USING COMMAS TO SEPARATE INTRODUCTORY PHRASES

Prepositional phrases that come at the beginning of the sentence and contain four or more words are followed by a comma. All participial phrases that come at the beginning of the sentence are followed by a comma.

Examples

By the end of the summer season, most people are looking forward to the cooler fall weather.
(prepositional phrases totalling more than four words)

Starting on Monday, I will be receiving the Ottawa Citizen.
(present participial phrase)

Startled by the dog’s loud bark, the infant started to cry.
(past participial phrase)

Click here to take your first SELF-TEST.  Here you will have an opportunity to practice punctuating sentences with phrases. Remember to look at the top of the self-test screen to see the comments for each answer! When you have finished the self-test, close the self-test  window to return to your lesson.