoding standard that assigns unique codes to unique characters and symbols. We can enter special characters on Windows PCs by holding the Alt key and inputting their codes with the numeric keypad.

For example, the Alt code for inputting the copyright © symbol is 0169. To enter that symbol with its code, press the Num Lock key first (Num Lock must be on). Then, hold down the Alt key and input the code 0169 with the number keys on your keyboard’s numeric keypad.

The Alt codes for special characters can have one to four numbers. You can find the codes for many unique characters on this Alt code page. Look for the character or symbol you want to enter in your article on that page and input its adjacent code.

Use the Windows Character Map

The Character Map is a Windows tool with which you can enter special characters and symbols without remembering or looking up codes. This utility is included with all Windows platforms dating back to 2000. You can find, copy, and paste special character codes into your articles with that tool.

To access Character Map, first open Run by pressing the Windows logo + R key. Input charmap into the Run dialog and click OK. You will then see a Character Map window with a grid that includes myriad special characters for you to select.

To add a unique character from there, input a search term to find it. For example, enter a section sign keyword in the Search for box to find the § character. Click the § character found and Select > Copy. Then, press the Ctrl + V hotkey to paste the § wherever you need it in a document.

Add Symbols With the Emoji Keyboard

The emoji keyboard is an alternative Windows tool to the Character Map with which we can add a wide variety of punctuation, language, currency, mathematical, and supplemental symbols to articles. However, this tool also enables us to add emojis and kaomoji like the smiley. You can liven up your informal email or forum messages by adding emojis and kaomojis.

To open the emoji keyboard, press the Windows logo key + . (period|) hotkey. Click the Symbols tab within the emoji keyboard to see the special characters you can input in your article. To add a special character from there, click somewhere in your document’s word processor to enter it and select a symbol.

Check Out the Copychar Site

Copying and pasting special characters you need for articles is a simple way to enter them. Copychar is a website from which you can copy and paste diacritic, punctuation, currency, mathematical, numerical, symbol, and arrow characters into your articles. You can utilize Copychar to add special characters to documents open on Windows PCs, Android & iOS mobile devices, and macOS computers.

Open this Copychar website in a browser. To find a unique character there, input a keyword within that site’s search box. You can copy any character found there by clicking (or tapping for touchscreens) on it. Press the Ctrl + V keyboard shortcut to paste the copied character into your document on a Windows PC.

Add Special Characters With Microsoft Word’s Symbol Tool

Microsoft Word users can add special characters to their articles with that software’s Symbol tool. This built-in World utility conveniently saves (or remembers) your most recently used special characters or symbols, which is a good feature. So, Word users might prefer that tool to the Windows Character Map.

You can access that tool for special characters by clicking Symbol > More Symbols on Microsoft Word’s Insert tab. Then, select a symbol to add and click Insert to enter it at your cursor point in a document. Alternatively, click the Special Characters tab to select a character to add.

So, don’t let your keyboard restrict the characters and symbols you use for articles. You can use many, many more unique characters and symbols by entering them into your articles, as discussed above. Using more special characters will enable you to add more punctuation marks, highlight key points better, and enhance visual clarification in your articles. 

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