Parenthetical Commas

Many college writers forget to put a parenthetical comma in their sentences. 6.5% of college writers will neglect to put a parenthetical comma in their sentences. This error is the sixth most common writing mistake among all college students (Connors, R. J., & Lunsford, A. A., 1988). 

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Parenthetical Commas

A parenthetical comma shows two ideas in a sentence, shows a contrast in a sentence, or shows a moderate/heavy pause in a sentence. A second idea or a word that creates contrast or a pause is put between the two commas in a sentence. These two commas are called the parenthetical commas (Kahn, J., 2013).  

Here are four examples of a correct parenthetical comma use. Notice how the two ideas show themselves in the examples, or show a contrast or a moderate/heavy pause. 

• “The rain, while pleasantly mild, made the air humid.”
• “My cat, Twitchy, loves catnip.”
• “My fiancé showed up late to our wedding, however, I forgave him.”
• “The cat crouched by the hole, meanwhile, the mouse was busy helping itself to some cheese.”

Let’s break the four examples down further.

“The rain, while pleasantly mild, made the air humid.” 

• The first idea is that the rain made the air humid
• The second idea is that the rain is pleasantly mild

“My cat, Twitchy, loves catnip.”

• The first idea is that my cat loves catnip
• The second idea is that my cat is Twitchy

“My husband showed up late to our wedding, however, I forgave him.”

• The first idea is that the husband showed up late
• The second idea is that the implied wife forgave her husband
• The “however” between the two parenthetical commas shows the contrast between the first and the second idea

“The cat crouched by the hole, meanwhile, the mouse was busy helping itself to some cheese.”

• The first idea is that the cat crouched by the hole
• The second idea is that the mouse was helping itself to some cheese
• The “meanwhile” between the two parenthetical commas shows the heavy pause between the first and the second idea

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Review

When to Use Parenthetical Commas

• To show in a sentence there are two ideas present
• To show a moderate or a heavy pause
• To show a contrast of two ideas
• To show a sentence that starts with a main subject and follows with any of these words
• Which
• “The snake, which had been curled up sleeping, hissed and bared its fangs.”
• When
• “The earthquake, when it had occurred, destroyed several buildings.”
• Where
• “The statue, where it had been placed, drew attention from tourists.”
• Being
• “The girl, being short, had difficulty reaching the top shelf."

When to Avoid the Use of Parenthetical Commas

• There is a presence of more than two ideas in the sentence
• There is a slight pause
• There is a long phrase in the second idea that works better as a standalone sentence
• There is a sentence that starts with a main subject and follows with the word “who”
• “The man who was drunk crashed into a tree.”

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Sources