Hello, everyone, and welcome back to my channel, Sparkle English, where I teach you how to
improve your English writing and grammar skills. In today's lesson, we're going to talk about
how to use commas with clauses. First of all, what are clauses? A clause is a group
of words that contains a subject and a verb. For example, the boy ate pizza for dinner.
Here, we have a subject, the boy, and the verb, ate. Another example of a clause: dad
is drinking coffee. Again, we have a subject, dad, is drinking, which is the verb. Now we
have independent clauses and dependent clauses. An independent clause is a clause that forms
a complete thought. It contains a subject and a verb, and it can stand alone as a sentence. For
example, I walked to the park. This could be a complete sentence. It makes sense by
itself. However, a dependent clause is part of a sentence that contains a subject and
a verb. However, it cannot stand alone as a sentence. For example, "after I walked
to the park". This is not a complete sentence. We have the word after, and it doesn't make
sense itself. After I walked to the park. Well, what? What do you mean? What happened
after you walked to the park? What are you trying to say? Another example of an independent
clause: she was hungry. This contains a subject and a verb. And it makes sense; it forms
a complete thought. However, "because she was hungry" cannot stand alone as a sentence. We
need more information. So first, let's talk about commas with independent clauses. When
two independent clauses are joined by coordinating conjunctions: and, but, or, so, for, yet,
nor, a comma is used before the conjunction. For example, I walked to the park, and I saw
a bunch of kittens. Here, we have two independent clauses. I walked to the park; I saw a bunch
of kittens. And we join this together with a comma plus a coordinating conjunction. Remember
that independent clauses contain subjects. So if this subject "I" was not here, we
would not use a comma. I walked to the park and saw a bunch of kittens. We only need a
comma if we're combining two independent clauses together with two subjects and two verbs. Let's
look at another example. She was hungry, comma, so she ate a huge bowl of pasta. Again, we
have two independent clauses: she was hungry, and she ate a huge bowl of pasta. And we
combine these together with the coordinating conjunctionso, plus a comma before the coordinating
conjunction. Another example: Jamie doesn't play the guitar, but he loves rock music.
Again, two independent clauses. Jamie doesn't play the guitar. He loves rock music. So
we combine this together with a comma plus a coordinating conjunction. Now, what about
with dependent clauses? How do we use commas with dependent clauses? When a dependent clause
comes before an independent clause, a comma is used to separate them. So we saw this
dependent clause at the beginning of this lesson. After I walked to the park. This is
a dependent clause, and it comes before the independent clause: I read my book by the
pond. So we use a comma after the dependent clause. After I walked to the park comma,
I read my book by the pond. Another example: because she was hungry, she ate a huge bowl
of pasta. Again, we have the dependent clause before the independent clause. If Dave finishes
his work on time, comma, he will go to the party. So when you have words like after,
because, if, while, when, and those words begin the dependent clause, you have to use
a comma after the dependent clause when it comes before the independent clause. But
what happens if the sentence begins with an independent clause? Let's reverse all of these
sentences. When a dependent clause comes after an independent clause, a comma is not used
to separate them. I read my book by the pond after I walked to the park. We do not use
a comma after an independent clause when it is followed by a dependent clause. She ate
a huge bowl of pasta because she was hungry. Again, we have the dependent clause after the independent
clause, so we do not use a comma. Dave will go to the party if he finishes his work on
time. Again, we have the dependent clause after the independent clause, so we do not
use a comma. However, if these were reversed, as we saw before, we would use commas after
the dependent clauses before the independent clauses. So let's try a quiz. And before we
continue to the quiz, make sure to check out my 16 Basic Punctuation Rules eBook, which
I've linked you to in the description below. This is an ebook that you can download. It has
over 50 different pages full of different punctuation rules, and it will help you with
your English writing and punctuation skills. There are also worksheets at the end of the
book that you can practice. I've linked you to that in the description below and in the
pinned comment. I'm going to read ten sentences. Some of them are missing commas. Perhaps some
do not need commas. It's your job to figure it out. So first, let me read these sentences.
Number one: she studied hard but she still didn't pass the exam. Number two: after finishing
his work he went for a walk. Number three: they arrived late so they missed the beginning
of the movie. Number four, although she was tired she decided to go to the gym. Number
five. Jessica worked hard but couldn't finish the project on time. Number six, we can go
to a museum if it's rainy on Saturday. Number seven, when the bell rang the students rushed
out of the classroom. Number eight, the children invented a funny game to play at the park.
Number nine, the girls went to the park and they played a few games of basketball. And
finally, number ten, Bernardo couldn't find his keys because he misplaced them earlier. Okay,
let's correct these together. Number one, we have an independent clause. She studied
hard. We have another independent clause. She still didn't pass the exam. And we have
the coordinating conjunction, but. So we have to place a comma before the coordinating
conjunction. Remember, when it joins two independent clauses. So this one is incorrect
as it is. Number two is also incorrect. We have a dependent clause "after finishing
his work," and we have an independent clause, "he went for a walk." So remember, after a dependent
clause, we place a comma when it comes before an independent clause. After finishing his
work, comma, he went for a walk. Number three is also incorrect. Here we have two independent
clauses. They arrived late, and they missed the beginning of the movie. So we have to
put a comma after late before the coordinating conjunction "so." Number four is also incorrect.
We have one independent clause. She decided to go to the gym, so we have to put a comma
after the dependent clause, although she was tired. Although she was tired, comma,
she decided to go to the gym. Now, what about number five? Jessica worked hard but couldn't
finish the project on time. Does this require a comma before but? No, it does not. Number
five is correct as it is, and that's because we only have one subject here, Jessica. Jessica
worked hard but couldn't finish the project on time. We do not have a subject before
couldn't. So we don't need a comma before "but." We only would put a comma before but if we
had a subject, she or Jessica, before couldn't. So number five is correct as it is. Now,
what about number six? We have an independent clause. We can go to a museum. However, "if
it's rainy on Saturday" is a dependent clause. And remember, when a dependent clause comes
after an independent clause, we don't use a comma. So number six is correct as it is.
However, number seven, we have "when the bell rang, the students rushed out of the classroom."
The independent clause is "the students rushed out of the classroom." "When the bell rang"
is a dependent clause. So we have to place a comma after rang because the dependent
clause comes before the independent clause. Now, what about eight? The children invented
a funny game to play at the park. Number eight does not require any commas because we only
have one independent clause. The children invented a funny game to play at the park.
We don't have multiple subjects or multiple verbs. We have an infinitive here, but this
does not require any commas. So this is correct as it is. Now, number nine, we have two independent
clauses. The girls went to the park, and they played a few games of basketball. And what
do we do when we combine two independent clauses plus a coordinating conjunction? We place
a comma after the first independent clause before the coordinating conjunction. And finally,
number ten, Bernardo couldn't find his keys because he misplaced them earlier. Where's
the independent clause? Here. Bernardo couldn't find his keys. It comes before the dependent
clause "because he misplaced them earlier." And when the independent clause comes before
the dependent clause, we don't use a comma. So number ten is correct as it is. Okay, everyone,
so let me know how many you got correct out of ten in the comments below. I also encourage
you to practice writing a sentence using an independent clause and a dependent clause
or any combination. I've also linked you in the description below to my full playlist
on English punctuation rules. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in my next lesson.