comma, comma, comma, comma, comma, chameleon ?!

It’s only little more than a month to go and the end of this semester is coming closer every day ;) Unfortunately, the amount of stuff we have to accomplish is equally increasing.

That’s why I couldn’t really think of a topic to write about that is not related to studying, so I decided to tell you about something that troubles me - COMMAS!
In English the well-known rule for these nasty little signs is “When in doubt, leave it out.” In German, however, it’s pretty much the opposite. Consequently, when it comes to commas, I’m often at a loss. Sometimes even thoughts like “Why do we need them anyways?!” sneak into my mind. However, I realized that sometimes commas can be pretty useful, as following examples illustrate:

Likewise, a wrongly placed comma might turn the eating habits of a peaceful animal into a violent short story: “the panda eats shoots and leaves” vs. “the panda eats, shoots and leaves”

To bring some light into the darkness of punctuation, I refreshed my memory on the UEfAP website. http://www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm

I’m quickly going to summarize the most important rules below:

Commas function in five main ways

1. Before or after adverbial clauses and groups.

Recently, the number of service enterprises in wealthier free-market economies has grown rapidly.

After dinner, he walked around the town.

Some businesses only seek to earn enough to cover their operating costs, however.

2. Before various connectives to join two independent clauses.

(and, but, or, so nor, for yet)

What we require is a National Emergency Government, but no two men I meet can agree how this can be formed.

There was no Canadian Consulate in Paris at that time, so we had to go to the American Consulate for ours.

3. To separate some non-defining phrases from the rest of the sentence.

Malaria, once a widespread disease, is under control.

The Conservatives, who had gained more votes than Labour in the 1929 general election, were only the second largest party.

4. To separate words, groups and clauses in a series.

Life-support machines are no different in principle from medicines, surgery, or other treatment.

A policeman has to be able to work at night, at weekends and on holidays.

5. To separate adjectives that separately modify the same noun.

Critics praise the novel's unaffected, unadorned style.

He walked with long, slow, steady, deliberate strides.

Common mistakes

A comma cannot separate subject from predicate.

WRONG: *A man of his great abilities, would always be successful.
RIGHT: A man of his great abilities would always be successful.

A comma cannot be used to join grammatically separate sentences. The following sentences are not possible:

WRONG: *London is a very cosmopolitan city, there are people from many culture living there.
RIGHT: London is a very cosompolitan city. There are many people from many different cultures living there.