If you use pauses from your speaking patterns to determine your comma placement, the comma simply will be unneeded...no kidding! Yes, yes -- I know -- somebody, somewhere in your past, told you to "put a comma where you pause..." but don't do it! Speaking and writing are not the same thing, and if you put a comma where you pause, you'll have a lonely comma stranded in the middle of a sentence.
Commas are used mostly to set off introductory structures (mostly phrases), and -- with a conjunction -- a comma joins two sentences (usually "comma + and"). There are some other uses, too.
For a more detailed explanation of comma usage, click HERE.
Also, if you want extra coaching for these comma problems, just visit me during my office hours.
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