Comma Mia, Here I Go Again; My My, How Can I Resist You?

Just because two adjectives (or modifiers) come before a noun doesn’t mean a comma has to come between them.   If you could use the word and between two adjectives without changing the sense of the phrase, then use a comma (in place of and). Phillipa’s cold and precise manner drove her family batty. So: Phillipa’s cold, precise manner drove her family batty. But take a look at this sentence: Cyril’s messy blond hair gave him a foppish, insouciant look. The second adjective relating to Cyril's hair – blond – is an integral element of the noun phrase, which in this case is blond hair; his blond hair is messy. We wouldn't say it's Cyril’s messy and blond hair that gave him a foppish, insouciant look. In other words, it's not both adjectives which, separately, modify hair – instead, messy modifies blond hair, so no comma is used. Now note the comma that comes between foppish and insouciant. It's there because we could refer to Cyril's foppish and insouciant look (he doesn't have an insouciant look that's foppish; his look is both foppish and insouciant).

Comments

[mighty red pen]

Your subject line here is a hoot! Thanks for the laugh.

[Heather]

Thank you for your posts on the usage of the comma. I love using commas and place them incorrectly all of the time.

[Heather]

Thank you for your posts on the usage of the comma. I love using commas and place them incorrectly all of the time.

[Steve N. Lee]

As a writer, commenting on a blog about grammar without my copy editor holding my hand is like taking a dip in the ocean despite a host of dorsal fins tearing towards me…

This is a great post, Dan. Believe it or not, I was actually taught about this in school – back in the day when learning the basics of language and mathematics actually seemed to matter – but it was never explained in such a beautifully simple manner, so my classmates and I were all left floundering somewhat at this ‘comma-free’ revelation. The concept has stuck with me ever since but, because of this grey area, I often query the odd comma placement in just the scenarios you’re discussing. Well, no more! One little post and suddenly there’s an “Oh, yeah!” moment. Who would’ve thought a simple technique involving ‘and’ could make this ‘problem’ so easy to solve?

Great job, Dan. Thanks,
Steve
Steve N. Lee
author of suspense thriller ‘What if…?’ http://www.steve-n-lee.com
and eco-blog http://www.lionsledbysheep.com