Commas with yes, no, and names
Use commas after introductory yes/no responses, before tag questions, and around names used in direct address
What a learner can do afterwards
- Use a comma after an introductory yes/no response, such as 'Yes, I understand'
- Punctuate tag questions correctly such as 'It's cold today, isn't it?'
- Use commas to set off names in direct address such as 'Sarah, please pass the salt'
1 · Read
When yes or no gives an answer before the rest of a sentence, put a comma after it: 'Yes, we can stay.' 'No, we cannot stay.' This rule is for answer words. In 'No chairs are left', no describes how many chairs remain. It belongs with chairs, so there is no comma after no.
Set apart the name of someone you are speaking to. At the start: 'Luca, take a seat.' At the end: 'Take a seat, Luca.' In the middle: 'Please, Luca, take a seat.' Use a comma on each side of a name in the middle. In 'Luca takes a seat', you are talking about Luca. Do not put a comma between his name and takes.
A tag question is a short question added to a statement, often to ask for confirmation. Put a comma before the whole tag and a question mark at the end: 'The door is open, isn't it?' 'We arrived early, didn't we?' Keep the words of the tag together.
Check three jobs: an opening yes/no answer, a name spoken to, and a tag question. 'Yes, Nia, we are ready, aren't we?' uses all three. 'Nia is ready.' talks about Nia and has none of them, so it needs no comma. A name used as the subject is not direct address. Use a comma after an opening answer, around a spoken-to name, and before a tag. Check these jobs, not pauses.
Use commas to separate an opening yes/no answer, a spoken-to name and an added tag question.
These readings were written for this dataset.
More to read
Speaking to someone or about them
Compare 'Eli carried the box.' with 'Eli, carry the box.'
The first reports Eli's action. His name is the subject, so no comma separates it from carried. The second tells Eli what to do. His name identifies the listener, so a comma follows it.
You can move the spoken-to name: 'Carry the box, Eli.' Now the comma comes before it.
In 'Could you, Eli, carry the box?', the name comes in the middle. It needs a comma on each side.
Find the listener before adding address commas.
An answer and an added question
Someone asks whether you finished a drawing. You could answer 'Yes, I finished it.' The comma separates Yes from the words that follow.
Another answer is 'No, I have not finished it.' Here No is also an answer word. But 'No pencils are left' needs no comma after No. In that sentence, No belongs with pencils.
You can add a short question to a statement: 'The drawing is finished, isn't it?' The comma comes before the whole tag isn't it. The question mark belongs at the end.
Check each comma's job
Read 'No, Hazel, the bus has not arrived, has it?'
No gives an answer. Hazel identifies the person being addressed. Has it asks for confirmation of the statement about the bus.
The comma after No also marks the start of Hazel's name. The comma after Hazel marks its end. The comma after arrived separates the statement from its tag.
Compare 'Hazel waited for the bus.' That sentence reports Hazel's action. It has no opening answer word, no addressed name and no tag, so it needs none of these commas.
Check what the words do rather than adding commas wherever you pause.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
This opens up
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.