German uses more commas than English. Okay, I don’t know that for a fact, but it makes sense to me. When I correct things my husband writes in English I usually throw out more commas than I put in. Punctuation is important. Using it incorrectly can lead to some pretty ambiguous situations. It can even completely change the meaning of what you are trying to say.
The Comma
The comma is used to break up two clauses where a pause is needed in a sentence. Sometimes the pause introduces a new idea, sometimes it separates items in a list. My rule of thumb in English is when you pause when speaking, put a in comma.
My mother knew about pauses and commas. As I’ve mentioned before, she had little faith in her cooking. Her motto was ‘if you can read, you can cook’. To exemplify how exactly she followed the recipes she said, ‘If there is a comma, I pause.’
Of course you can put too many commas in, like the following mistake on a restaurant menu.
‘Goats cheese salad ingredients: lettuce, tomato, goats, cheese’
While on the subject of food and commas, ‘I love eating dinosaurs and trains.’ has a completely different meaning than ‘I love eating, dinosaurs, and trains.’
Grammar Saves Lives
My favorite classic is ‘Let’s eat Grandma!’ or did I mean ‘Let’s eat, Grandma!’. That construction is possible in German, too. ‘Wir essen Oma!’ and ‘Wir essen, Oma!‘
‘Geh nicht warten.‘ The three words mean ‘go not wait.’ Should you go or stay? Depending on where you put the comma the same sentence could mean ‘Go, don’t wait.’ or ‘Don’t go, wait.’
Serial Comma
Not to be confused with the cereal comma which is much crunchier. A serial comma is placed before the second to last item in a list or series. It is also known as the Oxford or Harvard comma.
Often a second to last comma doesn’t add clarity in a list, when that’s the case it sometimes isn’t used. Generally you separate with a comma but it isn’t incorrect if you don’t. So it can get tricky when it’s not obvious. Still, what’s obvious to one person may not be obvious to another.
‘Her favorite pies were lemon meringue, pumpkin, apple and pecan.’
How many pies are we talking about here? It could be three or four. An apple and pecan pie sounds quite tasty. Put a comma after apple and you can be absolutely sure there are four pies.
This is from the NY Times and was a description of a Peter Ustinov documentary film.
‘Highlight of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector.’
Is this a description of Nelson Mandela or a list?
A Little Pop Quiz
a.
b.
c. 
d. 
e. 
f. 
g. 
I asked Mike which shirt or shirts he wanted. Here are his answers.
- Dark, blue and red.
- Dark blue and red.
- Dark blue, and red.
- Dark, blue, and red.
How many and exactly which shirts does Mike want? Answers at the bottom of the page.
My tip is don’t go shopping with Mike.
Commas and Periods
This is a nice example of how adding one comma in German can change the meaning.
‘Der Schulrat sagt, der Lehrer ist ein Dummkopf.‘ Means ‘The school inspector said that the teacher is a bonehead.’
Add one comma and you get: ‘Der Schulrat, sagt der Lehrer, ist ein Dummkopf.‘ That means ‘The teacher said that the school inspector is a bonehead.’
This illustrates how changing commas and periods can change a relationship.
Dear John:
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy.
Will you let me be yours?
Gloria
Now let’s see how the exact same words read with the punctuation in different places:
Dear John:
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Gloria
So, before I sign off, let me say one last thing: A woman without her man is nothing. Feel free to choose the sentence with the commas wherever you see fit.
A woman, without her, man is nothing.
A woman without her man, is nothing.
Answers to pop quiz
1. g, a OR g, e, f
2. c OR b OR e, f
3. e, f
4. g, d, f
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