 Comma usage is literally the most interesting topic you will ever encounter. If you hiked up to the top of Mount Rainier, saw a double rainbow, and rescued a basket of puppies, that would only be half as exciting as learning how to use commas. Because we don't want people to get overly excited and end up in the hospital, we're only going to cover three common uses of commas in this video. So hydrate, get in the right head space, and make sure to rest after viewing. The comma rules we're going to cover are comma after an introductory phrase, comma with direct address, and comma splices. Comma after an introductory phrase. First of all, what's an introductory phrase? It's a little group of words that often start out a sentence, often grounding the reader by telling them what else is going on, or where they are in time, etc. Here are a few examples. Glipping through his book of poetry, Gabe smiled and said, check this out. On her last day of finals, Pipa packed extra snacks and her favorite tea. After feeding her guinea pig, Roberta cleaned its cage. While organizing her desk, Emma quietly sang along to the radio. The earth won't stop turning if you don't use a comma after an introductory phrase. Some people suggest only using one if that phrase is over four words long. Just be consistent in your use, and make sure that you have one if the meaning of the sentence could read a couple different ways, like, while we eat, the dog sits patiently waiting. Comma with direct address. This is an easy one, when you're addressing someone, or your narrator or character is speaking to someone, just put a comma after their name, or before their name. Here are a couple examples. Anona, can you help me? I think you're doing a great job, Rachel. Again, will the earth's rotation skid to a halt if you don't do this? Probably not. Some people are picky about it. The last one is the dreaded comma splice. Let's take a look at an example. I like eating tacos, there are too many. So the problem with this is that you've got two independent clauses, or groups of words that are complete thoughts, and they're just being smushed together with a comma. It's like connecting two sentences together with a comma, but it needs more than a comma. So the good news is, is that there's an easy fix for this too. Here just make those two things separate sentences, as long as they make sense that way, or add a little connecting word, like and or but. If you're feeling super adventurous, you might use a semi-colon, but maybe we'll just focus on the first two fixes. I like eating tacos, period, there are too many. We split them into two sentences, or I like eating tacos, but there are too many. We added a connecting word. Let's look at one more example. The peacocks are disproportionately large in the adoration of the magi. The colorful birds were known to symbolize immortality. The size of them stresses the importance of this concept. There are three in this one, so let's fix them. We're going to split it into two sentences first, right at the first comma. Then we're going to add a couple words to our second sentence to add clarity, and we'll add a connecting word where the second comma is. Here's how it turns out. The peacocks are disproportionately large in the adoration of the magi. This is because the colorful birds were known to symbolize immortality, and the size of them stresses the importance of this concept. So go through your writing, and if you notice two or more complete thoughts connected with just a sad little comma, you may have yourself a comma splice. Okay, that's all the comma tips you get for now. I know you want more, but you're just going to have to be happy with what you get.